Score

Shawnee! You are in luck - you can vote! Go up to the top right corner of this list where it says search/add books to this list - add Winter Moon:-)

add any others too (if there are any others :-)

I usually don't actually vote on "worst of" lists. But I usually like Koontz (one of the authors my wife and I both liked). It seems odd that a man who can turn out such good work also occasionally turns out books I dislike so much. I guess it's a testimony to his range. Good is very good...bad is really bad.

Can I vote for all of them?

Nick: I was never really a King fan, like a lot of people I liked The Stand, It and some others, but not all. And, (see how daring I am, I'll even start a sentence with "And". (: ) there were quite a few King books I disliked. My wife though like you was a fan of both. I found that Koontz books were usually good to "workman-like. (He went through a period where they all seemed to read like "screen plays" but I think that had to do with his brief and disappointing brush with movies).

I have been a big fan of what people are calling "the new" Koontz books and some are among mu favorites, but then there are the last few. The one you mentioned (Darkest Evening of the Year) was a major disappointment especially since he's done so many really good "dog as hero" books. But the one that I really hated and found just worse than I could imagine was "Your heart Belongs to Me". The add campaign, the synopsis, it sounded like such a good idea to turn out to be so pathetically bad. You mentioned wondering if these were just written for a paycheck. I think most of us have had the same thought. I once called them "rent books" about another extremely prolific author, that someone said "Oh, I need a rent check, I'll turn out a book". I suppose it could also be that there is a contractual obligation for a book and has to be delivered. Koontz, King and some other writers (Patterson for example) can pretty much publish anything with their name on it.

It's caused me to borrow Koontz'z new books from the library before I buy. (I bought Darkest Evening of the Year when it came out...I sold it at a used book store).

I'm usually stuck between One Door Away From Heaven and By the Light of the Moon, as my favorites.

Thanks to everyone who has added to the list :-) I'm one of the moderators for the Koontzland - Dean Koontz group on goodreads. Anyone who's interested is welcome to join.

Ahh... This list makes me sad. Two of my least favorites are there but so are a lot of books that I loved. Like Brother Odd, The Taking, Dead and Alive, Tick Tock.

I wasn't that crazy about Darkest Evening of The Year, Your Heart Belongs to Me, or Dark Rivers of The Heart but.. theres a lot of good ones on there:(

I think I just hate to say I didn't like a Koontz book.

But I will be adding House of Thunder. Sorry, I can't NOT add it. hehe


Love Koontzland by the way:)

OMG!!!!! I read The Husband, The Good Guy,Life Expectancy and i thought they were AMAZINGLY cool and FUNNY!!!! but hey its ur list u can put whatever u want :)

I'm happy to see Your Heart Belongs to Me currently at the top of the list :-)

All a matter of taste Mina, Kelsey...

Dustin, I agree. YHBtM got so much hype, I heard radio adds on the thing constantly when it was released and the synopsis sounded great. The book was one of his worst, so sad.

I may come back and update my votes as I read or re-read more Koontz books.

The thing is that I, like I suppose many here, consider myself, at least on the whole, a Koontz fan. This thread reflects that he can really run hot and cold, and that his fans will at times like totally different things. My 5 star read may be someone else's 1 star.

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "My 5 star read may be someone else's 1 star."

True and that makes things interesting :-)

I haven't voted for any yet. I do go from hot to cold on Koontz books tho. The first one I ever read was Demon Seed, which I read in my early 20's after having seen the film at 13 and been fascinated by it. I was mainly reading King novels after that tho, and then was re-introduced to Koontz much later. I've enjoyed most of his work, but have not enjoyed one or two...the trouble is, it's a while since I read any, except a recent purchase of the Odd Thomas trilogy books, which I found interesting overall, but was a little disappointed with the 2nd of. I will have to take a closer look at these and the ones on my bookcases, to remind myself of whether or not I enjoyed reading them.

