Who wrote this?  It surely couldn't be Dean Koontz!!
346529
As a huge fan of Dean Koontz, I could scarcely contain my anticipation while waiting for the release of his latest offering.  I was looking forward to a heart-racing romp through the unknown with one of my favorite authors, so I cleared the decks of all book-interfering obligations, poured myself a glass of my favorite beverage, and settled in for a good read.  I doggedly kept at it thinking "77" must just be a slow starter or that my mood wasn't right, but after all is said and done, this is one of the worst books I've read in a very long time.

I don't normally write reviews, but I'm an avid reader of them, especially when approaching authors new to me.  I've come to rely on my invisible Amazon friends to help identify the stars and the stinkers.  When I find someone who likes the same books I do and for the same reasons, I'll go look at their other reviews for hints about what to read next.  Folks, my disappointment with this book was so huge, that I found my voice.  No, I take that back.  I felt compelled to issue a warning to the virtual community of people who enjoy the written word:  If you are looking for Dean Koontz, you will not find him here.  Instead of being caught up in the suspense, my mind kept puzzling over how this book ever got published and what on earth was the editor doing. Who kidnapped Dean Koontz and when will they release him?  His reading public is worried and anxiously awaits his return.

You can read the other reviews for a summary, but my personal experience is that I had a very difficult time reading this to completion.  My thoughts would wander, I would need tea, I would need to call for a dental appointment, but mostly I needed many, many little mini-naps.  When my snoring would wake me yet again, I'd have to check my notes before I could remember who occupied which apartment.  I cared so little for the people caught in this haunted manse, that I had to have a crib sheet.

Normally I devour Mr. Koontz's offerings as though in a single gulp, staying up far later than I should, attempting to cook with one hand while coddling the book with the other, ignoring family and social life just because I simply can't stop until he leads me breathless across the finish line.  My usual experience is that finishing his books brings me blinking my way into reality aware that I've just had a terrific time.  I've been known to tell people that I can't interact during the last 50 pages and they need to come back later.  Unfortunately, this book just did not resonate in that way.  I found myself actually eyeing constant companion, my Kindle, with a feeling of dread and finding more and more reasons not to read.  If you knew me, you'd laugh when I tell you that scrubbing the grout in the bathroom at one point rated at a higher priority to reading yet another tedious chapter.  The weirdest thing was that I felt guilty for avoiding this book, and the only way I pushed myself back into the story was by bribing myself that I could order something new and delightful for my Kindle, but first had to take my medicine and finish this book.  Silly, huh?

Mr. Koontz, if you read this, writing this review nearly broke my heart.  I generally enjoy your work and I believe I have purchased everything you've written.  It would be interesting to someday hear your thoughts on why this one just didn't work for readers like me.
178945
I don't except Koontz to write great fiction, but with the creation of Odd Thomas, he has managed to create a creepy, preachy character I have prayed fervently would die, but here are we, the 4th or 5th book in Koontz' cash cow series.

Sucky plot,  character too aware of his own specialness, and stilted writing...Koontz at his worst.  Makes me miss the communicative dog in Watchers...now, that was a likable character.

Koontz - if you read this, please, no more Odd Thomas.  You don't need the money, and this character just sucks in his banal preachiness.  You mean him to be special, he is just stupid.
881108
"Odd Thomas" was a great book.  "Forever Odd" was a good book.  "Brother Odd" isn't even good.

I have liked 90% of Koontz's books I've read, so I know he can write a crisp and intriguing plot and interesting characters.  "Brother Odd" has neither.  Odd is still a unique character and if not for my liking for him, I wouldn't have finished this novel.  The other characters are flat and too few (we are lead to believe that the novel's setting contains lots of adults and even more children, yet we encounter maybe 10 people, tops), the plot is muddled, and the final 1/3 of the book - well, Koontz couldn't figure out what to make of the first 2/3 and so he tried to write something just to fill up the pages.  He did.  I've gone back and re-read the final chapters several times and still have no idea what Koontz was trying to do or say or how he wanted to wrap things up.  I suspect he didn't either.

He leaves the book with a very clear set-up for the next book, which hopefully will be more in line with the first one.
2511207
I've been a fan of Dean Koontz from way back (mid 80's--remember when his books were attributed to Dean R. Koontz?), and bought this on impulse (even though I've been disappointed at a few of his recent books, like The Taking).

While this book was a page turner--I couldn't put it down--the ending was so unsatisfying, so...preachy...that my heart sank.

On one hand, it's a 5-star book in that it's engrossing and Koontz (as always) has a poetic flair for description (fortunately, this time, he doesn't go overboard with the weather metaphors...and susurration doesn't even make it in there this time!). And the basic plot is an intriguing one.

