Trapped

by Dean Koontz, Ed Gorman (Adaptor), Anthony Bilau (Illustrator)

from Stalkers, was also collected in Strange Highways

What would happen if genetically engineered smart malevolent rats escaped their lab? In a snowstorm and TRAPPED a mother and her son in their secluded farmhouse...

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Audiobook

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

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

[Tracy P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Trapped' by Dean Koontz is a fantastic animated book done in cartoon format. This is a fun and different side from the novels I am used to from him and one more example of his fabulously creative mind. The illustrations by Anthony Bilau are excellent and bring the Koontz's words to life with zest and charisma for the reader.

[Holly (spoopyhol) · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘White rats locked in a laboratory cage - but try not to pity them. These dome-headed monsters are huge, bioengineered smart rats. And out they break one stormy winter night. They take over the nearby house of a widowed Mother Meg Lassiter. Hatred glows in their clever red eyes. Meg and young Tommy are their first victims. Loathsome humans, trapped...’

This was kind of disappointing on the narrative aspects. The story had real potential, huge smart rats?! Come on, could have been way, way creepier. The ending was the worst part, it just sort of ... ended. Unexpectedly and disappointingly.

The illustrations were superb, though, Anthony Bilau did a grand job. The best part was the doggo, a Lab named Doofus!

I do love Dean Koontz, but I think I prefer his books, he’s not a writer that’s easily adaptable to graphic novels.

[Denis Bruins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk verhaal met van die heerlijke ratten.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Achter de titel, waarin het woor VAL 3 keer groter is afgebeeld dan de woorden "In de" zien we een mooi winters plaatje. Een eenzaam huis met iets verder een grote schuur in een dosolaat landschap met enkele bomen. De rest is egaal zwart zodat je goed moet kijken om de, nochtans eveneens groot afgedrukte, naam van de schrijver te kunnen lezen. Bij het geschenk van de maan van het Spannende Boek 1995 zal de naamsbekendheid vermoedelijk van geen tel geweest zijn, je kreeg het toch gratis.
Ondanks dat dit een kort verhaal van net geen 100 bladzijden is, vormt het toch een mooi afgerond geheel.
Op de weg naar huis zal hoofdkarakter Meg Lassiter met haar 10-jarig zoontje een controle passeren aan een biotech bedrijf kort bij haar huis. De schrijver maakt van die gelegenheid gebruik om een achtergrond te schetsen, zowel van wat er bij dat biolab gebeurde als hoe Meg weduwe werd en de gevolgen daarvan op haar leven.
De rest van het verhaal zal zich in en rondom haar huis (dat van de cover) afspelen. Daarbij wordt nog een personage geïntroduceerd, hun hondd Doofus. Dooduf is het minst overtuigende karakter uit het boek, de andere zijn voldoende levensecht om er te kunnen mee meeleven. Waar de autorit noodgedwongen nog langzaam verliep zal het eens thuisgekomen steeds sneller gaan.
De dreiging en dan de ontdekkling van de gemuteerde ratten gevolgd door een open oorlog bevat een hoog horror-gehalte al is de toon van het verhaal overwegend positief. De lezer hoopt en verwacht dat Meg en Tommy er levend uit zullen komen, wat de schrijver er niet van weerhoudt om het tot op het einde razend spannend te houden.

[Ari Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite entertaining, bit of a silly concept, but a nice short read anyway.

[Anouk · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐3,5⭐

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice idea, too bad it was so short. Would have liked to read more!

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't read this book. I put it on my list of books to read but I see it's like a comic book. I hate comic books. So I'm going to mark this one as "read" just so that I don't go check it out again.

[Maud]

Was 2e verhaal in boekje bij 'de ravenzwarte veer' Liever gelezen dan dit 1e verhaal. In 1x uitgelezen, want kort verhaal.

[Bryndís · Rating 4 out of 5]

als je het niet te serieus neemt, is het best vermakelijk

[Jules Reading · Rating 1 out of 5]

2023 : 3⭐️
Honest rating : 1.5⭐️

Entertaining, but nothing else.

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand that this is a short story - I listened to the audiobook, not realising this. I then spent this morning loooking for the written one thinking that it wasn't complete. I was wrong, it was.

Loved the set up.

Hated the absolute spoon-fed allegory of being trapped - we're not stupid.

Loved Doofus.

Hated the abrupt ending... or, rather, the non-ending. Yet again, I have fallen to the self-imposed curse of the Koontz. I really do like several of his books... Strangers, Phantoms & Watchers for example... but I really really don't like a lot of them. I can cope with the repetitive tropes - they are to be expected. It seems, for me anyway, that he hops between either being 'enigmatic' ( i.e. not actually explaining anything ) or hand-holding us throughout the read ( i. e. helicopter authoring ).

[Bram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dit was het geschenk voor de week van het spannende boek in 1995. Het is met van die korte verhalen toch altijd moeilijk om echt een goed en spannend verhaal neer te zetten. De zoon in dit verhaal praat iets te wijs voor zijn leeftijd, en richting het einde wordt het verhaal steeds absurder dat ik uiteindelijk wel dacht van 'wat heb ik voor iets onrealistisch gelezen'. Maar al met al las het snel weg.


Meg en haar zoon rijden door een sneeuwstorm naar huis en zien bij het Laboratorium van Biolotech een hoop activiteit en politie. Uit dat laboratorium blijken 8 genetisch gemodificeerde ratten te zijn ontsnapt die zich in het huis van Meg schuil houden. Het wordt een strijd tussen Meg en de ratten en uiteindelijk blazen de ratten Meg haar huis op. Maar Meg en een beveiliger van Biolotech weten gelukkig alle 8 de ratten dood te schieten

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buenos los dibujos, una historia corta, entretenida.
A lo mejor el libro tiene un poco mas de terror o suspenso, esta versión de comic, la verdad no logra ninguno de los dos. Pero es entretenida.
Primera vez que leo (ponele) algo de Koontz, aunque creo que debería leer un libro, como para tener mas idea de su narrativa.

[marjorie hall-venmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading Dean koonts books for years, I was totally addicted every time I saw a, book o his I would update 's buy it, most of his books are brilliant this one no exception. Another Brilliant novel by Dean koontz. If you like horror books, I definitely recommend Dean joints.

[Xavier Marturet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al igual que pasó con Clive Barker, Dean Koontz tuvo su adaptación en novela gráfica de una de sus obras. El resultado es un tanto mediocre, si bien ahí queda una de esas pocas obras en formato prestigio que Grijalbo puso a la venta en el '94 de forma casi anecdótica.

[CorrieGM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heerlijk kort horrorverhaal. Je weet lange tijd niet wat er gebeurt, alleen dat het heel erg is.
En zo stormt het boek vooruit.
Ja, het is wat gedateerd, maar dat geeft helemaal niets.
Lezen, zou ik zeggen!

[John Parabellum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Griping tale about mutant Rats out for human blood

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adaptación flojita que me ha dejado bastante frío.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colección "Graphic Novels" de Grijalbo-Mondadori.

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story, familiar trope (genetic experiment gone bad)

[Borislav Beldev · Rating 2 out of 5]

История с потенциал, но ако бъде развита... В този си вид е изключително недостатъчно и набързо.

[Frankenoise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminded me of the novel 'Creature', published by John Saul around the same time, except with rats. Written well, but not that interesting.

[AV AV · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boekgeschenk (1995) i.h.k.v. De maand van het spannend boek.
Snel doorgebladerd en klaar. Wat een flutverhaal over laboratoriumratten die zijn ontsnapt.

[Jessy Hrdlicka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very awesome short story. It does bear various resemblances to the book Watchers, and the author explains this in (I believe) the afterward. It sat as a short story requested by a magazine, and then the mag went under before it could appear.
I love how neat and perfect this story is. It's short, but somehow the author is able to get you settled down, seated in your favorite spot, adorned with pillows in front of a roaring fire, cup of hot chocolate in hand with extra marshmallows, ottoman in front of you which your slippered feet are propped up on, covered with a favorite blanky, book in hand, ALL COMFY. He manages to do this within the length of a novella, and then he blows up the house and throws you out into a snowstorm, scaring the shit out of you. That takes talent, my friends, and it is a talent unique to the author, whom which I celebrate his entire catalogue. No matter how many times I have read them all- they still give me that rainy day, familiar, comfy feeling.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely illustrated adaptation of a Dean Koontz story.

[Tom Nash · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a crushing disappointment.

Having really enjoyed two graphic renderings of Clive Barker stories from the same publisher, I assumed that this would be of the same calibre. That it wasn't at all was the only twist on offer.

I've never read any Dean Koontz, so I don't know whether this was a faithful adaptation of the story or his style. All I can say is that the story felt like it was written in the 60s - which is possibly forgivable of the original story, if it was (no idea), but given that this was being adapted for a more modern audience, it failed to land a single punch.

Clichéd premise? Yes. James Herbert's The Rats put through the filter of a really terrible B-movie? You bet. A potentially interesting thematic set-up of grief and feeling trapped that in no way resolves, and is only tokenly referred to in the final page? That's the one.

And it's really not helped by the artwork. There are times when you're expected to rely on characters' reactions to scenes, but this is impossible because their faces have the emotional nuance of dough. The lines are imprecise, the proportions off, the villainous rats hackneyed.

I don't like giving bad reviews, because I worry the author(s) will read them. If you are: I'm sorry. But I think you had an off-day on this one. I hope to find something else you've done that will give me the opposite impression of your work.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The graphic novel adaptation of a Dean Koontz story.
A woman and her son find themselves snowbound in their house with a horde of genetically engineered intelligent and aggressive rats escaped from a nearby laboratory.

This book spends almost half its length setting the scene, introducing its characters and beginning to build the tension and that half of the book was very enjoyable. Unfortunately, once the rodent antagonists actually put in an appearance, things go rapidly awry.

The problem is that the idea of super-rats who set out to murder a random woman and her son is pretty silly. Once these rats have spiked the All-Bran with poison and sabotaged the engine of the Jeep, all sense of being rooted in the real world has been cast aside. I was onboard with the idea of rats which are unusually large, intelligent and aggressive towards humans but when they actually begin plotting my suspension of disbelief snapped.

The whole thing is then wrapped up far too fast (turns out you just have to shoot the rats) and leaves you with an aftertaste of "What the hell did I just read?".

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[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I have known about for some time (back in the early 90s in fact when I first found the works of Dean Koontz) but I have never had the money or chance to read it but today I did - strange how you find these things when you are not expecting them.
Anyway the book - its not a long read to be honest - it is based upon one of Dean's short stories although without me being told so I would not have realised. The artwork obviously takes up a lot of the descriptions the story would have contained - no doubt cutting down the page count - but in the process I feel taking away some of the essence of what makes a Dean Koontz story. Dont get me wrong I did enjoy the read and looking back has many of the elements of a classics Koontz but it does not have the same presence as say something like Oddkins.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t help but think this one suffered from it’s format. This story could have been really awesome fleshed out as a real novel. Apparently it’s an adaptation of one of Koontz’s short stories, and I think I would have preferred to read it in that form.

The story was ok - killer rats escape from a lab and attack a family. But in a shortened graphic novel format it felt so abbreviated. It felt a little like a tv episode. You know, one where you already knew the characters well so you didn’t have to waste time on character development. But maybe like a sweeps episode where they do crazy stuff like blow up houses and unravel conspiracy theories all in a neat 42 minute story arc.

(Reading Challenge category: A graphic novel)