Michele wrote: "the trouble is, it's a while since I read any, except a recent purchase of the Odd Thomas trilogy books, which I found interesting overall, but was a little disappointed with the 2nd of."

:-) You did know that Odd Thomas isn't a trilogy right? :-) There are currently 4 books published and Dean is planning on a series of 7. How did you like Brother Odd (#3)? that was my favorite. My second favorite is Odd Hours (#4)

Hi Dustin, I wasn't sure to be honest. I bought the set of books as a box set of 3 from Morrisons, so assumed it was/could be a trilogy. Thanks for letting me know about the other book in the series, I will look out for it. I did enjoy Brother Odd, possibly because I was brought up Roman Catholic so was familiar with the nuns/monks, rituals etc. which gave the story more substance for me. The 2nd book, Forever Odd, I loved at first,finding it very touching, sad following the events in the first book...but was disappointed with the protagonist really..I may be being a little picky tho. What did you think of that one? I really need to look thru my bookcases and update my list of Koontz books read/purchased and maybe try my hand at a review or two eventually :)

Michele wrote: "The 2nd book, Forever Odd, I loved at first,finding it very touching, sad following the events in the first book...but was disappointed with the protagonist really..I may be being a little picky tho. What did you think of that one?"

I really should re-read Forever Odd, but at the time that I read it, I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. Right now I'd say Forever Odd is my least favorite of the series, but I might think differently after reading it again. I'm picky too I guess :-)

From the Corner of His Eye? Really? One of his worst? Give me a break.

I was gonna read The Darkest Evening of the Year :(

Patrick wrote: "I was gonna read The Darkest Evening of the Year :("

Well, I don't think it was his worst - I didn't vote for it as one of the worst. If you like dog heroes you might enjoy it :-) I'm gonna re-read it one of these days, but I remember enjoying it when I read it - just because some people didn't like it doesn't mean you won't like it.

Ryan wrote: "From the Corner of His Eye? Really? One of his worst? Give me a break."


I didn't add From the Corner of His Eye, nor did I vote for it as one of the worst. I did however vote for it on the Listopia of The Best Dean Koontz - it's not in my top 5, but I consider it one of his better ones :-)

Excellent. I've read so many books by Dean Koontz and. my best Dean Koontz books are:



1. From the Corner of His Eye
2. Lightning
3. Dark Rivers of the Heart
4. Intensity
5. Sole Survivor

"Deeply Odd" should be the number one worst novel on this list. Followed closely by "77 Shadow Street" and then "Darkest Evening of the Year". I can say that because "Deeply Odd" was so awful, it'll the be last new Koontz novel I will ever read.

Which one has the windmill and has to do with a film crew making a movie near a lake? That's my favorite. My next favorite would be the thick one, I think "Strangers". I also loved Lightning. The first one I read was "The Funhouse" and I read it one afternoon while sitting on a hotel terrace in Waikiki Beach, couldn't stop.

Jordan wrote: ""Deeply Odd" should be the number one worst novel on this list. Followed closely by "77 Shadow Street" and then "Darkest Evening of the Year". I can say that because "Deeply Odd" was so awful, it'l..."

I was also disappointed in both of those titles :-(

Greg wrote: "Which one has the windmill and has to do with a film crew making a movie near a lake? That's my favorite. My next favorite would be the thick one, I think "Strangers". I also loved Lightning. Th..."

Cold Fire is the one with the Windmill. One of my favorites :-) I am currently re-reading Strangers for the second time - it's one of Dean's longest novels :-)

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Greg wrote: "Which one has the windmill and has to do with a film crew making a movie near a lake? That's my favorite. My next favorite would be the thick one, I think "Strangers". I also loved L..."
Thanks Dustin. "Coldfire" is my favorite, I've read it twice. I should revisit "Strangers" like you, that's propably Koontz's epic. I can't think of one that I absolutely hated, although I did recently try to read "False Memory" and only made it a few pages in then gave up, just didn't interest me at that time, on that day. You know what I mean?

Yes, I know what you mean :-)