Dragon Tears

by Dean Koontz

Harry Lyon was a rational man, a cop who refused to let his job harden his soul. His partner urged him to surrender to the chaos of life. But Harry believed in order and reason. Then one fateful day, he was forced to shoot a man - and a homeless stranger with bloodshot eyes uttered the haunting words that challenged Harry Lyon's sanity...

"Ticktock, ticktock. You'll be dead in sixteen hours... Dead by dawn... Dead by dawn... Dead by dawn..."

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Fantasy, Paranormal

403 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human.

Dean, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Facebook: Facebook.com/DeanKoontzOfficial
Twitter: @DeanKoontz
Website: DeanKoontz.com

Reviews

[Dave Edmunds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initial Thoughts

It's been a while since I've read a Koontz book. To be honest, I've got a very up and down relationship with the guy. When he's good, he's very good. But he's the kind of author who goes for quantity over quality and for every banger (Intensity, Phantoms, Twilight Eyes, Night Chills, Odd Thomas) there's usually a stinker to go with it (Face of Fear, Shattered, Tick Tock).

Ok, maybe "stinker" is going too far. But let's just say the type of books that just don't really add anything to your life. Formulaic and pedestrian. You get the picture.

But based on just how good those top titles are, I keep coming back to the well. And let's just hope this time it's not cometely dry with the supernatural horror, Dragon Tears.

This one has appeared in a few Dean Koontz top tens on YouTube. So I'm expecting it to be good. It's from the time in his career when he didn't have hair. So that usually guarantees it's going to be fairly decent. The less hair, the better the book or so the saying goes.



The Story

Dragon Tears revolves around two cops, Harry Lyons and Connie Gulliver, and kicks off like most Koontz books do. With some intense action as they chase down an active shooter. This is an author who firmly believes in hooking the reader from the start and it's a great opening.

They then encounter a homeless man, who isn't your standard hobo. This guy is huge, ominous and strangely terrifying. Something far more menacing than the boring old gunman. And thats before he tells Harry "ticktock ticktock...you'll be dead in sixteen hours. "



After that when the supernatural shit completely hits the fan for our two heroes. A huge, metaphorical hole is about to open up in front of them and it's looking like its going to swallow them up. Time is ticking for the pair and the race is on to survive. Let's go!

The Writing

This is Koontz writing super natural horror, which was more his flavour in the 90s. Normally I'd be all over this. But it's far from his best writing. Certainly nowhere near the likes of Intensity, Phantoms or Twilight Eyes.

There's a hell of a lot of explanation and Koontz defining stuff that I didn't think was really necessary and sometimes in descends into repetition. Not good!

The premise was certainly intriguing. But for me the story seemed to get bogged down in the middle and lost its pace. Strange for a Koontz book as they're usually rapid. Don't get me wrong, there were some intense scenes of blood thirsty horror. But what came between them is nowhere near the best from this author. So slightly disappointing.

The Characters

Koontz is not an author that's known for his characters. The only time he's really succeeded, in my opinion (although I haven't read anywhere near all his work), is Odd Thomas. Dragon Tears is unfortunately no exception.

All of the characters felt a touch one dimensional to me. Harry isn't really the most likeable protagonist and neither is Connie, although she did have potential.

Harry is very orderly and believes in following the law, while Connie Gulliver
is much more laid back and chaotic in nature. They're two cops working together who are pretty much complete opposites. Speaking from experience this doesn't really work and the chemistry between them is a bit forced.

Then there's Janet and her son who are homeless and living in their car. There was a number of chapters that focused on them but I honestly can't remember any of them. They just didn't add anything to the story.

To say I didn't really connect with any of the characters is putting it mildly. A lot of the dialogue felt a bit odd and clunky and the banter between the two main characters got a bit boring if I'm being honest. Nothing like the stuff that used to go on while I was at work until the powers that be put a stop to it all.

I've got to say the villain, Brian (what a name by the way), is definitely sinister and has a certain amount of intrigue. He's a guy with a full on God complex, only with the powers to back it up. But he just wasn't explored to the fullest. I'm not going to lie though, all the best parts featured him.

