01-01-2016, 08:21 AM
The poor man's Stephen King rises again.
Much like Stephen King, Dean Koontz knows how to write really effective prose. Much like Stephen King, he tells pretty horrible stories.
I haven't read much of Koontz despite the fact he is as prolific as King. I always felt you had to choose whether you were a Jet or a Shark with those two, and I chose King.
But I warmed to Koontz with his Odd Thomas series, which got progressively worse as the series wore on. But it made me more amenable to reading Koontz which is why I picked up his latest, Ashley Bell. Granted, if it weren't for free books from the library, this wouldn't have made the list.
Again, much like King, this book seems derivative of earlier works. There is a writer as a protagonist. There are shadowy forces arrayed against her. She spends a lot of time running and hiding with no place being really safe. The cops are against her. Her parents will be killed if she contacts them. There is a golden retriever. In case you don't know, Koontz has a thing for Retrievers.
Even the main mysticism which drives the book I've seen before. I'm going to say Zelazny in one of his novellas, but that is as much as I'm going to spoil it.
The book was a fine read, just left me with a feeling of meh at the end. The big shocking twist in the middle wasn't quite so big and shocking.
Much like Stephen King, Dean Koontz knows how to write really effective prose. Much like Stephen King, he tells pretty horrible stories.
I haven't read much of Koontz despite the fact he is as prolific as King. I always felt you had to choose whether you were a Jet or a Shark with those two, and I chose King.
But I warmed to Koontz with his Odd Thomas series, which got progressively worse as the series wore on. But it made me more amenable to reading Koontz which is why I picked up his latest, Ashley Bell. Granted, if it weren't for free books from the library, this wouldn't have made the list.
Again, much like King, this book seems derivative of earlier works. There is a writer as a protagonist. There are shadowy forces arrayed against her. She spends a lot of time running and hiding with no place being really safe. The cops are against her. Her parents will be killed if she contacts them. There is a golden retriever. In case you don't know, Koontz has a thing for Retrievers.
Even the main mysticism which drives the book I've seen before. I'm going to say Zelazny in one of his novellas, but that is as much as I'm going to spoil it.
The book was a fine read, just left me with a feeling of meh at the end. The big shocking twist in the middle wasn't quite so big and shocking.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit