Dean Koontz has been one of my favorite horror authors for quite a few years now. Since I hadn’t discovered him until after he was an accomplished writer, I am excited to know that I still have many books of his to read. The funniest part is I usually wait a few months in between reading his books and after I read them, I wonder why I waited so long. Unfortunately it wasn’t the case with Dragon Tears.
The story starts with five different people being visited by a man, who can’t be real and who appears to each one of them in a form of their biggest fears. Harry Lyon and Connie Gulliver are cop partners, Sammy is a homeless guy who lost his fortune due to his drug addiction, Janet and Danny are a mom and son running away from their horrible lives with Janet’s abusive husband. They all are brought together by a dog that can sense they are threatened by the same person. The man haunting them, dubbed Ticktock, gives these people sixteen hours to live, during which time he plays mercilessly with their fears and their psyche.
The story is, by all means a good one. Once again, Koontz delivers a tale that cannot possibly ever happen and yet somehow, I found myself believing the unbelievable and not once questioning the premise of it. Koontz has the uncanny ability to create the most outrageous characters and turn them into people that might very well be living among us. His writing style is commendable as well. It’s sharp, quick and to the point with some surprisingly profound thoughts and ideas. Dragon Tears has all that. What it doesn’t have, is the usual shocking twist to the story. The evil character was quite predictable, maybe even a little boring at times. Where the storytelling exceeded, the action lacked a few sparks here and there. The book wasn’t altogether bad, just not among Koontz’s best.
It didn’t leave me disappointed or frustrated, however. Dean Koontz is still a master at his craft. Dragon Tears, as any other of Koontz’s books, left me with some deep truths to ponder upon and an appreciation of his writing skills.
Favorite quote:
"Everyone’s a victim these days. No one’s a victimizer. No matter what atrocity you commit, you can stake a claim for sympathy, moan about being a victim of racism, sexism, ageism, classism, prejudice against fat people, ugly people, dumb people, smart people. That’s why you robbed a bank or blew away that cop, because you’re a victim, there’re a million ways to be a victim. Yeah, sure, you devalue the honest complaints of real victims, but what the hell, we only go around once, might as well get your piece of the action, and who cares about those real victims anyway, for God’s sake, they’re losers."
CHALLENGES: 100+ Reading Challenge, 999 Challenge, Winter Challenge, 2009 Ban On Spending Challenge
I remember really enjoying this book when I read it quite a few years ago. I used to read Koontz all the time but then I must have developed a weak heart or something cause I just can't handle hime any more...way toooo scary for me now! lol
ReplyDeleteAfter I almost called 911 one evening because I thought someone was in my house while I was reading one of his books, I figured I better just stop reading these for awhile. lol
Oh that's funny! They do tend to get scary I admit.
ReplyDeleteYa...I actually had the phone in my hand but then said to myself what are you doing??? lol
ReplyDeleteOh, I used to read Koontz ALL THE TIME! LOVED his books. Then yeah, like Jo-Jo said - I was home alone one night, and freaked myself out. Completely. =P
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of koontz books yet. Yet! I will, one of these days. Good review.
ReplyDeleteMy first Dean Koontz book was The Husband and I was hooked. I have a few of his that i need to read and this will be another one i add to the collection, Great Review.
ReplyDeleteDrey: Koontz is a very evocative, so to say , writer. I got my share of frights from him.
ReplyDeleteCindy: if you haven't read 'Intensity' yet, you should definitely go for this one, talk about scary!