Fri 10 Jul 2020
Reviewed by Ray O’Leary: DEAN R. KOONTZ – Midnight.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Science Fiction & Fantasy[6] Comments
REVIEWED BY RAY O’LEARY:
DEAN R. KOONTZ – Midnight. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, hardcover, 1989. Berkley. paperback, 1989.
Thomas Shadduck, owner of New Wave Microtechnology, dreams of turning Mankind into a race of emotionless logicians — Vulcans, to you Trekkies out there. Toward this end, he has administered most of the leading citizens of Moonlight Cove, California, with a fluid which will make them stronger, smarter, and virtually invulnerable. Unfortunately, as they say in Sci-Fi, there are Side Effects: some of the converts have chosen to make frequent regressions turning themselves into animals and killing anything in their way.
Now, as Shadduck plans to convert the rest of Moonlight Cove, four people struggle to survive and get help: Sam Booker, an FBI agent sent to investigate the sudden rash of violent crime; Henry Talbot, a crippled Vietnam Vet; Tessa Lockland, whose sister supposedly committed suicide a few weeks earlier; and Chrissie Foster, who caught her parents regressing and escaped when they tried to inject her with the fluid.
Koontz throws in elements from various sources, which he freely Acknowledges: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Island of Doctor Moreau, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and even Aliens. Chrissie seems inspired by the Space Orphan in that film, and Koontz throws in a scene where her Parish Priest transforms into the Alien monster.
Though hardly a master craftsman, Koontz makes you care about bis characters and he writes a story that propels the reader helplessly, gladly along with it.
July 10th, 2020 at 9:56 pm
My wife loves to listen to the audio books of Koontz work, and really it may be the best way to read once you have read much of his work.
I read a good deal of his work for a while, then burned out on hunted kids, intelligent dogs, and the super villains or powered hero or heroine — just too many times to the trough. Plus he really does borrow a little too much from one source sometimes, good as those sources are.
Though my favorite of his books, PHANTOMS is a good example from borrowing a bit too much from a single source (QUATERMASS AND THE PIT). Stephen King borrowed from the same teleplay, but was a bit more open with his acknowledgement.
I still read him though, still appreciate him, just fewer and farther between.
He also wrote two of the best books on writing by any popular author that offer detailed analysis of how to physically tackle a novel and what publishers expect. For that he gets my full thanks.
July 10th, 2020 at 10:06 pm
I read all of his early science fiction, and most of the crime fiction he wrote under various other names. Once he started writing bestsellers, though, I drifted away, little by little.
I corresponded with him for a while, back in the 70s. He even did a fanzine that I had letters of comment in. I think I still have them all. I wonder if tehy mighht be worth anything?
His books in general, though, are not as “collectible” as they were early on, but it’s good to see that he’s still writing.
July 11th, 2020 at 12:24 pm
What a dumb review. Apparently, though Koontz “is hardly a master craftsman,” he nonetheless “propels the reader breathlessly.” Huh? Here’s my sort of funny Dean Koontz story. I shared a dinner with him once with our mutual friend, Joe Lansdale. I’d never read Koontz up to that point but his book, Writing Bestselling Fiction, was mentioned and interested me so I went out, bought it, studied it and wrote my novel, Night Wind. After enough people told me that they loved it because it reminded them of a Dean K. Koontz novel, I did read a few of his novels from this period and could see what they were talking about.
July 11th, 2020 at 1:45 pm
Well I know exactly what Ray was saying. Quite a few writers, both old and new, have no real skill with words in a literary sense, but can still tell stories that pull the reader in and don’t let go. Both Edgar Rice Burroughs and Clive Cussler fit the bill, as far as I’m concerned.
July 11th, 2020 at 4:41 pm
Koontz can be an irritating author for all the reasons mentioned (plus a few more). I eagerly read and enjoy his books but part of me hates myself afterward.
July 13th, 2020 at 7:27 pm
Koontz is often popcorn reading, but it is gourmet popcorn. He found a niche and has filled it well, and you can’t say his fans don’t get exactly what they want every time with every book.
Storyteller vs stylist is an old argument in popular fiction. There are many examples of storytellers who weren’t particularly great writers, Erle Stanley Gardner, Clive Cussler, Louis L’Amour, Harold Robbins, Alexandre Dumas …
But they are beloved storytellers and bestsellers precisely because they could tell a story,
When I say storyteller I am never looking down on the author in question.