Koontzland - Dean Koontz discussion

The Door to December is our March Group Read (in addition to Odd Hours - as a reminder we are re-reading the entire Odd Thomas Series in 2016)

This is a brand new thread for 2016 Discussion of The Door to December. This novel was previously featured as a group read in December 2010. The older discussion thread is available in the "Many Stand Alone Novels" folder.

Please consider reading or re-reading The Door to December along with us in March. Thank you!

The Door to December is our March Group Read. Are you planning to read this novel in March?

I am here and will be reading it. Only this month I am waiting a bit to read it.

I'm waiting on an audiobook available from the library.

A quick start with a missing daughter, taken by the father for 6 years and found dead. What does the mother do unaware of her past torment.

FDeroche wrote: "A quick start with a missing daughter, taken by the father for 6 years and found dead. What does the mother do unaware of her past torment."


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FDeroche wrote: "A quick start with a missing daughter, taken by the father for 6 years and found dead. What does the mother do unaware of her past torment."<

Found dead ????

The father was found dead. Now we must find out about the daughter..... From the back of my paperback copy:

The call in the middle of the night summons psychiatrist Laura McCaffrey out into the rain-swept streets of Los Angeles. The police have found her husband - beaten to death. But what of her daughter, Melanie, whom he kidnapped six years earlier?

At the brutal murder scene, the police lead Laura into her husband's makeshift lab - and open the door to a rising tide of terror that has trapped Melanie in its midst.

Will you be opening The Door to December this month Betsy?

The n ext 2 months, Dustin, are a tad busy for me w/ book club responsibilities. I read Door to December some years ago when I was really on a Koontz kick , and it has stayed w/ me; it is a haunting story. Don't know if I will have time to re-visit it, but I will check in on your discussion.
Thanks for asking, Dustin !

Just finished a few days ago but didn't come on here to discuss it. I don't want to give any spoilers. Boy I haven't read this book in some years and it was so ... dare I say it ... delicious to read. I loved the strong female character as well as two male characters. I had a hard time putting this down to do chores.

Thanks Karen :-)

I am opening this book now to read through some of my favorite passages.

From the first page. "Hard spikes of cold rain nailed the night to the city."

It's a good, short, crisp metaphor. I like this writing from Koontz. It's not just the metaphor. The writing is more direct, with not much purple prose, and there's more of it. Big paragraphs and decently long chapters.

And he swears, he drops the F-bomb. If the syrupy, super-religious, Koontz of today tried to type the word on his processor, he'd break down in tears and give himself like two million Hail Marys. Whatever those things are.

Dan Haldane is a cool character. He's serious with people that he likes, like Laura. And he jokes with people that he doesn't, like the corrupt and cowardly Ross Mondale. When I skimmed One Door Away from Heaven, the detective of that book reminded me of Dan.

Thank you Christopher :-)

Christopher I agree with you totally. I think a lot of Koontz's earlier writings have the "good, short, crisp metaphors" you mentioned and he doesn't get so "prosy". I hate to say this, but in some of the more recent books it seems he just loves to hear himself talk. and talk and talk. This month I read this and then Odd Hours, back to back and that is when it really struck me. Of course Odd is a whole different story. One thing I've also noticed ... with the newer books I have to look up more of the words he uses. (This is where reading on the Kindle comes in handy ... highlight the word and the definition pops up) But what I have noticed is that many of these words are archaic uses and it makes me question, why? I was always taught that in reading, look up the archaic words used, but in writing, choose something more current if possible. There are no long descriptive passages in this book. The plot moves along quickly. With the non-Odd books, I wish he would return to the style he used in books like this one.

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Thank you Christopher :-)"
Welcome. Understand that it isn't so much a bash against Koontz, so much as it is a desire for his early-period writing and his early period characters.

I don't know if you are referring to my comments or not Dustin, but I certainly don't want to bash any of Koontz's writings. He is still my favorite author and I read everything new that comes out as well as rereading some of the oldies but goodies. No one has the imagination he has. The Door to December really grabbed me right from the start. It was difficult reading some of the abuse that Melanie suffered but it wasn't so bad that I would tell someone not to read it. I too loved Dan Haldane. One of the things I like about Koontz, is when his characters get smart with the "bad guys".

I know I wrote this post but don't know where it went. Lest I be accused of bashing Koontz, heavens no! He is down and out my favorite author. I read every new book that comes out and enjoy re-reading others. In The Door to December the abuse Melanie suffered was so sad, but Koontz handled it well. I loved Dan Haldane also. I love how Koontz often has his character standing up to the bad guys with a "smart mouth" although Dan did a lot more by simply saying NO. He stuck by his beliefs. I liked Dan's romantic feelings for Laura without Koontz making it an "important" aspect. Just part of the story.
I loved in the afterward how Dean explained his use of a pseudonym when first releasing the book. Dean's comments on his own books are always entertaining to me.

Karen B. wrote: "Christopher I agree with you totally. I think a lot of Koontz's earlier writings have the "good, short, crisp metaphors" you mentioned and he doesn't get so "prosy". I hate to say this, but in some..."

I think during one of his interviews about Odd Thomas, he said that he writes with his thesaurus out. In some books, you really can tell.

ahhh Christopher that explains it. I certainly do increase my vocabulary every time I read a Koontz book. It's like a family member having a habit that annoys you and yet is so much a part of the person that it's still wonderful. I have to admit at first I didn't like it when I had to use a paper dictionary to look up so many words in the earlier books. It makes sense too that he would use a thesaurus with the Odd books because they are a series and it keeps it fresh.

Christopher and Karen, I understand :-) Thank you both for sharing your opinions & Insights.

I'm looking forward to re-reading this. I had the audiobook in February from the library, but I didn't get it in time. Someone had it on hold so I had to return it. When I returned it, I found myself wondering if someone in Colorful Colorado was reading along and participating in the Koontzland Group Read - one can hope. Looks like I'll be reading at the end of the month again.

I still plan on reading Odd Hours too - I own that one in both print & audiobook format, but I am giving library items priority.

Kind of off topic but Dustin, when you get an audio book from the library how do you listen to it? Do you have it on an MP3 player? a CD?

Karen B. wrote: "Kind of off topic but Dustin, when you get an audio book from the library how do you listen to it? Do you have it on an MP3 player? a CD?"

So far, I have remained Old School and typically get CDs. I am getting frustrated with my CD Player though. What's really nice is when the library has a PlayAway available - this is a little MP3 player that only has a particular title on it and I don't have to worry about the disc skipping. I love them PlayAways :-)

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Christopher and Karen, I understand :-) Thank you both for sharing your opinions & Insights.

I'm looking forward to re-reading this. I had the audiobook in February from the library, but I didn't..."

I remember liking Odd Hours better than Brother Odd, which puts me the minority. I really enjoyed Forever Odd, again because of the nice back and forth between hero and villain.

I didn't read the others after Odd Hours.

You are an Odd One, Christopher :-)

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "You are an Odd One, Christopher :-)"

This site needs a "like" button for comments.

Christopher wrote: "This site needs a "like" button for comments."

Correct, you are.

This is one that I haven't read. So I downloaded the audio. It's interesting so far.

Tracy wrote: "This is one that I haven't read. So I downloaded the audio. It's interesting so far."

Excellent :-)

I read this book years ago and kept it for my personal stash. I'm now on page 350 and I can barely put it down!

I really wish the app was easier to use when commenting. I would like to discuss some spoilers and don't know how on the app! Humph

I don't use the app because of all that Heather. I use the dedktop version.

I'm on chapter 21 and really enjoying it.

Tracy, what do you like best so far?

I really like the detective, he's very suave. (view spoiler)[I'm also eager to know why and who is after Melanie.The wind (?) Just burst in the house so that's a little different. (hide spoiler)]

The wind bursting in the house there is one of my favorite scenes.

It kind of intrigued me for sure.

Everyone seems to like the detective and I do too, but I also like the man from the security company who really puts his heart into protecting Melanie.

I just finished the book and I loved it, like always with a Koontz book!

I agree with Karen B. my favorite character ended up being Earl the guy from the security company. It had been quiet a while since I read this book and I barely remembered most of the plot so it was really like reading it again for the first time! I love my horrible memory some times :)

(view spoiler)[There was one part of the book were all I could think about was the poor cat! I imagine it was on the verge of a heart attack when everything started flying!

I think Koontz did a great job of hiding who was behind the deaths and I was mildly surprised to find out that the deaths were caused by Melanie. But, I was really hoping for an evil entity that Melanie could put the smack down on!

I loved the ending and it really makes me hopeful that little Melanie will end up forgetting the horrible things that happened to her. (hide spoiler)]

As usual Koontz makes me fall in love with the story and the characters. I would definitely read again!

One thing that some of the older Koontz books always make me think of is how close are we to something like that being possible in the future? I don't mean all the specific things that Melanie went through but the government finding a way to harness that individual power. Someone has to be experimenting with it, trying to create super soldiers

I agree Karen! A lot of his books make me wonder!

Thanks Heather, Karen and Tracy :-)

Do you think Melanie's father thought he was doing something good for Melanie, maybe giving her a new gift? It occurred to me that he was worse than the Nazis who experimented because they did not see the Jewish people as real "people" but this was his daughter. From the opening of the book he was dead, so we didn't get the chance to see him in action and see him as the monster he was.

I think it was a power thing gor him Karen. He was emotionally detached from Melanie or he could not have done those things, IMO. He was looking to be brilliantly famous in the name of science. I'm actually really glad that she did what she did. I was mist definitely rooting for her.

Oh I was most definitely rooting for her too. I guess he just wanted to use his daughter because she was an "available" subject.

Heh, I forgot that this book was up. Melanie's father didn't seem to care about anything besides his theory of extraordinary abilities. You can see this from some of his 'buddies.'

Looks like I will be playing catch up in April because I'm still waiting on a library audiobook :-) Looks like lots of Dean Koontz for me in April.

Hey DC, do you have audible or do you use something else for your books?

Tracy wrote: "Hey DC, do you have audible or do you use something else for your books?"

CDs from the library right now. I keep it pretty old school.

Hello, I use both when possible, the CD gives the character "voice" tones and makes following/reading the Book easier. I finished the book, under one week. I have added a review for the book. Thanks.