And I am still not sure how I feel about a dog as a partial narrator. Wait a second, that's a lie. They really annoyed me. Did it add anything to the book other than satisfying Koontz's obsession with dogs? Absolutely not. His presence was necessary, but his point of view certainly wasn't. Just quit it with the dogs Deano.

Final Thoughts

Let's start with the ending. Rushed and anticlimactic is what I would say. The authors attempt to build suspense fell completely flat for me. An average end to an average book. And that's me being generous.

So Dragon Tears is another one that joins the pile of Koontz books that really did not do it for me. It had a lot of potential but in the end was barely OK.

There were parts I really enjoyed though. But certainly not not enough. Definitely not Koontz at his finest. Bizarre that it featured in all those top tens on YouTube . It's certainly not getting into mine. Although I might have only read ten of his books. In which case it's in last place at number ten.

On the plus side it did not require a great deal of brain power and was a pretty quick read. But it has nothing to do with dragons, so if that's the reason you were wanting to pick this up then better think again.

Has this put me off reading more by this author. Potentially yeah. But I'll probably end up going back to him when I forget about this one and remember those good ones. You've got to look at the positives. Sorry there's just not many in this review!

Thanks for reading and...cheers!

[Karl Marberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful and also satirical. Koontz expresses distaste of the societal tumult and moral decay of the 1990’s and personifies this viewpoint with a petulant, bratty man-child antagonist. The narrative voice that he lends the dog was also well done.

[Eloy Cryptkeeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Él era un vehículo para el rayo. Aunque en su sueño era de día, los cielos estaban oscuros, cubiertos por las negras nubes del Juicio Final. De esa tormenta para terminar con todas las tormentas, ondulantes ríos de electricidad hacia él, y de sus manos, a su voluntad, brotaban rayos. Estaba Deviniendo. Cuando el proceso terminara, él sería la tormenta destructora y purificadora que arrastraría con todo lo que había sido, bañaría el mundo en sangre, y en los ojos de aquellos a quienes permitiera sobrevivir vería respeto, adoración, amor, amor"

Harry lyon y Connie Gulliver son una pareja de detectives de asuntos especiales.
Por azar comienzan su día inmersos en un pesadillesco tiroteo, del que logran salir maltrechos pero airosos.
Pero su día apenas comienza, al igual que su mala fortuna...
porque pronto se darán cuenta que fueron marcados por alguien o algo que no se rige por las leyes de la naturaleza, que los acechara y jugara con sus mentes. Alguien o algo con mucho poder y una crueldad exasperante para provocar miedo y humillación, jugando y divirtiéndose en el proceso.


Una historia sumamente trepidante, con tintes sobrenaturales, un muy interesante antagonista y todo el entramado que lo rodea. Te atrapa mas y mas con cada velo que el autor va quitando .Están muy bien enlazadas las subtramas y los personajes principales con los secundarios
Suda y sangra los años 90's.
También tiene su cuota de critica social y debates existenciales, Por ejemplo: Como cada persona quiere o puede afrontar a la vida, con sus armas y sus escudos.
"A veces la vida es amarga como las lagrimas de dragón. Pero las lagrimas de dragón solo son
dulces o amargas según el modo en que cada persona percibe su sabor"

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

If horror is your genre this is a good story for you. I admit I lost a lot of my taste in my late teens. Pretty well written. 6 of 10 stars

[Jay Schutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do people think up this stuff? Amazing from start to finish.

[Zoeytron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I continue to be disenchanted with Dean Koontz. Although I liked this one better than the last one I read (Deeply Odd), it still fell short of the mark for me. My favorite thing in the book was the small portions written from the dog's point of view, they were fun and seemed right on the money. I also liked the musings of Mickey Chan. According to Mr. Chan, a simple bowl of soup illustrates the true meaning of life. His reasoning behind that made me a believer; unfortunately, he breezily admits shortly thereafter that he was just making it up as he went. Gah!

In all fairness, I was pretty much marking time reading this, awaiting the release of another book. Even so, this may be the last novel I read by this author. I will thank him for his early offerings, and cut my losses from here on out.