But the ending just didn't feel right to me. I can accept, of course, that many books don't end up like you'd hope. Yet, in addition to the disappointment at a certain element of the ending, I felt preached to at the end. I think it was Koontz's attempt at a "redemptive" story, but I never got what needed "redeemed" in the main character, Ryan Perry, in the first place. (Sorry, but being rich isn't a character flaw in and of itself, and Perry is painted as a kind, fair, level-headed wealthy young man.)

To say any more would get into plot spoilers (and, quite frankly, I feel the dust jacket and Koontz's interview here at Amazon.com gives WAY too much information--we don't find out about the "mysterious stranger" until midway through the book!), but suffice it to say that this book feels a bit like The Taking in that God is capitalized as "He"...and "He" apparently requires some kind of sacrifice from humanity in order to be happy.
1751264
I enjoyed the book. However, I thought there could have been more. Not the  Dean Koontz I'm familiar with. I was shocked.
3098363
Let's get this straight. A stranger barges into your house during the day. That night, he tasers you and your wife to an inch of your life. The next morning, he blows up your house. And STILL you don't call the cops?? It took all my respect for the institution of literature not to hurl this novel into the pool I was lazing beside as I read it. By the time I got to teleporting dogs and a cultural gatekeeper named Zazu, I was wondering if Dean Koontz had quickly churned this one out to pay off an unexpected tax bill. Dreadful.
3879571
I picked this book up at the library because of all the good reviews I've heard about Dean Koontz, and his ability to match horror writers such as Stephan King. I had never read one of his books before, so I plunged into "Fear Nothing," ready for a chilling and well-written book.

What a disappointment.

This book follows Christopher Snow and his dog, Orson, who live in Moonlight Bay. However, Christopher has something about him that is unique, and separates him from the rest of the residents in Moonlight Bay. Christopher is one of one thousand Americans to be born with a rare genetic disorder known as xeroderma pigmentosum, or XP. XP causes Christopher to be extremely vulnerable to any kind of light, so he lives his life behind drawn curtains and dimmed lights.

When Christopher receives a call from the hospital that his father is close to death, he rushes to his bedside, only after the nurses dimmed all of the hospital lights of course. Before he passes away, Christophers father gives him the advice to "Fear Nothing". Shortly after leaving the hospital, Snow witnesses his fathers body being taken away by unknown individuals. Confused, he follows them and gets caught up in life or death situations, with only his friends and his miraculous dog to help defend him against those who want to hurt him. And this all takes place without the guidance of light.

It sounds interesting, right? That's what I thought too. I was enthralled by how exciting and interesting the plot line was. However, when I started reading it, I would find any excuse to stop. I would sit with the book open in front of me, reading a page three times before i took in what it said. The writing that was supposed to scare me had me laughing out loud. And then there was something about demon monkeys...?

This book had a great plot idea, but the preposterous situations, and characterization , or lack of, made it so difficult to finish. When I finally flipped the last page after two weeks, I could not have been happier.

I'm sure Dean Koontz has amazing books, and I may give his books another chance. But this one just did not do it for me. The climax of the story was hidden somewhere between the poor, unenthusiastic writing and the annoying surfer language that Koontz used.

The only thing I feared in this book was the thought of turning the page.
4501678
Dean Koontz is obviously under a contract to write so many books for his publisher every year or whatever, but it is even more obvious his heart wasn't into this and he just typed up anything that was coming into his head to fulfill the word count, rather than starting again, maybe with a better idea and producing a good story.  There is not even a fraction of a second glimpse of the brilliant mind who produced classic masterpieces such as&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Watchers/dp/0425221806/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Watchers</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Intensity/dp/B000UDNBRQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Intensity</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Voice-of-the-Night/dp/0425128164/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Voice of the Night</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mr-Murder/dp/0425210758/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mr. Murder</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Night-Chills/dp/0425098648/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Night Chills</a>&nbsp;and other absolute can't put down until you reach the last page masterpieces.

This story is just a lot of rambling on by Ryan Perry the main character, we take over half the book to even get to the heart transplant which the title and info on the cover is promoting.  Koontz could have just started at part two, we didn't need the far fetched nonsense of surfing on a shark, how good and how much his employees like him and the rest of the drivel that made up the first half of the book.

The second half got interesting for a little while with mysterious objects turning up somehow getting through massive amounts of security but this fizzled out fast.  Violet the main villain (well depending on whose eyes your looking through) seemed to be a brilliant intelligent woman when needed to be for the plot but too dumb to grasp the concept of what happened (I won't give it away but you can work out her relationship to Ryan pretty much straight away). Also like a James Bond villain why didn't she just shoot him first time she saw him.

