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 enlarge | Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
Buy New: $7.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  205 reviews
Sales Rank: 15039
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 480
ISBN: 0553589121
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553589122
ASIN: 0553589121
Publication Date: October 21, 2008 (In 46 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
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Availability: Not yet published
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| Customer Reviews:
 Interesting Critique August 6, 2008
I wont spend much time reviewing this book, because the other 3 and 4 star reviews are more than adequate. I am a huge Koontz fan and love his books and writing style. This book is no different and is a good read, especially for Koontz fans. However it is not his best work, and I would rate it 3 stars if not for the literary critque mixed into his prose.
The most interesting aspect of this book was Koontz's criticisms of other authors. Specifically Kurt Vonnegut. One of the antagonists in the novel was named Billy Pilgrim (the hero of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse five.) The Koontz character was a sociopath who used the writings of postmodern metafictional authors (such as Vonnegut) to justify his sociopathic behavior.
Excerpt describing the Billy Pilgrim in Koontz's novel: "He had no patience for those few books on the market that sought to find order or hope in life. He liked books steeped in irony. Wry comic novels about the folly of humanity and the meaninglessness of existence were his meat. He didn't care for writers full of brooding nihilism, but rather for those who sweetened their nihilism with giggles, the kind of guys who would be happy operating a weenie stand in Hell."
This character's real name is Philip Marlowe, but he has rejected it for such Vonnegut-inspired aliases as Billy Pilgrim and Eliot Rosewater, not to mention one from Thomas Pynchon. When he grows more deranged, he rants about Kafka, Wallace Stevens and James Joyce. Koontz even borrows some Vonnegut mannerisms, right down to "So it goes" and "Hi-ho."
I really enjoyed the not so veiled criticism of Vonnegut and his ilk. I therefore give it four stars because it is interesting to hear a respected author critique another, and because I agree with Koontz about Vonnegut's style of writing.
 This was a great read and Dean Koontz still rocks!!! August 5, 2008
Okay. I am a little surprised at the three star rating that this novel received. I am an avid reader and really enjoyed this novel. Amy Redwing, initially, seemed like a, "fun kook" of a heroine, but as the book unfolds you realize the many layers of this character and why she is the way she is. I loved all of the dogs and feel that when Koontz writes about them he pays them the highest form of tribute and I say, Bravo and keep it coming!! Nickie is one of Koontz's best dogs.
The villainess of the piece is one of Dean Koontz's most monstrous. There are plenty of other villains in this novel who are well realized and suitably bad but "Moon Girl," is a sociopathic monster who really creeped me out. And that is not something easily done. Touche', Mr. Koontz.
The character of Hope is wonderful, I fell in love with her spirit and good heartedness. The character of Brian was also very enjoyable. Good read!!
Nameless Narrator July 27, 2008
I pulled that title from the book, for I felt as if a narrator had shared this story with me one stormy night as we sat on a porch under the safety of a wide eave sipping cocoa. And as desperately as I wanted to escape the lightning sizzling nearby, I couldn't bring myself to put down my cup and go indoors.
I didn't like the story but I couldn't put the book down. Each time I encountered evil, I found purity. Where there was darkness, there was light. Depravity, Hope. Mr. Koontz's storytelling is electrifying no matter what the tale, as are his astute observations, which he masterfully weaves into his prose.
Dog lover: 5 stars; Koontz fan: 31/2 stars July 24, 2008
As an avid dog lover and an owner of rescue dogs, this book put into words all of the feelings about these beautiful creatures I've ever felt, thought or attempted to explain. (Although this book focused on Goldens, I believe it to be a tribute to any outstanding dog, past or present!) If you've ever had a "special" dog in your life, this book is for you!!!
As a Koontz fan, I agree it did lack a nice and tidy ending...I also felt it was rushed and missing something. Altogether though, it was a good read and made me want to go pet my dogs and spend some extra time tucking my kids in for the night. Kim/OH
 Absolutely foul. Zero stars. July 24, 2008
The plot depends on outlandish coincidence. Wild, distant, absurd, laugh-at-the-author coincidence.
The characters are shallow, undeveloped, implausible.
The ending is a complete failure. I don't want to play spoiler, so I'll just say the author simply could not find a way to finish the story, and relied on utter nonsense to get out of it.
Every now and then he tries to excite the reader with interludes of what you might call AKC Conformance Porn (". . . and her nose was perfect black, not a speck of brown . . . "), laughably ham-handed, and directly in conflict with the supposed pro-rescue subtheme (sure, we luvv to rescue dogs, but secretly we wish they were all perfect Breed Type).
Regrettably, I read all the way to the end, whereupon I was mildly surprised to find myself speaking out loud to the empty room: "Wow. That was really a terrible book!"
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