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been a big Koontz fan since the early 80’s, when I figuratively inhaled every book I could get my grubby little hands on. This is a 1993 offering, that is not one of his best. The story begins with two police detectives caught in a shootout. In the aftermath, a young man with a God complex targets the detectives as victims of his sadistic fantasies. The narrative is mostly told from the third person, but there are parts where Koontz tells the story from the POV of a dog that is essential to the story. The novel is engrossing, the way most of his stories are, with characters that are well-thought out, integral to the story, and tied together in a natural and spontaneous way. Where it goes wrong is the climax, which is anti-climactic and brief. Also, Koontz seems to want to provide a commentary on the millennium doomsday propaganda that was pervasive during the writing of this book. Having lived through that time, and understanding it for what it was, the thought seems a tad hysterical and dated. Still, I enjoyed most of it despite its overt supernatural themes, so I go down the middle on this one.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good urban fantasy-style story with many of the familiar Koontz hallmarks: the story is partially told by a dog (who's more intelligent than most of the humans), there's some supernatural nastiness on the edge of the shadows of sunny California reality, some deep and mystical Oriental wisdom, a very evil and dark and evil mad antagonist evil genius, a cop with a heart of gold who's thrown into a madcap situation, etc. It's perhaps less optimistic than most of his work. It's set pretty firmly in the midst of Millenium-doomsday paranoia, so it hasn't aged as well as many of his other books from the same era, but I think it would still be an engaging read. Get in touch with the rhythms of destruction...

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not about what I thought it was going to be about. No sad dragons. ::Sigh::

Sometimes it’s a good thing when a book doesn’t match your expectations. Being caught off-guard by a book—when it isn’t the result of a perfidious marketing campaign, or the product of a particularly deceptive cover or dustjacket blurb—can be positive. A book should surprise you. When it’s done well, you get one of the heights of literary accomplishment.

This book does not represent one of those heights. It’s not a bad piece of work by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s also not any stretch of the imagination in and of itself. There are more than a few nicely turned phrases that Mr. Koontz unleashes in his narratives. He has a penchant for detailed descriptions and painting a scene that is often lush, but sometimes crosses that strange, gray line into the tiresome. Normally, the detailed descriptions of character's thoughts and actions builds tension nicely, and gives us a firm mental image. However, we need not know every detail of every move of a character looking around a room, particularly when there’s nothing there. Nothing under the couch. Nothing behind the door. Nothing lurking in places where nothing should be and nothing to be done about the nothing in the first place. Surprise! Right behind you all along. Somebody throw that drowning man a trope.

Speaking of tropes. Cops are an overused trope in urban fantasy. Disgruntled cops an overused cop trope. Mismatched emotionally unavailable cops as partners an overused trope of cop tropes. Overall, Mr. Koontz dipping into the trope well isn’t all that desperate a writing technique, but if you’re looking for something different then the main characters are a fail in this book. Mr. Koontz gives the reader more than enough trope to hang himself.

(OK, I’ll stop with the trope puns.)

Mr. Koontz does have a feel for personality that is quite strong, and he spares neither his readers nor his characters the least analysis. The characters are all motivated by personality traits, not just events, and their overall world view is presented consistently and with aplomb. This isn't a character study, though, so readers must be satisfied with "neat freak" as a personality type, "freedom lover" as a personality type, or "battered wife" as a personality type. These are not new forms in modern literary terms, but Mr. Koontz gives them more than enough depth of character to satisfy a thriller.

Where this book often goes too far is in its relentless Millennial doomsday theme. Written in the 90s in an attempt to capture some of the clock rollover angst, Mr. Koontz makes the inevitable creeping decline of human civilization the main backdrop of the book. This was a clear attempt to cash into that lowest order of cultural numerology; the fizzle that was the Millennium rollover. I imagine that when the book was published, that backdrop would have read as fresh and edgy. However, reading this book after the 1990s makes that constant theme something of a chore. Two decades on it reads like a dated and overwrought egoism in the guise of pop culture commentary. The 90s being a decade of collapse, decay and malaise is a constant refrain of the book to the point that those of us who lived through that decade have difficulty reconciling their own experience with the vast banking malfeasance, the complete failure of government leadership, and overall decline in the decade that followed. But the steady improvement that occurred in the 90s was not part of Mr. Koontz’s vision. Rather, this book is predictive pessimism in prose.

