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Demon Child
A child accursed calls Jenny to a house of terror--and an appointment with death. Gothic-romance novel written to meet a publisher's guidelines and "stave off starvation and buy a little time to write what I really cared about."
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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882 people want to read
About the author
Deanna Dwyer
5 books25 followersDeanna Dwyer is a pseudonym of horror writer Dean Koontz/Dean R. Koontz. Koontz mostly published pulp Gothic Horror fiction under this name.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 8, 2016
As Dean himself says, it was a story written to keep the publishers at bay and bought him more time to write what he really cared about. I didn't expect too much, but as a big Koontz fan, I knew it would still be worth reading, and it was. The ending was obvious, but it was still a good read and kept you mildly confused as to the era it was set in. With a superhighway intertwining with an historical English Manor Estate setting. I was constantly envisioning the characters in Victorian era dress, while reading about a huge superhighway interchange. Weird.
All in all, the happy ending was as expected. The villain dies, the child is restored to health, and the hero gets the girl... (who despite other comments here, is not her cousin)... Jenny is Cora's niece, Richard is Cora's step-son. No blood relationship at all.
All in all, the happy ending was as expected. The villain dies, the child is restored to health, and the hero gets the girl... (who despite other comments here, is not her cousin)... Jenny is Cora's niece, Richard is Cora's step-son. No blood relationship at all.
November 5, 2019
Not as good as I was hoping as I am a big fan of Dean Koontz but I could see where this story was just a filler for him so he could concentrate on what he really wanted to write. Pretty predictable but had some elements of surprise within the story.
February 1, 2021
This was an interesting piece of speculative fiction from the pen of Dean Koontz. Is an old family curse really responsible for the strange occurrences and deaths of local animals? A young girl believes she is the embodiment of the curse and when she enters her fugue states her spirit becomes a wolf. A minor power struggle in the family pits the current matriarch who firmly believes in the family curse and her eldest son who puts his trust in psychiatry. To this end a psychiatrist recommended by the local doctor comes to stay and the house to try and offer a diagnosis on the girl.
Immediately upon his arrival things seem to get worse. A horse is killed and when the local vet comes to investigate, he to dies a horrible death. What is the truth behind the tension and mysterious happenings? Is it science fiction, pure science or something much, much worse?
Immediately upon his arrival things seem to get worse. A horse is killed and when the local vet comes to investigate, he to dies a horrible death. What is the truth behind the tension and mysterious happenings? Is it science fiction, pure science or something much, much worse?
January 30, 2022
Another really quick and easy read, by Koontz writing as a pseudonym. These books by “Deanna Dwyer” are so short, and easily blasted through, one can usually get through it in a few hours. Unfortunately, this novel has one of those ‘insta-love’ moments just like the last novel Koontz wrote (and I just finished), ‘Dance with the Devil’. It’s kind of like, ‘oh, this handsome dude saved me…! I think I love him…. DO I love him? I think I do…! *SIIIIGH…..*’ And that’s usually pretty gross. I’m super duper glad that Koontz grew out of that kind of writing.
https://readfrom.net/dean-koontz/page...
3 stars, and I guess recommended…? Idk, you do you. 🤷🏽♀️
https://readfrom.net/dean-koontz/page...
3 stars, and I guess recommended…? Idk, you do you. 🤷🏽♀️
April 12, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy fast read. It kept my attention through out. It wasn't the best Koontz novel but it was a good solid mystery.
June 27, 2022
eponymous sentence:
p23: "Sarah pledged that every generation of the Brucker family would contain a child haunted, a child possessed, a demon child as she called it...."
ocr:
p4: Copvright š 1971 by Deanna Dwyer
p9: At least that was the general feeling on the bus where the air-conditioning had malfunctioned and the passengers had grown talkative hi order to make the leaden minutes pass more swiftly.
p22: Both these volumes had been published hi Philadelphia.
p24: "...Sometimes, it bowls for half an hour or more, as if it is in some pain or possessed of great sadness...."
p32: "...The child has had a potentially damaging infancy, with a mother who was indifferent to her, moving from hotel to hotel, from one nanny and part-tune governess to another...."
p36: What would a psychiatrist say il he were able to study her?
p97: "But when your beliefs begin to interfere with your good health, it's tune to draw the line."
p108: A terrible thought took form in her mind, an idea so evil and unthinkable that it terrified her, galvanized her to the spot so that she could not have taken a step if the roof had been f ailing in on her.
p110: "...Damn stupid of me not to thrnk of it sooner."
I fully expected it to be science fiction since it was '70s Koontz, but the title begged to differ. I suppose Deanna is for contemporary horror(?).
p23: "Sarah pledged that every generation of the Brucker family would contain a child haunted, a child possessed, a demon child as she called it...."
ocr:
p4: Copvright š 1971 by Deanna Dwyer
p9: At least that was the general feeling on the bus where the air-conditioning had malfunctioned and the passengers had grown talkative hi order to make the leaden minutes pass more swiftly.
p22: Both these volumes had been published hi Philadelphia.
p24: "...Sometimes, it bowls for half an hour or more, as if it is in some pain or possessed of great sadness...."
p32: "...The child has had a potentially damaging infancy, with a mother who was indifferent to her, moving from hotel to hotel, from one nanny and part-tune governess to another...."
p36: What would a psychiatrist say il he were able to study her?
p97: "But when your beliefs begin to interfere with your good health, it's tune to draw the line."
p108: A terrible thought took form in her mind, an idea so evil and unthinkable that it terrified her, galvanized her to the spot so that she could not have taken a step if the roof had been f ailing in on her.
p110: "...Damn stupid of me not to thrnk of it sooner."