Plus the compulsory getting the Retriever somewhere into the story pages at the end just seemed forced. IN fact it seemed to be the only point for even having these pages at all. Dean, we get it, you like these dogs.  We however don't need to have them rammed down our eyes every time we pick up your latest book, especially when they've got nothing to do with the plot.  Just write an article for a dog, pet or animal magazine or something to get it out of your system.  No matter what experts they have to write articles on Golden Retrievers, they'll publish something with your name on it over them I guarantee you as more people will buy the magazine.  Or even write a whole non fiction book on how great these dogs are if you need to but can we have a break from your obsession in your fiction please!  Maybe there's a bit too much into Golden Retrievers to be healthy anonymous group that you could attend once a month or something but it's gotten to the stage where it's becoming really, really annoying in your books.

If this is your first Dean Koontz book don't be put off.  Dean Koontz does know how to write.  Check out one of his masterpieces I mentioned before.  If good heart or organ donation fiction you are after check out&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Heart-Seizure-A-Novel/dp/0060815256/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Heart Seizure: A Novel</a>&nbsp;or the&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Organ-Grinders/dp/0060815264/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Organ Grinders</a>&nbsp;by Bill Fitzhugh.
1604315
How can this travesty be possible?  Better plots have undoubtedly been conceived on Scooby Do, so how is it possible that anyone could be reading this "author"?  Furthermore somewhere in the book, the author actually steps away from the story-telling role urging the reader to skip ahead to avoid the details of the actual story.  Not kidding.  Promise you won't tell -anyone you've read this book when you finish.  You'll be too embarrassed.
1294310
While purist authors are known to refrain from reading other novels to insure the uniqueness of their own story, Brent Weeks is a total contradiction that screams "I love to read other's books and I'm here to give you the best of the best of all of them!" I found strings of Tolkien, Jordan, Donaldson, Brooks, Anthony, and so many others including the Holy Bible! My whole point is this: I found the Night Angel Trilogy so much fun to read - mainly because I could see Weeks fly in the face of tradition and mediocrity! While the authors mentioned above are entirely known by their own, unique creations, Brent Weeks, sadly, will not really be known as anybody with originality - but he certainly knows how to entertain! Let's face it, when you spin a yarn around a campfire, you tell stories that you've heard or read - only with a certain spin that makes everybody think its entirely your own. This is how Brent Weeks tells a story. Give the guy a break. I would give him 0 stars for originality, while giving him 5 stars for weaving a wonderful tapestry by collecting the most colorful threads in the library.
958575
I love Dean Koontz books--usually. In such books as Watchers, Winter Moon and the Christopher Snow books, he brilliantly combines believable horror with suspense and adventure.

But...time-travelling Nazis, trying to change the future to Nazi Heaven? Not only is it unbelievable and ridiculous, that book has already been written by Robert Rankin. I believe it was called 'Nostradamus Ate My Hamster.' He had the sense to call it comedy.

Even if the idea wasn't silly enough, this book has many other flaws. Not the least of which is that Koontz, like most male writers, is unable to write a child character who sounds more like a child than a midget scientist. Time travel trivia off Star Trek, fine, but knowing what the SS was and what their uniforms were like? Sorry, Dean, but most nine-year-olds, even from the eighties, have no idea who Hitler even is. They are hardly awash in the mythology of Naziism. (That was kids in the 50's who grew up watching old Superman serials on TV.)

The main character was pretty likable, until she loaded up on more guns than Yoichi Hiruma on a shopping binge, and started spouting NRA propaganda. Uzi-Totin' Mama, blowing the heads off Nazis left and right in defense of her home and child! Hard to believe of someone who wrote such beautiful and sensitive books that they made people cry.

Oh, and lets talk about how she succeeded because she was tough from her rough childhood. How did being tough aid her writing career? If I remember correctly, she never even had to recover from a single rejection slip, and her second book sold for over a million. Mr. Koontz, you are a professional writer. You know better than that.

And what's with all the Disney advertising? Is this book published by Disney, and they paid you extra for touting their movies and theme park? It felt like sell-out and product placement to me.

Lots of little annoyances, but those are the ones that irritated me the most.

Please, Mr. Koontz, go back to writing suspenseful, scary books. This is cheese.
4193646
I WANT to like books that I buy.  I realize that it takes authors a great deal of time and effort to bring a book to fruition, and I feel horrible when I leave a negative review.  Unfortunately, I'm about to feel horrible.