Worse, Mr. Koontz weaves it right into his characters and narration in every major portion of the book, right up into the finale where it borders on the ridiculous:

“The explosion was muffled, like firing into a pillow, the green glow disappeared in the instant it first arose, and he squeezed the trigger again, both rounds into the troll’s brain. That was surely enough, had to be enough, but you never knew with magic, never knew in this pre-millennium cotillion, these wild ‘90s, so he squeezed the trigger again.”

What the 90s have to do with pumping bullets into the head of a magically empowered psychopath, I’ll never know. But Mr. Koontz started banging that drum, so he might was well finish on the beat. The end of the world is nigh, blah, blah, blah. I imagine a sequel would cash in on June 6, ’06 fear, and then there’s the 2012 Aztec calendar anxiety. Surely we can milk a little out of some other apocalyptic Gregorian fallacy.... Sheesh.

The story follows mostly the exploits of two police officers who have caught the attention of a supernatural being killing its way along a route to power. There are chapters from the perspective of several other characters: a homeless man, a homeless woman with a child, an invalid in a nursing home, the occasional secondary character related to our main protagonist and, most unlikely, a stray dog. Detailed chapters from the point of view of a dog are much less interesting and amusing than one might imagine, particularly in the context of an urban horror novel. Those who like goofy cuteness interspersed with their horrific murders may find this more palatable than I did. Personally, I found the Prince/Woofer chapters obnoxious.

There always comes a point in an urban fantasy where the reader has to do a form of metasuspension of disbelief. That is, when the characters manage to see through the looking glass into the supernatural aspect of the fictional world they inhabit, the reader must not only accept that supernatural aspect, but must believe that the characters can believe it. In many cases, this the most difficult part of a story for readers to accept. I found it tough in this book. The hard-bitten, tough as nails, firmly rooted in the real world cops jump straight from their logical world right into Buffy the Vampire Slayer with nary a blink. Once they’ve accepted it, they immediately begin speculating on the superpowers of their godly opponent, and we are treated to rambling explanations and more than a few leaps in supposition as they make their way towards the final confrontation.

At its worst, this occurs during a long, meandering time stop speculation section in which the super-powered villain has suspended the passage of time for everyone and everything except himself and our heroes. Though couched in uncertainties, Mr. Koontz could not resist throwing in more than a little of his own thoughts on the physics of time, clearly gleaned from his own reading on the subject. In and of themselves, these thoughts are not necessarily bad, but they do seem strange coming from the mouths of homicide detectives fleeing for their lives from a psychotic super villain on his way to demigodhood.

There are long POV chapters from the perspective of our killer and his potential victims. Some of them are quite poignant, though somewhat pointless. Sammy Shamroe faces the villain at, arguably, his most disturbing, and we are treated to some quite well executed examples of horrifying prose. Unfortunately, Sammy turns out to be something of a non-starter as a character. His contribution is minimal. He is literally told to “wait in the car” with two other minor characters at the book’s finale, so all that nice character development didn’t go much of anywhere. I hope they at least left a window open a crack.

In any case, I am giving this book a star for some of the nice phrasing that Mr. Koontz uses. He occasionally—more than occasionally, to be honest—turns a phrase in an elegant and outright artistic way. I’m also giving it a star for a nice villainous villain, whose development and background are entertaining if somewhat fanciful. The baddy’s depravity and cruelty are a little superficial, but he remained interesting and well considered throughout the book. However, I’m not giving it more than 3 stars, because of the 90s theme that just dates the book so badly, and that merits at least -*. Also, the climax was somewhat anti-climactic, and after 300+ pages I want more satisfaction. So, star deduction #2. I can’t really recommend this one because of that relentless 90s theme, but if you don’t think you’d be bothered by that then it’s a pretty decent thriller.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one of my favorite Koontz books. The best part (in the opinion of many Koontz fans, including myself) is the portion of the story told through the eyes and voice of a dog. The rave and time freezing scenes are interesting, but overall this is mediocre Koontz. The continual references to the story being told in the nineties "these are the nineties afterall" and blah blah got rather annoying.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Koontz book I ever read. I read it a loooong time ago. Maybe 10 or 20 years ago. From what I read in other reviews, maybe it is like one of those favorite old movies that is not impervious to time...you watch it years later and the jokes are old, the characters are dorky...but I really liked this book.

