Koontzland - Dean Koontz discussion

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The Eyes of Darkness
Stand Alone Novels 1980-1985
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The Eyes of Darkness (Group Read - February 2014)
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Jaice
(last edited Jul 15, 2010 02:46PM)
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Jul 15, 2010 02:44PM

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SPOILERZ - the whole thread contains spoilers, so if you pl;an to read the book you better do so before reading our posts.
Koontz has more often than not been compared to Danielle Steel, and this book is a good example why. Read this:
She felt as if the two of them had been here, like this, locked in an embrace, many times before.
"We hardly know each other," she said.
"Is that the way you feel?"
"No."
"Me, neither."
"I know you so well."
"For ages."
"Yet it's only been two days."
'Too fast?" he asked.
"What do you think?"
"Not too fast for me."
"Not too fast at all," she agreed.
"Sure?"
"Positive."
"You're lovely."
"Love me."
This dialogue is so poorly written that I dare to say even miss Steel would have carried it better. Koontz is just plain horrbile at human relationships and here he is at his worst.
"Tina realized that she had been wrong to think that celibacy should be a part of her period of
mourning. Just the opposite was true. Good, healthy lovemaking with a man who cared for her would
have helped her recover much faster than she had done, for sex was the antithesis of death, a joyous
celebration of life, a denial of the tomb's existence." - yeah mom...sorry your kid died, but I guess the sex made it all better huh?
Also with the phrase "Project Pandora" all suspense literally dies because it's obvious that the boy is alive, trapped in Koontz's usual government conspiracy. And the denoumenent ? Don't even kid me. If the boy can crash helicopters and make guns not work with his mind I deduce by the basics of logic that he could escape from the lab on his own, but then the evil scientist wouldn't have the chance for redemption and tying himself up (what?) and his mom wouldn't have the chance to shag the perfect, handsome detective. Also, he could write something less cryptic than "NOT DEAD" on the chalkboard.
The basic premise is good, but Koontz totally butchers it up by his usual poor characterization and foray into the field of government conspiracy. I won't even mention his resolution of the story because it's a deus ex machina of such proportions that makes me wonder how this got published, since it was 1981 and he was not yet a bestselling writer.

I agree with all your criticisms, but they were not enough to ruin it for me as they were for you.

I'm glad to hear that, but at the same time I'm a bit sad because I really hoped we could bash this together. Doh ! But there's still time...and books.

Yes, you've yet to read Breathless, which will provide all the mutual bashing we will ever need, trust me. I'm sure we'll have fun with Your Heart Belongs to Me, The Darkest Evening of the Year, and likely others. ;-)

Do read The Darkest Evening of The Year - it's awful. However considering your opinion on The Eyes of Darkness I'm not so sure about mutual bashing of this title.
But a day without making a Koontz fan angry is a wasted one ! So I hope for the best.

Do read The Darkest Evening of The Year - it's awful. However considering your opin..."
I would say the first 60% of Breathless shows promise, but I doubt you'll like it after the first 10% or 20%. I'm pretty sure I'll dislike TDEotY, based on the few tidbits my aunt revealed about it a couple years ago.

Do read The Darkest Evening of The Year - it's awful. However consid..."
Believe me, that novel made me think that Dean Koontz is propably content sitting at his house, lovingly petting his dog and slowly going insane.

:-D
Maciek wrote: "Believe me, that novel made me think that Dean Koontz is propably content sitting at his house, lovingly petting his dog and slowly going insane.
"
Thanks for making me laugh once again Maciek :-)
I haven't read Eyes of Darkness yet, but it sounds like a good story to me.
"
Thanks for making me laugh once again Maciek :-)
I haven't read Eyes of Darkness yet, but it sounds like a good story to me.

I haven't read Eyes of Darkness yet, but it sounds like a good story to me. ."
LOl, no problem. I'd laught too if I didn't take it as a n actual possibility. ;)

"
Thanks for making me laugh once a..."
Haha that was a funny remark. i think its true of all writers.
The Eyes of Darkness will be featured as a mini-group read beginning in February. We are still waiting for a specific start date, but if you're interested in reading this please join Nora, Lez and myself - we'd love to have you.

I'm sure you're not really banned. If you pay your fines they will let you check out books again. How many times have you read this one?
I've never read this book. I haven't read the Servants of Twilight either - I am having lots of new Koontz experiences lately.
I've never read this book. I haven't read the Servants of Twilight either - I am having lots of new Koontz experiences lately.


In your not so humble opinion :-) Had you read this one before?
I hope I end up liking it a bit better than The Key to Midnight which I just read and which was also originally written under the name Leigh Nichols. The audiobooks even have the same narrator, Tanya Eby, Brilliance Audio.
I hope I end up liking it a bit better than The Key to Midnight which I just read and which was also originally written under the name Leigh Nichols. The audiobooks even have the same narrator, Tanya Eby, Brilliance Audio.

I like EOD better than TKTM, I will say that in this one Koontz isn't totally anti-scientists. Well, not all of them, yet. If that makes sense.

I like it quite a bit more than TKtM. In terms of scientists, this one is similar to Sole Survivor, because (view spoiler) .

:)
Did anyone else notice the use of Koontz's pen names in chapter 14 for the law practice?
Elliot Stryker says:
"I'm one of the founding partners of Stryker, West, Dwyer, Coffey, and Nichols. We're one of the largest law firms in town. I can't take a whole lot of credit for that. We were lucky. We were in the right place at the right time. Owen West and I opened for business in a cheap storefront office twelve years ago, right at the start of the biggest boom this town has ever seen...."
Elliot Stryker says:
"I'm one of the founding partners of Stryker, West, Dwyer, Coffey, and Nichols. We're one of the largest law firms in town. I can't take a whole lot of credit for that. We were lucky. We were in the right place at the right time. Owen West and I opened for business in a cheap storefront office twelve years ago, right at the start of the biggest boom this town has ever seen...."

message 32:
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Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado
(last edited Feb 08, 2012 10:34AM)
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rated it 3 stars
As this has progressed, I think I will end up rating the The Key to Midnight higher than The Eyes of Darkness. This is turning into a disappointment for me :-(
Hoping for a good ending.
Hoping for a good ending.
Okay I will give it 3 stars, but I thought it ended rather abruptly and tend to agree with our friend Maciek on the points he made earlier in this thread :-)

It surprised me how much I had forgotten between the first time I read EOD and rereading it.
but I will concede that I can understand why some wouldn't enjoy the book as much as I did.
message 37:
by
Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado
(last edited Feb 08, 2012 04:21PM)
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rated it 3 stars
AL wrote: "I thought...never mind. I won't say what I would have done with the ending."
No, please tell us, just mark it as a spoiler :-)
No, please tell us, just mark it as a spoiler :-)

A bit I suppose but I didn't care, since (view spoiler)

I wouldn't have like that at all. however I would have liked it if (view spoiler)
I like happy endings and I'm happy with the way it ended except it seemed very abrupt as soon as the action was over that's all :-) but Nora, I know what you mean, the end result was achieved. I'm just used to Koontz's more recent books and a little more wordy elaborate philosophical endings. It was just action, action action (view spoiler) and then as soon as the action was over we have this short & sweet conclusion:
(view spoiler)
It's okay - I'm just used to more story after the big finale. Y'all sure had some creative alternative endings. If I ever think of alternative ending that I would have like better I will surely post it here, but I'm not sure that I'll be giving it much more thought. :-) but I may surprise you.
(view spoiler)
It's okay - I'm just used to more story after the big finale. Y'all sure had some creative alternative endings. If I ever think of alternative ending that I would have like better I will surely post it here, but I'm not sure that I'll be giving it much more thought. :-) but I may surprise you.

Agreed.
message 48:
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Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado
(last edited Feb 08, 2012 09:38PM)
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rated it 3 stars
When I started hearing about Dr. Tamaguchi, I kept thinking of my Tomagotchi which I had in High School. I had another Giga Pet too and one time I got in trouble in class because my Giga Pet went off when it needed attention. My friend's mom used to take care their Giga Pets while they were in school. She kept them in her pocket. If you don't know what a Tomagotchi or Giga Pet is click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Pet
FYI: before these were invented, we had pet rocks.
Information on Pet Rocks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Rock
I think I am now dating myself when I admit I played with rocks before the digital age.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Pet
FYI: before these were invented, we had pet rocks.
Information on Pet Rocks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Rock
I think I am now dating myself when I admit I played with rocks before the digital age.
Did anybody read The Eyes of Darkness this month? I was reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I still might get to The Eyes of Darkness the first part of March.