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A review by thewilyfilipino
Breathless by Dean Koontz
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.