The first time I tried to read it, it scared me so much I had to put it down. I think it took me 3 tries to get through it. That said, the 3rd time I was like, "what was so scary that I couldn't keep reading?" Maybe it was the cruelty.

As others mentioned, he talks from the dog's point of view at times. The dog perceives the world through smells. The first chapter I read from the dog's pov, I thought it was really annoying. but, it really is an interesting and insightful perspective, and I ended up enjoying it when it came in in the remainder of the book.

There are a few different "victims" - hunted would be a better descriptor - and the antagonist terrorizes each of them in a unique way. He completely steals their peace. The key to his identity is found through the discovery of a relative who he is also terrorizing...I thought this was a really surprising twist in the plot.

I think the ending was somewhat anti-climactic as this antagonist seems invincible and is so horrifying...and then they catch up to him...even though you want them to, you are a little unimpressed with who he turns out to be.

Anyway, I thought this was great. Scary, suspenseful...I saw very mixed reviews. Some love it, some hate it. After this, I thought I discovered the best author ever, so I read a number of his books. Aside from False Memory (which I liked, but not as well as Dragon Tears), I do not remember much of their plots or characters. I think this is because I didn't feel most of them measured up, I began to tire of the "darkness" inherent in most of his novels (given the subject) and they started to feel formulaic....I felt I would know what the characters would do and how it would end. I think this is pretty typical with authors who write in one genre. It's human nature. I definitely felt that way about Stephen King. I think I prefer Koontz to King, though King did have some really stand-out books.

[Cody | CodysBookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell, 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, even when Koontz occasionally veered off into the corny. But it gave what I needed: a full-throttle, thriller/horror novel—a fan favorite amongst Koontz fans for a reason. Not to mention the unusually compelling villain.

One could argue the climax is rushed, and I would agree. But the journey was truly more important than the destination.

This book has been on my tbr since, like, 2012 and I’ve finally read it. Rad.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

NYT # 1 - January 24, 1993 (hawes.com)

California police Dectitives Harry Lyon and Connie Guliver are the 2 main characters showing the importance of partnership and off-duty friendliness. The theme is Harry & Connie are spooked & track a " bloodless" monster/ghoul named "Ticktock" (20 years old).

A challenge to Harry and Connie is stop "Ticktock" and in one instance they must escape when he says "you'll be dead in 16 hours, dead by dawn, dead by dawn". "Ticktock" has killed Ricky Estefan and chased the Marco family (killing Vince, dad).

Why has Brian Drackman taken power to kill and get money (over his wife, Jennifer). Harry & Connie track "Ticktock" to Brian Drackman's house on Phaedra Way. It ends in an exciting typical police chase with Harry, Connie and Woofer finding "Ticktock ". A ending surprise to deal with is: The worry of time stopping if "Ticktock" is killed and why worry about hiding Brian's monies at Phaedra Way?

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detectives Harry Lyon and Connie Gulliver after tracking down and killing a deadly killer have now been targeted to die by a otherworldly being known as Bryan Ticktock. Can they stop him before he can cause more chaos? Read on and find out for yourself.

This was my first read of the year and is a pretty good supernatural thriller by Dean Koontz. If you like these types of novels and Dean Koontz's work then I recommend you check this book out at your local library and wherever books and ebooks are sold.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Book: Tuesday was a fine California day, full of sunshine and promise, until Harry Lyon had to shoot someone at lunch'.

Who wouldn't want to know why Harry's lunch had to include shooting someone...especially if you had ever had service or the food that tempted you to want to do that yourself? :) Harry is a cop, and the man he stops eating his lunch to shoot, with the help of his partner, Connie Gulliver, is a lunatic who interrupted their lunch by shooting the establishment to smithereens. I have to admit that it was quite a start to the story, and it was also the start to this authors' many red herrings, because the crazy was just that...crazy.