I fully expected it to be science fiction since it was '70s Koontz, but the title begged to differ. I suppose Deanna is for contemporary horror(?).
July 9, 2019
Another enjoyable, if predictable, story about a woman searching for solace and love from relatives. This time, there's a child who has been struck by the family curse...
The characters fit well into the plot and there are some good descriptions, however, I'm sure these books are written to formula, as they are more or less the same. I did enjoy it, though, and Dean Koontz is my favourite author, but I am glad that his style has vastly improved upon these earlier work.
Worth a look.
The characters fit well into the plot and there are some good descriptions, however, I'm sure these books are written to formula, as they are more or less the same. I did enjoy it, though, and Dean Koontz is my favourite author, but I am glad that his style has vastly improved upon these earlier work.
Worth a look.
January 28, 2021
Deanna Dwyer is the pen name of Dean Koontz and this is one of his earlier novels.
Got to say a great gothic read. There is a werewolf on the loose and a Demon Child who thinks she is the werewolf.
Great story
Got to say a great gothic read. There is a werewolf on the loose and a Demon Child who thinks she is the werewolf.
Great story
November 19, 2025
A young woman goes to stay with her aunt, cousin, and his two children, who all live in a large remote mansion. The family is blighted by a curse, and one of the children claims that in her sleep, she transforms into a werewolf, and goes out to kill animals and people. It sounds crazy until people start turning up dead...
Because this is Dean Koontz I expected a reading experience more engaging than this, but he doesn't do enough with the gothic formula. The idea of the werewolf was more lurid that these mass market gothics usually have, and there are some quite ghoulish scenes, so I was preparing to score this higher for that, but the climax ruined everything by delivering the worst resolution possible - the villain goes from criminal mastermind to a plate of jelly within one paragraph. For no discernible reason, he promptly drops two the deadly weapons that he is holding, turns around and falls down a hole. The end. Massively disappointing. That alone knocked this right down to being a one-star read.
Because this is Dean Koontz I expected a reading experience more engaging than this, but he doesn't do enough with the gothic formula. The idea of the werewolf was more lurid that these mass market gothics usually have, and there are some quite ghoulish scenes, so I was preparing to score this higher for that, but the climax ruined everything by delivering the worst resolution possible - the villain goes from criminal mastermind to a plate of jelly within one paragraph. For no discernible reason, he promptly drops two the deadly weapons that he is holding, turns around and falls down a hole. The end. Massively disappointing. That alone knocked this right down to being a one-star read.
September 25, 2024
I read this 'Koontz' book as it came in a bundle deal I got from a fellow collector. This is one of those overprice 'Dwyer' novels that I wouldn't normally fork out for, but I am very happy to win as part of my personal collection.
However, that said, the actual story is boring. The initial setup is quite interesting. The internal demons the main character is dealing with... that go nowhere. The mention of a family cruse and a possible werewolf... whihc turns out to be false. And a few mystirous characters that we need to learn about... bat again, dont really go anywhere.
By the midway point, I was just bored and wanted it to finish up. I would have given up on this novel had it not been a short one.
The conclusion was dumb and not worth waiting for!
1.5 to 2 star read, and probably the worst Koontz book I've read. (Though I still like his other stuff a lot)
However, that said, the actual story is boring. The initial setup is quite interesting. The internal demons the main character is dealing with... that go nowhere. The mention of a family cruse and a possible werewolf... whihc turns out to be false. And a few mystirous characters that we need to learn about... bat again, dont really go anywhere.
By the midway point, I was just bored and wanted it to finish up. I would have given up on this novel had it not been a short one.
The conclusion was dumb and not worth waiting for!
1.5 to 2 star read, and probably the worst Koontz book I've read. (Though I still like his other stuff a lot)
July 14, 2014
i don't like it. First of, i couldn't tell if it was modern times or not because of the way it was written. Secondly, i was confused because i felt like it was written in a british and rather boring style so i gave it a british voice as I read. I also dont like how jenny is all sort of fucked up and is a mess and then at the end, everything is better because now she has a dude ? Like come on, really! Im so sick of this female characters dependency on men. Cant she just grow some balls and fix her issues without the need of a man her?! Which brings me to the last point, ew! Hes her cousin!! I dont care second or third! Its still gross.
August 4, 2013
It is a third person book, building the characters personalities and reasoning into every action. This made the story linger at parts. Overall, I enjoyed it, it was an easy read and not at all what I expected.
April 14, 2012
saw the ending a mile away. the one thing that saved this from a 1-star rating is the fact im huuuge dean koontz fan.
Read
June 3, 2014A bit predictable, but enjoyable!!
September 7, 2016
Not the worst book I've ever read, but extremely predictable. I already had the mystery solved by the time I was 1/4 through it. All in all it was an ok read.
February 9, 2017
A gothic romance that is much better than I expected, but, after all is actually written by Dean Koontz.
February 28, 2025
9th novel, first use of pseudonym (Deanna Dwyer). Suspense/mystery. Though simplistic (a bit like a Scooby Doo plot), the writing has started to mature at this point.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews