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The House of Thunder
A sanity-twisting thriller about a traumatized woman and the terrifying place she might never escape.
“Koontz is brilliant.” –Chicago Sun-Times
Susan Thornton watched in terror as her lover died a brutal death in a college hazing. And in the four years that followed, the four young men who participated in that grim fraternity ritual also died violently—or so she thought.
Twelve years later, Susan wakes in a hospital bed. Apparently involved in a fatal accident, she can’t remember who she is or why she is there. All she knows is that her life is unfolding into a menacing nightmare—and that the faces that surround her, are those of the four men involved in that murder years ago.
Have the dead come back to life? Or has Susan plunged into the abyss of madness? With the help of her neuro-surgeon, she desperately clings to her sanity while fighting to uncover who—or what—could be coming for her.
“Koontz is brilliant.” –Chicago Sun-Times
Susan Thornton watched in terror as her lover died a brutal death in a college hazing. And in the four years that followed, the four young men who participated in that grim fraternity ritual also died violently—or so she thought.
Twelve years later, Susan wakes in a hospital bed. Apparently involved in a fatal accident, she can’t remember who she is or why she is there. All she knows is that her life is unfolding into a menacing nightmare—and that the faces that surround her, are those of the four men involved in that murder years ago.
Have the dead come back to life? Or has Susan plunged into the abyss of madness? With the help of her neuro-surgeon, she desperately clings to her sanity while fighting to uncover who—or what—could be coming for her.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1980
2135 people are currently reading
7157 people want to read
About the author
Dean Koontz
905 books39.6k followersAcknowledged 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 819 reviews
April 6, 2015
This was an entertaining read without much depth to it. Not Dean Koontz at his best but still very readable. The finale was a little bit too convoluted for me but I guess it was that or an even worse option to explain the strange events. Some silly dialogue, a doctor falling in love at first sight with a comatose patient and an entire town in cahoots to fool one individual did take a lot of swallowing but I still enjoyed it:) This is a book to while away a flew hours but which is probably not memorable.
September 2, 2019
-Thriller de consumo con mezcla de subgéneros.-
Género. Novela (dejémoslo ahí porque pasan cosas y …).
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro La casa del trueno (publicación original: The House of Thunder, 1982), Susan Thorton despierta en un hospital de Oregon con problemas de memoria que le impiden recordar con claridad dónde vivía, en qué lugar trabajaba o el propio accidente automovilístico que la llevó al centro médico. Al poco tiempo, su pasado vuelve a ella en forma de unos muchachos que mataron a su novio y a punto estuvieron de hacer con Susan lo mismo hace décadas; pero ella sabe que algo no está bien porque dos ya están muertos y, además, el tiempo no parece haber pasado para ellos.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
Género. Novela (dejémoslo ahí porque pasan cosas y …).
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro La casa del trueno (publicación original: The House of Thunder, 1982), Susan Thorton despierta en un hospital de Oregon con problemas de memoria que le impiden recordar con claridad dónde vivía, en qué lugar trabajaba o el propio accidente automovilístico que la llevó al centro médico. Al poco tiempo, su pasado vuelve a ella en forma de unos muchachos que mataron a su novio y a punto estuvieron de hacer con Susan lo mismo hace décadas; pero ella sabe que algo no está bien porque dos ya están muertos y, además, el tiempo no parece haber pasado para ellos.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
May 24, 2019
An excellent story! Review to come....
That’s all.
That’s all.
September 8, 2022
Koontzland Group Read - April 2018
Added to Willawauk town description.
Added description to "Book Title"
My first read - July 2015
Koontzland Group Home
Added to Willawauk town description.
Willawauk town's hospital is Susan's "prison" with amnesia after her accident. Nightmares of her boyfriend's (Jerry) college hazing & death by the 4 fraternity brothers in the House of Thunder, 7 years ago appear & haunt her. The fraternity brothers reappear still as 19 not 26.
Ernest Hatch is the fraternity brother that haunts her the most.
Dr. McGee shows the most attention for her recovery. But his reason for the Willawauk hospital in the town of Willawauk for its businesses & a surprise.
Added description to "Book Title"
22 days after Susan is the Willawauk hospital. She has a nightmare lying on a dark cavern cave where the 4 fraternity brothers killed her boyfriend, laying on the cave's floor & escaping when 19 (7 years ago). It's the "House of Thunder".
My first read - July 2015
The CD version of this book is excellent with the tones and emotions added to the main characters.
The story opens with Susan Thorton on a Oregon vacation appearing to have amnesia after having a accident in her Pontiac car. Susan is a Milestone corporation physicist (high tec) and the place in the local Willawauk Town hospital. Dr. Jeffrey McGee is her attending Doctor paying great attention to her, falling in love? Susan is having "auditory hallucinations".
Other major characters are 4 fraternity brothers (Ernest Harch, Randy Lee Quince, Carl Jellicoe & Herbert Parker) who killed/hazed her boyfriend, Jerry Stein, while she hide watching in the "house of thunder" but the 4 fraternity brothers have not aged since the murder 7 years ago.
The 4 brothers are a problem haunting her and disappearing whenever she tells hospital personnel they are there. The end has a very good end you will not expect on who exist in Willawauik & why Willawauik exist?
Koontzland Group Home
December 5, 2016
This book was very good I had to put it down a couple of times because it was so intense.
January 31, 2023
In The House of Thunder, physicist Susan Thorton wakes up in a hospital bed in a small hospital just outside the town of Willawauk, Oregon. She has apparently been in a coma, the result of a car accident, and when the story starts out she has amnesia. She quickly remembers most things, but some bizarre holes remain in her memory. For example, she can't remember anything about her employer or her job. And soon, she starts seeing evil men from a past traumatic event in her life at the hospital. What is causing the holes in Susan's memory? Why have these men from her past come to the hospital to seek her out after so many years? For revenge? Or is something even more sinister afoot?
This book. I mean, wow. Where do I even start?
Susan, the protagonist of the story, is terrible, and she becomes more and more insufferable as the story progresses. She's a whiny, jealous, stubborn, terrified-of-everything, narcissistic idiot who doesn't listen to reason or to her doctors and nurses, and frequently acts argumentative and borderline psychotic. She knows she's seeing hallucinations, but then she freaks out and runs for her life from them. Which is it? Do you know they're just your imagination, or do you think they're real? She's insanely self-contradicting.
And she's depicted as this brave, strong woman by Koontz, but she frequently acts like a weakling, screaming melodramatically in terror numerous times throughout the story, constantly freaking out like a terrified child, and at one point even being too afraid to walk three or four steps across her hospital room to pull aside the curtain and see her roommate, running back to her own bed with her tail between her legs. In another scene, she even goes full "scared little kid" and asks a hospital orderly to stay with her until she falls asleep, because she's "ascared" of the Boogeyman that was clearly just a hallucination:
"And I was wondering...could you..."
"What is it?"
"Do you think...could someone stay with me...just until I fall asleep?"
Susan felt like a child for making that pathetic request...
As she should. Anyway...it just doesn't make any sense. How Koontz tries to depict her and how she actually acts throughout this entire book are two completely different and contradictory things.
The "insta-romance" subplot between Susan and her doctor Jeff McGee is completely ridiculous as well. She's only known him for three days and raves about how she's madly in love with him, she's jealous of him when she sees him dressed up in a suit one day, because she thinks he's going on a date with another woman, etc. And it just doesn't make sense on the face of it, because the doctor later says he loves her too. I mean, really? She's having hallucinations and acting psychotic, she's depicted as having had her hair roughly chopped off by the ER doctors, and she has lost a ton of weight. Why would a well put together, attractive, successful, intelligent doctor be into a hallucinating, emaciated patient who by all appearances is a raving lunatic? It's not believable in the slightest; in real life he would know better and romance with such a person would be the furthest thing from his mind.
And reading them flirt with each other like they're a couple of horny teenagers is so cringe-worthy I can't even put it into words. Dialogue like this:
"Calm as a clam," she said.
"Oyster," he said.
"Why oyster?"
"It seems to fit you better."
"Oh, you think I look more like an oyster than a clam?"
"No. Pearls are found in oysters."
She laughed. "I'll bet you're a shameless come-on artist in a singles' bar."
"I'm a shark," he said.
BARF! And it gets soooo much worse than that. You have no idea. Oh, here. I found another scene that's ultra-cringe (have your barf bag ready):
She said, "How long have you..."
"I don't know. Maybe even before you came out of the coma."
"Before that? Loved me...?"
"You were so beautiful."
"But you didn't even know me then."
"So it probably really wasn't love at that point. But something. Even then, I felt something."
"I'm glad."
Hffff. Hffffffff. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Until the nausea passes...okay...okay...I think I'm good now. Let's continue with the review.
Oh wait. Oh...good God. No. NO! I think it's happening again. I don't think I can take any more of this terribly-written super-cringe insta-romance! :
For a few seconds they were silent again, just staring at each other.
Then she said, "Can it really happen this fast?"
"It has."
"There's so much to talk about."
"A million things," he said.
"A billion," she said. "I hardly know a thing about your background."
"It's shady."
"I want to know everything there is to know about you," she said, holding one of his hands in both of hers. "Everything."
Me: *softly weeping*.
*sobbing sounds slowly trail off and fade away*
Oh. You're still here, review reader. *Sniffle*. Well, in that case, we may as well continue...
Later in the book, after Susan gets out of the hospital, and just when things are getting mildly interesting, Koontz starts doing the same annoying, exhaustive listing of things that he did in Shattered. Susan goes into town, and Koontz proceeds to list every single store and business in the entire town, which takes up an entire page of the book. Then, just a few pages later, Susan goes to the police station, where Koontz proceeds to list out every single item Susan sees in the main foyer, everything from a water cooler to filing cabinets to random scraps of paper. Still later, Susan ends up in a church parsonage, and Koontz goes on for literally two full pages describing all of the clothes and Halloween decorations she finds in the boxes and crates stored in the building (why the hell was she looking at so many of them anyway? a normal person would probably look at one box and say "oh, it's just clothes and party decorations", but this woman looks through like a hundred of the boxes ffs).
It's so lazy. Like...just describe what the place actually looks and feels like, as every other author on Earth does. Don't just exhaustively list out every piece of candy and scrap of paper and other mundane item the protagonist sees through their eyeballs. That's like reading a bland courtroom transcript of what someone told a court a police station contained, not a well written description of what it actually looks and feels like, as you would expect in a novel.
The plot is also nauseatingly repetitive: it's just an endless sequence of Susan having hallucinations and episodes over and over again and being terrified to death of the "four fraternity men" (this description of Susan's antagonists must appear at least fifty times in this book) over and over again, and Koontz yo-yoing back and forth between trying to convince the reader that Susan is crazy, then trying to convince the reader that it's a conspiracy and Susan really is in danger...crazy...conspiracy...crazy...conspiracy...crazy...conspiracy. It was just disorienting and tediously repetitive after several hundred pages of it, to the point where I didn't really care what the truth was anymore by the end of the book.
The big reveal of what's going on, why Susan is seeing these dead men from her past, why she can't remember anything about her employer or her job, what's going on in this entire book, basically...is so insane and nonsensical that it completely defies belief. It's bonkers, plain and simple. Like a really bad acid trip, or eating a pound of magic mushrooms or something, I don't know. It's has the logic you'd find in the hallucinations of a madman. It's moronic and juvenile beyond words, and introduces so many holes into the plot that the book ends up resembling a block of Swiss cheese.
Finally, as if I haven't said enough bad things about this book, the chapters are also insanely long, like 30-40 pages. That's just a personal pet peeve of mine, but if you're like me and you like shorter chapters, this book might irritate you. I've heard this complaint about one of his other books (Tick Tock I believe it was) as well, so long chapters might just be a thing Koontz does. Something to be aware of.
In summary, this is an incredibly stupid, dreadful story, and easily one of the worst books I've ever read. I wouldn't be surprised if The House of Thunder was one of the worst books of all time.
CAWPILE rating:
Characters: 2.0
Atmosphere / Setting: 2.0
Writing Style: 1.5
Plot: 1.0
Intrigue: 5.0
Logic / Relationships: 1.0
Enjoyment: 1.5
= 14 total
÷ 7 categories = 2 out of 10
= 1 star
This book. I mean, wow. Where do I even start?
Susan, the protagonist of the story, is terrible, and she becomes more and more insufferable as the story progresses. She's a whiny, jealous, stubborn, terrified-of-everything, narcissistic idiot who doesn't listen to reason or to her doctors and nurses, and frequently acts argumentative and borderline psychotic. She knows she's seeing hallucinations, but then she freaks out and runs for her life from them. Which is it? Do you know they're just your imagination, or do you think they're real? She's insanely self-contradicting.
And she's depicted as this brave, strong woman by Koontz, but she frequently acts like a weakling, screaming melodramatically in terror numerous times throughout the story, constantly freaking out like a terrified child, and at one point even being too afraid to walk three or four steps across her hospital room to pull aside the curtain and see her roommate, running back to her own bed with her tail between her legs. In another scene, she even goes full "scared little kid" and asks a hospital orderly to stay with her until she falls asleep, because she's "ascared" of the Boogeyman that was clearly just a hallucination:
"And I was wondering...could you..."
"What is it?"
"Do you think...could someone stay with me...just until I fall asleep?"
Susan felt like a child for making that pathetic request...
As she should. Anyway...it just doesn't make any sense. How Koontz tries to depict her and how she actually acts throughout this entire book are two completely different and contradictory things.
The "insta-romance" subplot between Susan and her doctor Jeff McGee is completely ridiculous as well. She's only known him for three days and raves about how she's madly in love with him, she's jealous of him when she sees him dressed up in a suit one day, because she thinks he's going on a date with another woman, etc. And it just doesn't make sense on the face of it, because the doctor later says he loves her too. I mean, really? She's having hallucinations and acting psychotic, she's depicted as having had her hair roughly chopped off by the ER doctors, and she has lost a ton of weight. Why would a well put together, attractive, successful, intelligent doctor be into a hallucinating, emaciated patient who by all appearances is a raving lunatic? It's not believable in the slightest; in real life he would know better and romance with such a person would be the furthest thing from his mind.
And reading them flirt with each other like they're a couple of horny teenagers is so cringe-worthy I can't even put it into words. Dialogue like this:
"Calm as a clam," she said.
"Oyster," he said.
"Why oyster?"
"It seems to fit you better."
"Oh, you think I look more like an oyster than a clam?"
"No. Pearls are found in oysters."
She laughed. "I'll bet you're a shameless come-on artist in a singles' bar."
"I'm a shark," he said.
BARF! And it gets soooo much worse than that. You have no idea. Oh, here. I found another scene that's ultra-cringe (have your barf bag ready):
She said, "How long have you..."
"I don't know. Maybe even before you came out of the coma."
"Before that? Loved me...?"
"You were so beautiful."
"But you didn't even know me then."
"So it probably really wasn't love at that point. But something. Even then, I felt something."
"I'm glad."
Hffff. Hffffffff. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Until the nausea passes...okay...okay...I think I'm good now. Let's continue with the review.
Oh wait. Oh...good God. No. NO! I think it's happening again. I don't think I can take any more of this terribly-written super-cringe insta-romance! :
For a few seconds they were silent again, just staring at each other.
Then she said, "Can it really happen this fast?"
"It has."
"There's so much to talk about."
"A million things," he said.
"A billion," she said. "I hardly know a thing about your background."
"It's shady."
"I want to know everything there is to know about you," she said, holding one of his hands in both of hers. "Everything."
Me: *softly weeping*.
*sobbing sounds slowly trail off and fade away*
Oh. You're still here, review reader. *Sniffle*. Well, in that case, we may as well continue...
Later in the book, after Susan gets out of the hospital, and just when things are getting mildly interesting, Koontz starts doing the same annoying, exhaustive listing of things that he did in Shattered. Susan goes into town, and Koontz proceeds to list every single store and business in the entire town, which takes up an entire page of the book. Then, just a few pages later, Susan goes to the police station, where Koontz proceeds to list out every single item Susan sees in the main foyer, everything from a water cooler to filing cabinets to random scraps of paper. Still later, Susan ends up in a church parsonage, and Koontz goes on for literally two full pages describing all of the clothes and Halloween decorations she finds in the boxes and crates stored in the building (why the hell was she looking at so many of them anyway? a normal person would probably look at one box and say "oh, it's just clothes and party decorations", but this woman looks through like a hundred of the boxes ffs).
It's so lazy. Like...just describe what the place actually looks and feels like, as every other author on Earth does. Don't just exhaustively list out every piece of candy and scrap of paper and other mundane item the protagonist sees through their eyeballs. That's like reading a bland courtroom transcript of what someone told a court a police station contained, not a well written description of what it actually looks and feels like, as you would expect in a novel.
The plot is also nauseatingly repetitive: it's just an endless sequence of Susan having hallucinations and episodes over and over again and being terrified to death of the "four fraternity men" (this description of Susan's antagonists must appear at least fifty times in this book) over and over again, and Koontz yo-yoing back and forth between trying to convince the reader that Susan is crazy, then trying to convince the reader that it's a conspiracy and Susan really is in danger...crazy...conspiracy...crazy...conspiracy...crazy...conspiracy. It was just disorienting and tediously repetitive after several hundred pages of it, to the point where I didn't really care what the truth was anymore by the end of the book.
The big reveal of what's going on, why Susan is seeing these dead men from her past, why she can't remember anything about her employer or her job, what's going on in this entire book, basically...is so insane and nonsensical that it completely defies belief. It's bonkers, plain and simple. Like a really bad acid trip, or eating a pound of magic mushrooms or something, I don't know. It's has the logic you'd find in the hallucinations of a madman. It's moronic and juvenile beyond words, and introduces so many holes into the plot that the book ends up resembling a block of Swiss cheese.
Finally, as if I haven't said enough bad things about this book, the chapters are also insanely long, like 30-40 pages. That's just a personal pet peeve of mine, but if you're like me and you like shorter chapters, this book might irritate you. I've heard this complaint about one of his other books (Tick Tock I believe it was) as well, so long chapters might just be a thing Koontz does. Something to be aware of.
In summary, this is an incredibly stupid, dreadful story, and easily one of the worst books I've ever read. I wouldn't be surprised if The House of Thunder was one of the worst books of all time.
CAWPILE rating:
Characters: 2.0
Atmosphere / Setting: 2.0
Writing Style: 1.5
Plot: 1.0
Intrigue: 5.0
Logic / Relationships: 1.0
Enjoyment: 1.5
= 14 total
÷ 7 categories = 2 out of 10
= 1 star
April 15, 2023
The House of Thunder was published in 1982 under Koontz's Leigh Nichols pseudonym. It's a suspenseful hospital romance story about a woman who wakes up from a coma with amnesia and battles the idea that she has gone mad with the help of her doctor, with whom she (of course!) has a passionate affair. Koontz's writing is quite good, and there are several twists and turns before the surprise ending, but the characters aren't too memorable or impressive. It's not the best of Ms. Nichols' books, let alone Mr. Koontz's. The plot and pacing seemed to work better in the midst of the Cold War, when the Luke & Laura soap opera craze was at its apex.
October 9, 2013
For those who are Koontz fans and even those who have never heard of him ( if that's even possible although he’s been sucking the last few years a bit) this can be a real treat. This is one of his older novels which I prefer, his good olden days were something to relish in story land. I love how The House of Thunder really messes with the reader's mind when things start to unfold. It gets nice and creepy and brings in the thrills, I read this story years ago back in 2003 and I wanted to add a review to Goodreads so I looked up the old review and implemented some into this intro. I still think fondly of this story ten years later, time for a re-read it seems.