Then there is the guy that Harry and Connie take on later...Bryan Drackman, who becomes fixated on the cops when he's drawn to the restaurant shooting. Bryan, like most serial killers, believes that he has been endowed "godlike" powers; but we find there is SO much more to Bryan since...he really has been. He was doomed to this future even before birth by radiation and drugs, and this is what Bryan believes has turned him into a sociopath who can conjure up any entity he wants...especially his sometimes "friend and companion...Ticktock,'' a giant who is now stalking Harry, Connie, and the others, including a dog, (who I absolutely loved), who makes understandable audible narrations like "piece of paper", "candy wrapper", "smells good'', " better pee here". The dog is charming...and just about the only character in this story that you would give that moniker to.

Ticktock warns Harry & the rest that they will all die at dawn, and it's only late into the night that they learn that Bryan has the power to stop time, which naturally causes a jaw- dropping moment for the cops but they manage to flee through a frozen world with "Ticktock" close behind them. Bryan, the cops now know, must sleep after his time-stopping escapades...which may be another "bad" thing for Harry and company.

The story becomes a bit on the "preachy" side about social decay...but the action never slows down. I have to give any author who can produce and publish anything with this much over-the-top imagination...something that actually makes adult people sit for hours glued to the pages to see how it all concludes...5 or more stars. Well done Dean Koontz!

[Giselle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, Mr. Koontz. The 90s are a crazy time full of crazy goings on and off the wall capers. Arguable there was no "moral fiber" no "law or justice" and the youth were obviously "revolting" (in every sense of the word). Yeah. I got it. Wait 'till you get to the ots...

While I always enjoy a good paranormal horror (and Mr. Koontz's are usually top-notch) this one just had me rolling my eyes. Creepiness came from the rare moments when TickTock (our antagonist...worst name for a bad guy ever. It's like naming him 'Fluffy' frankly...) appeared in the next line where he hadn't been anywhere in the scene. When you picture it happening, it is terrifying and Mr. Koontz utilizes this device to its fullest extent. But that was one of the only creep-inducing things to come out of the entirety of this far-too-long novel.

As well, I feel like I shouldn't be noticing all the research the author has done in pursuit of realness. I don't really care about the specific plant types found in this neighborhood, or the precise medical effects of ecstasy (called 'E' now, not 'X'...sign of the change in times?).

I don't think horror books should feel dated but Dragon Tears fairly dripped of the early 90s as well as a huge dissatisfaction with the era. Plus: the whole "disparate characters seem to be completely unrelated but then meet-up and save the day" trope was not really utilized to its best potential here. The story would have read just as well without the frequent side-trips into the minds of other characters it was hard to feel anything for. In this case, these "other main characters" really only served to corroborate the sanity of the Real Main Characters. Something we knew wasn't in question.

The Dog was infinitely more useful.

[Bixby the Martian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dean Koontz books are weird for me. I enjoy them, they're easy to read and very formulaic, and I really liked them when I was a teenager so it's nostalgic for me.

Stephen King describes his relationship to stories in the context of relationships- married to a books, an affair with a book. He calls short stories a kiss in the dark. To stretch that metaphor to Dean Koontz books, I would liken them to a coffee date with mediocre coffee and a companion who is only pleasant in short doses.

In Dragon Tears, Our Heroes are mostly a cop duo who are being haunted by an insanely powerful psychopath with the ability to stop time (or near enough as counts. There's no reason they should triumph over this guy, not even surprise- he can stop time. He is a telepath and can set things on fire with his mind. It's a book with an unusually bleak mindset and outlook for Koontz, with a villain that should not be stoppable through normal means. I've read the book several times since the first time as a teenager, and I'm still not entirely sure how that's supposed to work. The dog saved them? Apparently? Somehow?

Whatever.

[Paul Talbot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the worst of Koontz's books that I've read. The central concept is interesting, and I liked the Tick-Tock character. The problems are that the plot meanders way too much, and Koontz takes some strange time-outs to moralise about subjects he clearly knows nothing about. For example, a rave sequence where he spouts a lot of debunked "facts" about the effects of ecstasy and decries the morality of drugs just before having Tick-Tock brutally mutilate some of the ravers. It seems hypocritical at best, and slows the story to a crawl.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sometimes life can be as bitter as dragon tears. But whether dragon tears are bitter or sweet depends entirely on how each man perceives the taste."
- Chinese quote, Dragon Tears, Dean Koontz
.
A cop faces the wrath of a man with a God-complex... cops vs supernaturally being! I've struggled with a lot of Koontz work, but this is deffo one of his better ones, even though it's crammed with critique of the Millenium doomsday sayers (it was written in the early 1990s). 7 out of 12.