I've been a faithful Koontz fan for ages...Odd Thomas is one of my all-time favorite characters.  And having read Dean Koontz for so long, I've come to think of his books ("Odd Thomas" and "Frankenstein" aside -- those are special) along the lines of, "If you've read one, you've read them all."  He thinks of so many different ways to tell "good versus evil" stories, that even though the premise was the same in most of his books, they were still entertaining.  However, not only was this book not, "Odd Thomas" or "Frankenstein," but it was also not like anything else I've ever read by this author.  In fact, as I was reading this book, I wondered if Dean Koontz actually wrote it (the plethora of incomplete sentences was a big, unwelcome surprise).

The plot was far more science-fiction than horror or thriller.  The storyline was weird.  The suspense was lukewarm.  Character development was pretty much nil.  The ending was anticlimactic.  I'm sorry to say that much of this book was REDUNDANT and BORING; I eventually got to the point where I just wanted to get reading it over with.  It was during this time that I read only the first sentence of each paragraph for many of the chapters, and guess what?  I DIDN'T MISS ANYTHING.

I guess the only part of this book that I actually did like was the advertisement for the new Odd Thomas book at the end.
2763250
It's my fault.  I didn't carefully read the reviews.  Otherwise, I would have come to the conclusion that many of these "reviews" were written by friends of the author.  In the late 70's and 80's Satanism was riding high.  Any place where there were woods there thought to be devil worshippers.  There were a few murders in the name of Beezlebub but psycho's love to say the devil made them do it.  I thought Devil's Teeth was going to be an interesting story instead I was bored.  Jeanette DePalma disappears one day and not much longer is discovered dead.  The police believe the ole devil and company were involved.  Her pastor and some acquaintances say she was wild.  Her friends and family say no.  Her family belonged to a church and many thought they were odd.  Scary stuff!!......and I'm still waiting for the devil worshippers or the serial killer at least a suspect.  The scariest part in the entire book is when the dog walks home carrying poor Jeanette's arm.  After reading page after page of nonsense, we do get a glimmer of hope in finding the killer when it is brought up that Jeanette stopped by the house of a friend....but it goes nowhere.  Than the author decides to tell us the story of John List.  Ho hum.  The murders of the List family had nothing to do with anyone or anything other than John List.  The Ouija board is brought up....yes a board game that can be purchased at Toys R Us still has some people running for cover as if playing with it will conjure up the devil.  True crime readers, please stay away from this book.  The only true horror is the fact that Jeanette's murderer has never been caught.
2078245
Wow, I was soooo excited to buy this book.  It's such a let down.  It's as if Mr. Koontz has no idea who his characters are, or should I say were?  If he does this to Odd Thomas, I may have a fit!
1173099
I have enjoyed several of Dean Koontz books but found this one to drag with a story that is very hard to believe.  This is a work of pure fiction with little basis in science, reality or logic.
319002
Well, after reading reviews I realized these were both novellas/short stories whatever that appeared in print before as three in one.
This was REALLY misrepresented, IMO.  The book that was supposed to be "the" book was only 35% of the book.  It was well written and very good and went fast.  That part was good.  Then it ended abruptly and there was the "extra" book, 1922, which comprised the next 65% of the book (according to kindle info).  That book was tedious and went on and on.  I'm not even half way through and I've given up because I just don't care.  About the characters, the plot (which is just dragging on and on), none of it.  I originally thought it was some sort of insert into the first part that would eventually tie in, I did not notice that at the bottom it was its own story and the first one was truly over.  Very disappointed, Mr. King!!!!  Going back to Dean Koontz now....
4434650
I am a huge Dennis Lehane fan and was incredibly excited when this came out. Unfortunately, with each page, i was getting more and more confused with the lackluster, shallow, unpolished piece of crap i was reading. How could this be? Dennis Lehane, who i often rave about and also recommend to anyone who asks, is a stellar author....how could he have written this? I would have sworn that a ghostwriter was hired to write this. Then i realized the origin of the "novel" was a little shady....short story first, a screenplay, then a novel? My theory is that the movie was coming out a week after the books release so the publishing house pushed for an accompanying novel (based on the huge success of lehane books-turned-movies) and either Dennis himself phoned it in or another writer was brought on to flesh out what i am sure was a great short story and should have been left at that. It might even be a great movie as well but it never should have been made into a novel if it wasn't going to receive the care that it should have. Also, anyone who reads this....keep an eye out for the truly tasteless, unnecessary 9/11 "reference" regarding Marv's coat. If you're going to make light of an event like that, it better be a damn good piece of writing.

Very disappointed in Dennis Lehane for allowing this "novel" to be published.