When Susan wakes up in an unfamiliar hospital she knows there was some kind of an accident but she cannot recall what is going on and why is she there. Her freedom seems suppressed by mysterious hospital members and nurses, she starts suspecting something strange is going on around her and she's somehow aware of it without others noticing it, yet…Reading this as a surprise without reading about it was the best so I don’t want to spoil but let me just say that it’s seat gripping and fun, a type of book that will make one hold their breath, well at least I did, that one scene in the hospital.. yikes. She feels that her life is in danger even while everything seems pretty normal, she must do her best to remain inconspicuous but get to the bottom of things and still get out in one piece. Susan Thornton is one character that I grew to like, and I didn't want anything to happen to her. Unfortunately for me and for Susan, there are a few nice scary chapters with her in them, it was an intense read! Just when you think she's safe, she ends up in a much worse situation.
This is a seep clogger, something that I read through the night and went on with the next day in a zombie haze because I was so tired but happy and rethinking the story in my head. So if you want to stay up till 3am go for it.
- Kasia S.
When Susan wakes up in an unfamiliar hospital she knows there was some kind of an accident but she cannot recall what is going on and why is she there. Her freedom seems suppressed by mysterious hospital members and nurses, she starts suspecting something strange is going on around her and she's somehow aware of it without others noticing it, yet…Reading this as a surprise without reading about it was the best so I don’t want to spoil but let me just say that it’s seat gripping and fun, a type of book that will make one hold their breath, well at least I did, that one scene in the hospital.. yikes. She feels that her life is in danger even while everything seems pretty normal, she must do her best to remain inconspicuous but get to the bottom of things and still get out in one piece. Susan Thornton is one character that I grew to like, and I didn't want anything to happen to her. Unfortunately for me and for Susan, there are a few nice scary chapters with her in them, it was an intense read! Just when you think she's safe, she ends up in a much worse situation.
This is a seep clogger, something that I read through the night and went on with the next day in a zombie haze because I was so tired but happy and rethinking the story in my head. So if you want to stay up till 3am go for it.
- Kasia S.
December 6, 2020
"La voz era fina, seca, vidriosa, una voz de polvo y cenizas, de cuerdas vocales estragadas por el tiempo. Poseía una cualidad perturbadora, que producía frío en los huesos...sin duda siniestra"
Susana Thorton despierta despues de varias semanas inconsciente y no recuerda muchos aspectos de su vida. Se encuentra en un hospital que no conoce, pero todos son muy atentos y se están preocupando de ella, lo que le ha ayudado para ir recordando algunas cosas.
El problema comienza cuando ve a una persona que supuestamente no debería estar ahí, uno de los jóvenes que mató a su pareja de hace muchos años en La casa del Trueno, y que luce igual que hace 13 años. Ella se desespera, ya que testificó contra él, no puede creer lo que está sucediendo, y le dicen que no era esa persona, que era alguien parecido, pero ella está segura de lo que ha visto, aunque le dijeron que tenía otro nombre, le explican que podría estar sufriendo alucinaciones, y cada vez es peor, no es el único con quien se reencuentra. Ella está segura de lo que vio, pero ellos están muertos, ¿como es posible esto?, ¿Son alucinaciones? ¿Ha despertado en realidad? ¿Se ha vuelto loca? Empieza a cuestionarse todo, ya nada es lo que parece.
Una historia llena de personajes que hacen de la lectura un carrusel, en el buen sentido, realmente me han gustado los giros, la trama, el desarrollo, los personajes... un libro muy entretenido y que te sumerge en la desesperación de la protagonista, en la necesidad de apoyo, en el miedo, la duda, desconfianza. Te transmite una intranquilidad asombrosa, es angustiante la situación y momentos a los que se enfrenta.
Me ha parecido muy interesante la forma en la que va dando giros y cómo conduce de una posibilidad a la otra, para que al final sea algo completamente diferente, me ha entretenido un montón esta lectura, además de sorprenderme.
Susana Thorton despierta despues de varias semanas inconsciente y no recuerda muchos aspectos de su vida. Se encuentra en un hospital que no conoce, pero todos son muy atentos y se están preocupando de ella, lo que le ha ayudado para ir recordando algunas cosas.
El problema comienza cuando ve a una persona que supuestamente no debería estar ahí, uno de los jóvenes que mató a su pareja de hace muchos años en La casa del Trueno, y que luce igual que hace 13 años. Ella se desespera, ya que testificó contra él, no puede creer lo que está sucediendo, y le dicen que no era esa persona, que era alguien parecido, pero ella está segura de lo que ha visto, aunque le dijeron que tenía otro nombre, le explican que podría estar sufriendo alucinaciones, y cada vez es peor, no es el único con quien se reencuentra. Ella está segura de lo que vio, pero ellos están muertos, ¿como es posible esto?, ¿Son alucinaciones? ¿Ha despertado en realidad? ¿Se ha vuelto loca? Empieza a cuestionarse todo, ya nada es lo que parece.
Una historia llena de personajes que hacen de la lectura un carrusel, en el buen sentido, realmente me han gustado los giros, la trama, el desarrollo, los personajes... un libro muy entretenido y que te sumerge en la desesperación de la protagonista, en la necesidad de apoyo, en el miedo, la duda, desconfianza. Te transmite una intranquilidad asombrosa, es angustiante la situación y momentos a los que se enfrenta.
Me ha parecido muy interesante la forma en la que va dando giros y cómo conduce de una posibilidad a la otra, para que al final sea algo completamente diferente, me ha entretenido un montón esta lectura, además de sorprenderme.
January 12, 2025
Foarte alerta actiunea, m-a tinut in suspans pana aproape de final.
Nu mi-am dat seama despre se intampla cu adevarat, aveam cu totul alta teorie 😅.
Nu mi-am dat seama despre se intampla cu adevarat, aveam cu totul alta teorie 😅.
June 27, 2022
A very solid, quick, Dean Koontz thriller—intriguing suspense with some excellent horror scenes thrown in. Could early ‘80s Koontz write some good horror or what? I’m still not sure how I feel about this novel’s resolution, but everything leading up to it is involving and enjoyable enough to mostly make up for the somewhat cringe crash landing, despite a few repetitive moments in the first half. Highly recommended to readers of vintage horror/thrillers.
Want to read
October 3, 2017This hardcover is numbered 106 of 550 copies and is signed by Dean Koontz and illustrator Phil Park on the limitation page.
May 27, 2018
Loved it! You never know what's real !!
October 26, 2015
the worst novel i've ever read. My opinion is Dean Koontz adapted this novel from Stephen King's short story "Some Times They Come Back". Idea is same but Dean Koontz version is too boring and dry.