[Nels · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! I absolutely enjoyed reading it. It's a combination of crime,thriller and mystery fiction. I really liked the supernatural element in the book, it was very interesting. I loved the two main character Harry and Conie (very likeable ones). I absolutely loved their partnership/friendship, amusing conversations and backstories. The supporting characters did not disappoint as well. The things that I did not enjoyed very much were the main villain I really couldn't connected with him and I wanted a little more from the ending.
Overall, a great book.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dean Koontz is one of my favourite authors – if for no other reason than he was one of the first authors I felt an insane need to go and purchase numerous books of, after just my first book. Like any of my favourite authors, though, I have ups and downs with his books. Some I really enjoyed, others I do not care much for. With Dragon Tears, we have a case of the latter – this book was enough to keep me interest in how things would come together, but it is far from my favourite Dean Koontz read.

Personally, for me, I feel as though nothing much happened with Dragon Tears. We had a story with a lot of potential – cops fighting off the supernatural whilst on a countdown – yet it never quite packed the punch it should have. There was a lot going on, plenty of interesting elements to unfold, but it was never all it could have been. I wanted something more – the action, the one-liners, and the quirky characters I have loved so much in other Dean Koontz novels.

If I’m being brutally honest, there are times when I think Dean Koontz churns out a new book because he is on a contract – and when this happened, the book is never quite to the level it could be. Dragon Tears feels like one of those books, one of those books where he didn’t quite give his all.

I’m sure there will be many people who enjoy this one, but as a Koontz fan I found this one to be somewhat lacking. Enjoyable, but I wanted much more.

[Dimitar Jovanovski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one reminded me a lot of a Stephen King novel, I can easily see why everyone's comparing Koontz and King. But, three stars for this one. On the whole it was a good read but I found it slow at times with too much explanations and unnecessary informations. I needed some time to get into the story at the beginning. But at other times I couldn't put it down. I could see a lot of similarities with his book ''The Bad Place'' which I read last year, even with ''Whispers'' especially in the structure of the villains.
Actually I expected a lot of this book. I watched some ''top ten Dean Koontz'' videos on youtube and this book was highly recommended by his long-year readers and fans, even being in the first five, although the rating on Goodreads was telling me something else.
However the story was interesting enough to keep me in suspense and I liked the part with the dog, I think it was interesting and unique. This could easily be four stars if it was just a little bit more fast paced at some parts.

[Kim]

Enjoyed this book. Especially the one narrator! loved that so much. Looking at other people ratings I think sometimes people are so weird... giving a 1 rating.

[Matias Cerizola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lágrimas De Dragón.- Dean R. Koontz

“-Cuando no sabes de dónde vienes, cuando no sabes si puedes amar -murmuró ella, como si hablara consigo misma-, cuando sólo quieres libertad, tienes que obligarte a asumir responsabilidades y muchas. La libertad sin responsabilidad es puro salvajismo. -No sólo hablaba en voz baja, sino como hipnotizada. - Tal vez vengas del salvajismo, no lo sabes, pero sí sabes que puedes odiar con toda tu alma aunque no puedas amar, y eso te asusta, significa que también tú puedes caer en ese abismo…”

Harry Lyon y Connie Gulliver, policías y compañeros, distintos como el agua y el aceite, pero ambos con el mismo compromiso a la ley. Luego de un tiroteo con un desequilibrado en una casa de comidas, el mundo tal como lo conocían da un vuelco. Una especie de vagabundo surreal le dice a Harry que va a morir en unas horas, pero antes morirán sus seres queridos. Tic Tac Tic Tac, el tiempo avanza, los muertos se acumulan y Harry y su compañera están desesperados por encontrar a este ser que parece sobrenatural.

Lágrimas De Dragón (Dragon Tears) es una novela de suspenso y terror sobrenatural escrita por el autor norteamericano Dean R. Koontz (1945-), publicada originalmente en el año 1993.

