Scan barcode
gbdill's review against another edition
1.0
The beginning of the story was really good. Elements of intrigue, suspense, and mystery. But, when the two mystery creatures became known, the story took a nosedive quickly towards corniness. If Koontz had kept the two creatures shrouded in mystery, I think the story would have been much better, keeping the reader engaged. Needless to say, I should have tried harder to stay with the book. But, after the mystery creatures were no longer a mystery, I felt as if I was reading a children's novel about two furry muppets.
christawatkins's review against another edition
2.0
Oh dear. Where do I begin. First of all, trying to pull off multiple converging character storylines in a book this size rarely works, and in this book it did not work. Nearly every character of focus ended up being the ridiculous complication in someone else's storyline, sometimes with only a momentary interaction that made me wonder why half of these people were even in the book. Cammy is the only character who had any depth at all, and even she wasn't well developed. One or two of the other characters were promising but left me wanting more information.
Two very different characters had names starting with the same letters, causing me to be confused during a few scene changes. New characters are introduced far too late in the book. It seemed like the action didn't start till way after the halfway point. The "big reveal" was... lame. The idea had promise but the execution was lacking. The "big standoff" was so anticlimactic it was silly.
I've been a Dean Koontz fan for a long time, but this just wasn't a very good book. It felt like he was just trying too hard.
Two very different characters had names starting with the same letters, causing me to be confused during a few scene changes. New characters are introduced far too late in the book. It seemed like the action didn't start till way after the halfway point. The "big reveal" was... lame. The idea had promise but the execution was lacking. The "big standoff" was so anticlimactic it was silly.
Spoiler
Feds come in with guns blazing only to stop when they realize the story has broken on TV? Really? With no word from anyone? Just... give up? And no consequences or follow up on what Cammy, Grady and Lamar did?I've been a Dean Koontz fan for a long time, but this just wasn't a very good book. It felt like he was just trying too hard.
dreasfreckles's review against another edition
2.0
Terribly confusion. I'm still not sure what it was about...
sharksfan32's review against another edition
3.0
Not one of Koontz's better works. Somewhat disappointing.
olliesbooknook2_0's review against another edition
3.0
Alright so it's better than the previous book I read (both by him and in general), ik it is his whole thing but less POVs would have made this so much better!! Honestly I would have been so much happier with a story following only Grady and Cammy! Henry's plotline could've made a great short story but I feel really disconnected from most of the other perspectives because of how little development there was between 6+ stories that intertwine (barely) in a 350 page book! Which is really unfortunate because I genuinely wanted to see the development between Grady and Cammy but it was bare bones at best! Loved the creature designs though, I sketched them out because I just adored it. Overall, meh at best, lots of things that could easily be enhanced, many things needed to be cut or expanded on, extremely abrupt ending (I mean going 45 mph and hitting a wall abrupt). I'm not mad, just disappointed.
thewilyfilipino's review against another edition
3.0
Ok -- I've never read a Dean Koontz novel before, but my girlfriend conked out early last night and this book (a gift from her cousin) happened to be lying around her apartment. I don't think I've read a novel before that has averaged two and a half stars on Amazon, but I'm also surprised by all the one-star reviews. Those I usually reserve for dull tripe, and even then I usually won't get past the first few pages to know I wouldn't like the book.
I understand what folks are writing about the ending: it seems terribly rushed, a couple of subplots are weakly resolved (if at all), and Koontz manages to shoehorn a didactic bit about a thinly-veiled creationism. But one star, really? The fact that I read the whole thing in one sitting, the fact that Koontz effectively stretches out the suspense in Grady's cabin, or that he manages to capture that sense of wonder that the characters undergo -- well, that takes a bit more narrative skill. It's like people who started pronouncing they hated "Lost" because of the unsatisfactory conclusion. Surely the journey to get to the ending was worth it, and that's what I thought of Koontz's strange mix of horror, religious fable and speculative fiction.
I understand what folks are writing about the ending: it seems terribly rushed, a couple of subplots are weakly resolved (if at all), and Koontz manages to shoehorn a didactic bit about a thinly-veiled creationism. But one star, really? The fact that I read the whole thing in one sitting, the fact that Koontz effectively stretches out the suspense in Grady's cabin, or that he manages to capture that sense of wonder that the characters undergo -- well, that takes a bit more narrative skill. It's like people who started pronouncing they hated "Lost" because of the unsatisfactory conclusion. Surely the journey to get to the ending was worth it, and that's what I thought of Koontz's strange mix of horror, religious fable and speculative fiction.
staples62's review against another edition
2.0
I won’t say this book is terrible. But it is by no means noteworthy. It keeps you interested just enough to finish the book and then sit back and say, “that’s it?” That’s how you end it?
gordcampbell's review against another edition
4.0
What a strange book. Strange, but also engrossing. Koontz was able to take a disparate group of characters, weave a compelling story and tie them all together neatly with a bow. What's amazing is that none of it felt contrived at all.
macnchz's review against another edition
4.0
I love Dean Koontz. My mom got this book for me for Christmas. I have enjoyed his books that feature dogs or other animals prominently in the past because he is quite good at writing about dogs, being a dog owner himself. The characters were great in this, as usual in his books. But I agree with some of the other reviewers, that the ending is incredibly anticlimactic. It's almost like he was writing, and was really into what was going on until he either suddenly realized that he didn't know how it would end, couldn't end it in one book, or had a weird feeling that endings don't matter anymore. I don't know but... that was rather dissatisfying. Other than that, though, great, interesting book with some wonderful character development. Also the creatures he thought up were pretty awesome.