March 19, 2023
Oh man... what to say. Many of this book's issues have to do with the time period it was written in. The House of Thunder was initially published in 1982 under Dean Koontz's pseudonym Leigh Nichols. The other issue is how much growth Koontz has exhibited as a veteran author, and this was far from his best work.
Susan Thorton wakes up in the hospital with a head injury. She is fuzzy on details but starts having flashbacks of a horrific event in college that left her Jewish boyfriend dead in a place known as the House of Thunder. Before long, she is either seeing ghosts or hallucinating about people from that time that she testified against and are now dead.
Dr. McDreamy, oops, I mean Dr. McGee... (Although this book is old enough that McGee was first). IS so handsome and dreamy, and did I mention handsome and kind and kisses Susan on the cheek and holds her hand all the time... Wait, back the F up... What?!?!?! Susan just woke up from a coma and is hallucinating and this Doc is freaking taking advantage of her? Oh, wait... It's ok because she is in love with him after three days...
I feel like Koontz wrote this under a female name to try to convince people that his MC was believable to women... She is not. She is a poster child for all of those memes about men writing female characters without understanding anything about women. (Thank the sweet baby Jesus that he fixed this issue by the time he wrote Jane Hawk).
The greatest part of this book: The rando character named Enid Shipstat. There was a bit of a creep factor in the beginning, but it was quickly lost in the ridiculousness of the dialogue.
The costumes were more interesting than most of the narrative. I actually wish that there would have been more about that.
The ending was soooo ridiculous, but at this point, I wasn't really expecting it not to be...
I tried to give this a 2 star, but as I wrote this... I just couldn't find enough good in it to consider it ok.... Also apparently, the only way that men can be mean to women other than to threaten rape is to call them "bitch" or "slut" repeatedly... It became tedious.
Left at a 1 star. I do not recommend you sully the greatness of Koontz books such as Odd Thomas and Jane Hawk by exposing yourself to this early garbage.
Susan Thorton wakes up in the hospital with a head injury. She is fuzzy on details but starts having flashbacks of a horrific event in college that left her Jewish boyfriend dead in a place known as the House of Thunder. Before long, she is either seeing ghosts or hallucinating about people from that time that she testified against and are now dead.
Dr. McDreamy, oops, I mean Dr. McGee... (Although this book is old enough that McGee was first). IS so handsome and dreamy, and did I mention handsome and kind and kisses Susan on the cheek and holds her hand all the time... Wait, back the F up... What?!?!?! Susan just woke up from a coma and is hallucinating and this Doc is freaking taking advantage of her? Oh, wait... It's ok because she is in love with him after three days...
I feel like Koontz wrote this under a female name to try to convince people that his MC was believable to women... She is not. She is a poster child for all of those memes about men writing female characters without understanding anything about women. (Thank the sweet baby Jesus that he fixed this issue by the time he wrote Jane Hawk).
The greatest part of this book: The rando character named Enid Shipstat. There was a bit of a creep factor in the beginning, but it was quickly lost in the ridiculousness of the dialogue.
The costumes were more interesting than most of the narrative. I actually wish that there would have been more about that.
The ending was soooo ridiculous, but at this point, I wasn't really expecting it not to be...
I tried to give this a 2 star, but as I wrote this... I just couldn't find enough good in it to consider it ok.... Also apparently, the only way that men can be mean to women other than to threaten rape is to call them "bitch" or "slut" repeatedly... It became tedious.
Left at a 1 star. I do not recommend you sully the greatness of Koontz books such as Odd Thomas and Jane Hawk by exposing yourself to this early garbage.
August 24, 2022
Susan Thorton wakes up in a mysterious hospital with no memories of who she is, where she works or where she came from. There is one memory that still haunts her fractured mind as clear as it once did, however. Her memories of the House of Thunder, a gloomy cave where a waterfall echoed like vengeful thunder as four men tortured her husband to death. There are four men roaming the hospital, all of them look identical to the men who ruined her life. Have they come back from the dead to get revenge for sending them to jail? Or is there a bigger conspiracy at play?
The premise of the story sounds really cool. Literal ghosts from the past coming back to make your life a living hell when you're left crippled in a hospital with no way out. Sounds terrifying and thrilling. Unfortunately, the premise is the only thing cool or interesting about this book in my opinion. Aside from that, it's honestly one of the most poorly written thrillers I've ever read. I've enjoyed quite a few of Koontz's books, even in spite of their obvious flaws and stilted dialogue, but this just took the flaws typically associated with his works and escalated them to cringe-inducing levels of bad.
The main character has inner monologues that last anywhere from 20-40 pages every other chapter, asking herself laughable questions with extremely obvious answers. Characters repeat the same statements, questions and answers over and over again, usually back to back three times in a row until they're beating a dead horse. Every bit of dialogue is awful and makes the romance, horror and comedic moments feel uncomfortably awkward. The simple premise is dragged out to nearly 400 pages of repeating the same inner monologues, horrendous interactions and tension that falls completely flat because of the constant backpedaling, tedious conversations and mind-numbing rambling.
Not to mention the obvious yet equally lousy twist ending. The ending was like a really bad James Bond knockoff. The final twist turns into a cringy villain monologue where they spend 50 pages infodumping exposition about a government conspiracy which ends up amounting to nothing of importance. It was a struggle to push myself through this one. It just kept getting more boring, tedious and cringeworthy with every chapter, and the awful ending was just the rotten cherry on top.
If nothing else, there were times where it was so bad that it actually gave me a good laugh, so I guess that counts for something.
***
If you're looking for dark ambient music that's perfect for reading horror, fantasy, sci-fi and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
The premise of the story sounds really cool. Literal ghosts from the past coming back to make your life a living hell when you're left crippled in a hospital with no way out. Sounds terrifying and thrilling. Unfortunately, the premise is the only thing cool or interesting about this book in my opinion. Aside from that, it's honestly one of the most poorly written thrillers I've ever read. I've enjoyed quite a few of Koontz's books, even in spite of their obvious flaws and stilted dialogue, but this just took the flaws typically associated with his works and escalated them to cringe-inducing levels of bad.
The main character has inner monologues that last anywhere from 20-40 pages every other chapter, asking herself laughable questions with extremely obvious answers. Characters repeat the same statements, questions and answers over and over again, usually back to back three times in a row until they're beating a dead horse. Every bit of dialogue is awful and makes the romance, horror and comedic moments feel uncomfortably awkward. The simple premise is dragged out to nearly 400 pages of repeating the same inner monologues, horrendous interactions and tension that falls completely flat because of the constant backpedaling, tedious conversations and mind-numbing rambling.
Not to mention the obvious yet equally lousy twist ending. The ending was like a really bad James Bond knockoff. The final twist turns into a cringy villain monologue where they spend 50 pages infodumping exposition about a government conspiracy which ends up amounting to nothing of importance. It was a struggle to push myself through this one. It just kept getting more boring, tedious and cringeworthy with every chapter, and the awful ending was just the rotten cherry on top.
If nothing else, there were times where it was so bad that it actually gave me a good laugh, so I guess that counts for something.
***
If you're looking for dark ambient music that's perfect for reading horror, fantasy, sci-fi and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
December 16, 2015
It's been quite a while since I've read anything by Dean Koontz, and I figured that it was about time to give him another go. This is one of his older books. That makes me feel old, actually, to say that, as it was published the same year I was born, but, it's true.
One of my favorite things about Dean Koontz is that he's able to keep me on my toes. He doesn't write the best dialogue, or write the best characters, but his stories are always twisty, and never end up where I think they're going.
House of Thunder was no different. I had many theories, several of them quite good (and maybe even better than what actually happened, if I do say so myself), but they were all wrong. The ending was actually pretty good, if a little dated, and it certainly felt plausible. But, I wish that there was just a little more background information given. There were so many strings out there, and so many loose ends that were all wrapped up in just a few pages, that I wish that there was just a little more information given to back up the abrupt resolution. Even with that missing, it was good, but it could have been great.
One thing that really did strike me as odd though, was the romance aspect of the story. Susan, the main character, awakes from a coma, and within a few days is 'in love' with her doctor, Dr. McGee. And then when things start getting crazy, and she begins to suspect that things are not what they seem, she is massively hurt that he could have betrayed her. In just a few days. I just couldn't really get my head around that one. Susan is described as being very much in control of herself and her life and as much of her environment as possible, so I really couldn't see how she could fall for someone so quickly and then be so hurt by her fears in such a short amount of time. It just didn't jive with me, and seemed like it was more of an addition to explain later events than any real attraction...
All in all, this was a pretty good story. I was never really sure what was going on, and it was very nightmarish and surreal, which is a plus. A quick read if you're looking for something to occupy a little bit of time. :)
One of my favorite things about Dean Koontz is that he's able to keep me on my toes. He doesn't write the best dialogue, or write the best characters, but his stories are always twisty, and never end up where I think they're going.
House of Thunder was no different. I had many theories, several of them quite good (and maybe even better than what actually happened, if I do say so myself), but they were all wrong. The ending was actually pretty good, if a little dated, and it certainly felt plausible. But, I wish that there was just a little more background information given. There were so many strings out there, and so many loose ends that were all wrapped up in just a few pages, that I wish that there was just a little more information given to back up the abrupt resolution. Even with that missing, it was good, but it could have been great.
One thing that really did strike me as odd though, was the romance aspect of the story. Susan, the main character, awakes from a coma, and within a few days is 'in love' with her doctor, Dr. McGee. And then when things start getting crazy, and she begins to suspect that things are not what they seem, she is massively hurt that he could have betrayed her. In just a few days. I just couldn't really get my head around that one. Susan is described as being very much in control of herself and her life and as much of her environment as possible, so I really couldn't see how she could fall for someone so quickly and then be so hurt by her fears in such a short amount of time. It just didn't jive with me, and seemed like it was more of an addition to explain later events than any real attraction...
All in all, this was a pretty good story. I was never really sure what was going on, and it was very nightmarish and surreal, which is a plus. A quick read if you're looking for something to occupy a little bit of time. :)
April 15, 2010
Okay, so this started off so uber-badass! Really!
Well, badass for a Dean Koontz book. It was mysterious, tense, somewhat surreal. . . .I mean, it would've made an excellent horror thriller film. A woman wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. . . slight things in her surroundings start to bring back the hints of memories. . . and soon, the whole hospital begins to seem dangerous, the people around her are dangerous, everything is dangerous. . . and then, in the last 50 or 60 pages, everything gets all fucked up and jumbled and becomes more of a lame Nicholas Cage movie than a suspenseful mystery.
One gets the impression that all of a sudden Koontz realized he had one month left before the book was due and he just rushed through, basically writing an outline for how the end of the book would go. This was very frustrating because, up to that point, this was my favorite Dean Koontz book. Back in the day, I wasn't too picky if his books were fair-to-middlin'; like Stephen King, he's entertaining even when he's not trying very hard. But with this one, he really had a good rhythm going, and everything was spot on, until he ejaculated prematurely, and his readers were left going, "What? That was it?" After which he didn't even have the courtesy to blush, but just insisted he had another book he was late for across town.
Shame on you, Dean. This might've been the book that broke the Michael's back, and made him decide there were better investments of his time than Koontz. If this wasn't the VERY last one I read, it was very close to it. And, unlike Stephen King, I've never been tempted to give him another chance.
November 25, 2025
The feeling and underline tone of this book was so creepy. The question of whether or not the man that Susan saw out in the hallway of her hospital room was the same man that killed her boyfriend back in college was stressful. Kept me on edge for the entire book.
Dean Koontz always creates great banter between his characters, which is a great break from the thriller plot points that he writes. This one was no different. The banter between Susan, Dr. McGee and the two orderlies were the best ones.
A lot of Koontz’s books have strange explanations at the end, but this reveal was huge. Of course, with such a weird situation, a big explanation would have to take place.
Dean Koontz always creates great banter between his characters, which is a great break from the thriller plot points that he writes. This one was no different. The banter between Susan, Dr. McGee and the two orderlies were the best ones.
A lot of Koontz’s books have strange explanations at the end, but this reveal was huge. Of course, with such a weird situation, a big explanation would have to take place.
July 25, 2013
Look...this book may be better than I found it. It's just that I couldn't get into the book. I tried.
The reviews I read about this told how it crept into their psyche and haunted them...terror, horror. So I picked it up (happily from the library). Mr. Koontz can write a good book. I've read some of them. He can write interesting and wonderfully weird characters, I've read some of them to.
But not here...at least not for me. I found Susan one of the most annoying characters I've come across. If that girl had cried, "No! It can't be true!" one more time I think I might have screamed. As a matter of fact at one point near the end of the book I did sort of shout, "Oh come on!" and scared the cat that was sitting on my lap.
In many ways this book isn't sure what genre it fits into, that however isn't really a problem as it does it's crossover thing all right. This book does contain some of the most objectionable imagery I've ever seen Koontz use however. I think it's not a spoiler to say be aware that there is some pretty graphic "violence against women" scenes here. I think it's something some readers might want to be aware of. The book itself
So, I know some of you like it and that's great. I don't care for this one but I know Koontz can write a good book...it's just that all of them aren't great. As a matter of fact some are rather...well not to my taste. So enjoy if you like this one. Not for me.
The reviews I read about this told how it crept into their psyche and haunted them...terror, horror. So I picked it up (happily from the library). Mr. Koontz can write a good book. I've read some of them. He can write interesting and wonderfully weird characters, I've read some of them to.
But not here...at least not for me. I found Susan one of the most annoying characters I've come across. If that girl had cried, "No! It can't be true!" one more time I think I might have screamed. As a matter of fact at one point near the end of the book I did sort of shout, "Oh come on!" and scared the cat that was sitting on my lap.
In many ways this book isn't sure what genre it fits into, that however isn't really a problem as it does it's crossover thing all right. This book does contain some of the most objectionable imagery I've ever seen Koontz use however. I think it's not a spoiler to say be aware that there is some pretty graphic "violence against women" scenes here. I think it's something some readers might want to be aware of. The book itself
So, I know some of you like it and that's great. I don't care for this one but I know Koontz can write a good book...it's just that all of them aren't great. As a matter of fact some are rather...well not to my taste. So enjoy if you like this one. Not for me.
July 10, 2016
I very much liked this book. It is a nightmarish story that will mess with your head just like it messed with mine. I loved the trip.
Favorite Passages:
She felt like a fool, but she was still a prisoner of her fear.
_______
She thought of the corpse scratching insistently at the closed bathroom door against which she had been leaning. She remembered the click-snickety-click of his fingernails as he probed the cracks around the door frame.
______
You're just plain crazy; that's all. Nuts. You're as nutty as a jumbo-size can of Planter's Party Mix.
______
Lightning pulsed softly, and thunder crashed like a train derailing in the darkness.
Favorite Passages:
She felt like a fool, but she was still a prisoner of her fear.
_______
She thought of the corpse scratching insistently at the closed bathroom door against which she had been leaning. She remembered the click-snickety-click of his fingernails as he probed the cracks around the door frame.
______
You're just plain crazy; that's all. Nuts. You're as nutty as a jumbo-size can of Planter's Party Mix.
______
Lightning pulsed softly, and thunder crashed like a train derailing in the darkness.
July 4, 2019
Re-read-buddy read- with Me Mi Mo Medward.
March 6, 2022
Susan wakes up in a hospital, plunged straight into a nightmare. Surrounding her are four men who killed her boyfriend in a fraternity rite that went wrong 12 years before. These men had all died violently in the years after the murder. Susan has to fight to find out whether she has plunged into madness, or whether the dead have come back to life to get her.
This story is chilling, a proper thriller that builds slowly to create tension and impact. I liked how nothing was clear even to me as a reader, the author had me guessing until right near the end.
Now, I wasn't a big fan of the ending BUT that's a personal opinion, nothing to do with how the story is written or anything like that. I wanted the story to keep going in the same direction and it changed, which some will find great and others won't. I was one that didn't like it, but I can see why others would.
Definitely a book I would recommend!
This story is chilling, a proper thriller that builds slowly to create tension and impact. I liked how nothing was clear even to me as a reader, the author had me guessing until right near the end.
Now, I wasn't a big fan of the ending BUT that's a personal opinion, nothing to do with how the story is written or anything like that. I wanted the story to keep going in the same direction and it changed, which some will find great and others won't. I was one that didn't like it, but I can see why others would.
Definitely a book I would recommend!
March 7, 2022
A solid Koontz.
September 23, 2012
Too much of the story is a helpless victim being afraid.
STORY BRIEF:
In 1967 Susan saw four fraternity brothers beat her boyfriend to death in a college hazing. They were going to kill her, but she escaped and testified against them. Two of them later died in a car accident. It is now 1980. Susan just woke from a three week coma from a car accident. During the next several days she sees the four fraternity brothers in the hospital. Two are working as orderlies and two are patients. The four men get her alone and tell her they are going to rape and kill her. This happens repeatedly. She is afraid all of the time. She tells her doctor about them, but he explains that they could not be the same men because the men in the hospital are about 20 years old, not 33, and they have different names. Logic says she must be going mad, because this couldn’t be happening. No one believes her.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I listened to the first 4 hours and was very frustrated. She was such a helpless victim. Over and over again she is afraid and being hurt by these men. I wondered if this whole thing was going to end up being one long dream - because two men had died. Or did the deaths not happen? Or was this a hallucination or drug induced hallucination? Was she hypnotized? Or had she died and was this happening in hell? Or was she really going insane? It was not fun. I was tired of it, so I skipped the next 3 hours and listened to the last 2 ½ hours. When I started listening at the end, the same thing was still going on. She was running from these men, but they kept showing up, hurting her, and frightening her. I was glad I skipped three hours of that. Finally, the last 50 minutes was a different kind of story. That part was more interesting and not just the helpless victim. The truth is learned and there is some action. However, it’s done in a tell-all method with one character explaining everything. Tell-alls are not a good way to end a story. The ending was too easy to be believable, but at least it was happy.
Some experts say don’t write about a wimp. This felt like 9 hours of writing about a wimp. I would have preferred that the first 9 hours of possible madness be shortened to maybe 2 hours. It might have been better as a novella.
The two narrators were good: Laural Merlington and Mel Foster.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook reading time: 9 hrs and 56 minutes. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words, but rarely used. Sexual language: none. There was one sex scene, briefly mentioned with no details. Setting: 1980 locations not mentioned to avoid spoilers. Book copyright: 1982. Genre: mystery suspense. Ending: happy for main character.
OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Dean Koontz books, see my 5 star review of Lightning
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
STORY BRIEF:
In 1967 Susan saw four fraternity brothers beat her boyfriend to death in a college hazing. They were going to kill her, but she escaped and testified against them. Two of them later died in a car accident. It is now 1980. Susan just woke from a three week coma from a car accident. During the next several days she sees the four fraternity brothers in the hospital. Two are working as orderlies and two are patients. The four men get her alone and tell her they are going to rape and kill her. This happens repeatedly. She is afraid all of the time. She tells her doctor about them, but he explains that they could not be the same men because the men in the hospital are about 20 years old, not 33, and they have different names. Logic says she must be going mad, because this couldn’t be happening. No one believes her.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I listened to the first 4 hours and was very frustrated. She was such a helpless victim. Over and over again she is afraid and being hurt by these men. I wondered if this whole thing was going to end up being one long dream - because two men had died. Or did the deaths not happen? Or was this a hallucination or drug induced hallucination? Was she hypnotized? Or had she died and was this happening in hell? Or was she really going insane? It was not fun. I was tired of it, so I skipped the next 3 hours and listened to the last 2 ½ hours. When I started listening at the end, the same thing was still going on. She was running from these men, but they kept showing up, hurting her, and frightening her. I was glad I skipped three hours of that. Finally, the last 50 minutes was a different kind of story. That part was more interesting and not just the helpless victim. The truth is learned and there is some action. However, it’s done in a tell-all method with one character explaining everything. Tell-alls are not a good way to end a story. The ending was too easy to be believable, but at least it was happy.
Some experts say don’t write about a wimp. This felt like 9 hours of writing about a wimp. I would have preferred that the first 9 hours of possible madness be shortened to maybe 2 hours. It might have been better as a novella.
The two narrators were good: Laural Merlington and Mel Foster.
DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook reading time: 9 hrs and 56 minutes. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words, but rarely used. Sexual language: none. There was one sex scene, briefly mentioned with no details. Setting: 1980 locations not mentioned to avoid spoilers. Book copyright: 1982. Genre: mystery suspense. Ending: happy for main character.
OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Dean Koontz books, see my 5 star review of Lightning
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
November 23, 2019
I’m a big Dean Koontz fan, and for a long time I’ve been interested in his books written as Leigh Nichols. With The House of Thunder, I found myself unsure. It was a typical Koontz read in the fact I read it in a single sitting, but it failed to wow me in the way I had hoped.
The House of Thunder had me curious throughout, happy to devour it in a single sitting due to my need for answers. It was unclear where the story was going, how everything would come together, and this had me powering through to see what would happen. I had so many ideas, I wanted to see if I was right.
Then the end hit, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. It was… well, strange. It wasn’t at all what I expected. As much as I enjoy the unexpected, this was not the kind of unexpected I enjoy. It was the kind that had me questioning what I had read, looking over the book for details I had missed. In some ways, the ending felt as though it belonged to another book.
Add in there were plenty of things I could not buy into, and this one was lacking in the magic of other Koontz reads. I remain curious about some other books written as Leigh Nichols, but The House of Thunder has left me unsure if I will enjoy them as much as I enjoy the standard Koontz read. Sure, it was addictive, but it’s not a favourite.
If nothing else, it’s worth a read if you’re a Koontz fan in search of something a wee bit different.
The House of Thunder had me curious throughout, happy to devour it in a single sitting due to my need for answers. It was unclear where the story was going, how everything would come together, and this had me powering through to see what would happen. I had so many ideas, I wanted to see if I was right.
Then the end hit, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. It was… well, strange. It wasn’t at all what I expected. As much as I enjoy the unexpected, this was not the kind of unexpected I enjoy. It was the kind that had me questioning what I had read, looking over the book for details I had missed. In some ways, the ending felt as though it belonged to another book.
Add in there were plenty of things I could not buy into, and this one was lacking in the magic of other Koontz reads. I remain curious about some other books written as Leigh Nichols, but The House of Thunder has left me unsure if I will enjoy them as much as I enjoy the standard Koontz read. Sure, it was addictive, but it’s not a favourite.
If nothing else, it’s worth a read if you’re a Koontz fan in search of something a wee bit different.
May 11, 2009
Originally written under his Leigh Nichols pseudonym (hence why it’s different to a lot of his fare), The House of Thunder is the story of a young lady that wakes up after being in a coma for three weeks. After getting past an initial bout of amnesia she starts to see people from her past who were involved in the murder of her then boyfriend. However, they have not aged and she knows that some of them died not long after their crime. So how can this be? Can she really be being assaulted by ghosts?
The dashing Doctor who is nursing her back to health continues to convince the lady that these are hallucinations linked to the accident and that scientific medical reasons will prevail against the ghosts of her past.
She falls in love with him and him her before the climax of the book reveals all in what is quite a bizarre and unexpected plot twist.
Overall the book isn’t that great. It’s diverting at best and suffers from a romance that isn’t romantic and hugely unrealistic. Particularly in view of the plot reveal at the end. It also suffers from pacing issues, with pages and pages of the lady questioning her sanity time and time again which kills what little tension the ‘action’ creates.
The dashing Doctor who is nursing her back to health continues to convince the lady that these are hallucinations linked to the accident and that scientific medical reasons will prevail against the ghosts of her past.
She falls in love with him and him her before the climax of the book reveals all in what is quite a bizarre and unexpected plot twist.
Overall the book isn’t that great. It’s diverting at best and suffers from a romance that isn’t romantic and hugely unrealistic. Particularly in view of the plot reveal at the end. It also suffers from pacing issues, with pages and pages of the lady questioning her sanity time and time again which kills what little tension the ‘action’ creates.
March 20, 2009
So far reading like a straight, fairly awful, romance novel (why this from Koontz I don't know). Still on audio CD 1. Hopefully it will get better.
Now on cd 3 and the dialogue is pure drivel. A woman in peril story, oh and the woman is suppose to be a physicist but speaks like a complete idiot. Plus, the woman narrator (audio version) doesn’t help with her impressions of the older nurse, who she makes sound like Mother Goose. This doesn’t remotely read like a Koontz book. Plot is slow and flat. Characters not believable in both stubstance and manner of speech. Lifetime TV movies must be better than this.
Update...by the end of the 3rd CD I had to stop. Having read a lot of Koontz books it seems like someone else wrote this and put their name on it. Don't waste your time; zero stars.
Now on cd 3 and the dialogue is pure drivel. A woman in peril story, oh and the woman is suppose to be a physicist but speaks like a complete idiot. Plus, the woman narrator (audio version) doesn’t help with her impressions of the older nurse, who she makes sound like Mother Goose. This doesn’t remotely read like a Koontz book. Plot is slow and flat. Characters not believable in both stubstance and manner of speech. Lifetime TV movies must be better than this.
Update...by the end of the 3rd CD I had to stop. Having read a lot of Koontz books it seems like someone else wrote this and put their name on it. Don't waste your time; zero stars.
May 26, 2016
After The House of Thunder - which I happily abandoned after 50 pages - I think it is time to re-access my Dean Koontz shelf in the bookcase. I think it's time to make some room for someone else's books where his currently sit :(
March 22, 2023
2,5 ⭐
Hacía mucho tiempo que no me topaba con un libro tan tramposo. El 85-90% del libro te está contando una historia que no tiene absolutamente nada que ver con el desenlace final, literalmente te está engañando durante todo el libro.
Por otro lado, reconozco que la historia mantiene la tensión y el interés hasta el final.
Me va a costar volver a leer algo del autor en el futuro 😤😤
Hacía mucho tiempo que no me topaba con un libro tan tramposo. El 85-90% del libro te está contando una historia que no tiene absolutamente nada que ver con el desenlace final, literalmente te está engañando durante todo el libro.
Por otro lado, reconozco que la historia mantiene la tensión y el interés hasta el final.
Me va a costar volver a leer algo del autor en el futuro 😤😤
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