Los tumultuosos ‘90s. Con la psicosis del nuevo milenio a flor de piel y lejos de la fiesta de los ‘80s, Dean Koontz plasma a través de sus personajes las contradicciones de una década compleja, obviamente dentro de una historia de horror contra reloj (algo que Koontz hace de taquito) que no da respiro al lector y lo hace devorar el libro.

Contada desde una perspectiva principal y otras secundarias, incluso una de ellas desde el punto de vista de un perro (gran acierto de la novela), para luego confluir todas en el final, Lágrimas De Dragón no escatima en escenas sangrientas y tampoco en derroteros sobre la sociedad de ese momento. Así que si se cruzan con este libro en su librería amiga de usados (nuevo olvídense) no lo dejen pasar.

🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[Kitty | MyCuriousReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Koontz!

[Maciek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pair of detectives and three homeless people are stalked by a vargrant, who utters a haunting warning: "Ticktock, ticktock. You'll be dead in sixteen hours...Dead by dawn...Dead by dawn...Dead by dawn..."

Time runs short, and it soon becomes obvious that the vargrant was no ordinary vargrant. Dangers arise everywhere, and the world changes for the five people: they will do anything and try to understand what is going on, a quest which will lead them to the sanctuary of a new, terrible god...

Dragon Tears is typical early 90's Koontz; fast-paced, imaginative and entertaining. Even the "90's are bad" attitude which Koontz sports liberally throughout the text is not too bad. The plot is captivating if formulaic, with enough suspense and twists to hold the reader to the very end. I'm a fan of Koontz's writing style from that period, Hemingwayesque no-frills prose which is sorely missing from his newer output. He could describe the scene like few others in his field, but these days are long gone.

The best thing about Dragon Tears is the villain, who's...but you've got to discover that for yourself. Also, as a testament to Koontz's love of dogs there's one in this book, and some chapters are narrated from his point of view. This sounds utterly ridiculous, but Koontz really pulls that off and they are a definite highlight of the novel.

To sum up, Dragon Tears is fun. It won't change your life but it's a good way to spend some hours. Back in the day, Koontz was still considered "weird" and this book shows why. If there's something like "Classic Koontz", then this is it.

[Marna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Dean Koontz. His imagination knows absolutely no bounds. He's every bit as weird as I am, which is truly a comfort!

He's a lovely wordsmith, his stories flow so beautifully. I love the supernatural element that frequents his books, mainly because that is a very real part of Life, as far as I'm concerned, and he's not afraid to write about it. This story, in particular, handles the supernatural element beautifully, realistically, and crafts a marvelous story out of some pretty far-out concepts (far out to the average reader, I guess I mean). And the dog! Oh, the dog is a great character in this book, and that's another reason I love Dean Koontz--the animals play wonderful parts. Anyone who has loved a dog, and has had a dog in one's life in a meaningful way, will appreciate the canine element in his writings.

Thank you, Dean Koontz, for keeping me in great reads. (I love a great writer, I love a prolific writer--but a great, prolific writer is hard to beat for a voracious reader).

[Jim Barton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't know what it is with Koontz: some of his books such as Watchers and Twilight Eyes were delightful reads; others are truly horrible. Dragon Tears unfortunately falls under the latter category. This is one of the few books I have completed that I actually regretted reading.

He was really prolific during the 80s-90s, seeming to have something new every time I went into a bookstore (which was quite often for me). Maybe, his apparent reluctance to adjust the flow from the firehose explained the unequal quality of his work. I have since moved on to other authors, so I'm not sure whether any of this has changed with him.

[Kerstin Lampert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm crying dragon tears, because Dean Koontz did it to me again!
For the second time (Innocence) I'm thinking this story is going owhere...even though his descriptive prose is like poetry.

Yet, he manages to spool out an intriguing yarn, replete with essayson modern (the 90's) life....homelessness....the drug culture....young adult behavior going to the dogs, etc.

And speaking of dogs. ho would've thought of turning the whol story over to a dog hero?

Masterful!

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh, it's okay. Nothing against the book exactly, but I just am not into most serial killer type of books. They bore me for some reason. This one was unique for sure, and Koontz wrote well, but again it was meh for me. Characters were better than some of his other books though and seemed real, and we did get several scenes with the dog. Review soon