Rating: 
Summary: Pretty lame
Review: I tried the unabridged book on tape, featuring an utterly lackluster performance by Jonathan Marosz. Maybe I've read too much Dean Koontz, freak accident of science looses a monster with a special grudge. A resourceful man and equally plucky woman battle the evil while becoming soulmates. Characters exchange biographical information in unnaturally eloquent banter, providing exposition that would be much better conveyed by a third person narrator. The premise about genetic mutation was okay, and I liked the logic of his superheated cells devouring themselves at the end, but the clashes and chase scenes were dull and forgettable. If you're a new Koontz reader, maybe this is pretty good, but I have much fonder memories of "Hideaway" and "The Bad Place"
Rating: 
Summary: THIS WAS NOT ONE OF MY FAVORITES.
Review: I'VE READ A LOT OF DEAN KOONTZ'S BOOKS AND THIS WAS NOT ONE OF MY FAVORITES. USUALLY IF I GET INTO A GOOD BOOK I'LL FINISH IT WITHIN DAYS, THIS BOOK TOOK SEVERAL WEEKS. IT WAS HARD TO GET INTO THE STORY. IT WASN'T LIKE THE GREAT BOOKS SUCH AS, DRAGON TEARS, WATCHERS, OR STRANGERS. I WAS HOOKED FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER.
Rating: 
Summary: Very imaginative
Review: I've read a number of Koontz thrillers, and I am always suprised at his ability to make something that initially sounds corny seem so real. What I mean by that is when I told my boyfriend the storyline of Shadowfires, he couldn't help but find it amusing, and when I heard myself telling it to him, I knew it sounded crazy. And yet it wasn't flaky in the slightest, and only a master writer like Koontz can make that happen. Though shadowfires was a little more predictible then some of his other novels, it was still incredibly satisfying. I enjoyed the variety of characters, and the way they all emerged together in the plot. All of them have pasts, and hopes for the future. Emotion and all the necessary ingredients to make life breath out of each character. I recommend Shadowfires just as I would recomend any of Dean R. Koontz novels. If you haven't read any of his books, and you like thrills, excellent plots, and well written characters, Dean R. Koontz will not disappoint you.
Rating:
Summary: Fast paced & exciting
Review: It didn't take long for it start into the exiting chase that lasted the rest of the book. I loved it. Very exciting.
Rating: 
Summary: This one FREAKED me out!
Review: Its done in typical Dean style, not over the top...but a good read! And THIS ONE...Oh my! I was scared. I actually read it twice, and I usually never do that! It was just SO freeky that I wanted to be scared again. :O) Dont read it at night if youre home alone!
Rating:
Summary: A great movie! But it's a book...
Review: Like a fast-paced, well-crafted thrill? Well, here you have it. Dean Koontz has put together a good, long story with believable, likeable folks (except for those two bad guys), a nice little romance or two, plenty of white-knuckle moments and a satisfying (though a tad too pat) ending. For our love interest, we have Rachael Leben and Benny Shadway. Rachael, a real beauty, has been separated a year from her obsessive hubby, Eric. Benny, seemingly a low-key real estate guy with a fondness for old trains and Benny Goodman, turns out to have a past of gut-wrenching violence, tension and plenty of gunplay. And he's the good guy! Who'd a'thought it? Then there is Eric, a mad scientist who uses himself as a test-tube with lamentable and gooey results. But we won't go into that here. You need to sleep well tonight. While yucky Eric is pursuing Benny and Rachael across Southern California and Nevada, federal agents Anson Sharp and Jerry Peake are doing the same. It gets complicated. Listen up! Sharp is a bad guy, though he should be a good guy, federal agent and all. Really he's a slimeball. Well, so is Eric but for different reasons. Tagged up with Sharp is Peake, a young good-guy agent who dreams of becoming a legend. He has the misfortune of being teamed with Sharp. It presents difficult dilemmas, really difficult. While Eric is chasing Benny and Rachael, and Sharp and Peake are chasing Benny and Rachael (for very different reasons), two California cops, Julio Verdad and Reese Hagerstrom, are right behind them. Well, sometimes they are right ahead of them. It moves right along, this tale. They are a couple of really good guys, and who are they messing around with: Scumbag Sharp and slimball (literally) Eric. We have reason to worry about these two nice cops. Serious reason, because Eric, whoo-boy, is sliding down a wicked slope. Let this be a lesson to you: Never mix up your medications. Not only does he develop, uh, physical problems, but he changes in other ways too. And he does terrible, really terrible, things to people. And...at least once...it involves...the staff of his manhood...which has changed too. You don't want to even think about it. Mixed into all of this you will find "The Stone," a ham-handed, redneck of principle, Teddy Bertlesman in flamingo-pink who gets Reese Hagerstrom's motor running with anticipation, and, lastly, Whit Gavis, who has just one arm, one leg and some facial problems, but he's another good guy. Who survives? Who doesn't? Read the book and see. I have to hush up now because I see a hook coming at me from offstage.
Rating:
Summary: I love this book.
Review: Many of my favorite Koontz novels were originally published under the psuedonym LEIGH NICHOLS. There is something so engaging and suspenseful and passionate about those earlier novels that I really think he was in the top of his form back then. SHADOWFIRES stands out as one of his best. Beautiful and intensely-likeable Rachel Leben has finally escaped the neglect and cruelty of her husband, brilliant genetecist Eric Leben. Or at least she thinks she has. But Eric's hate for her (mainly for leaving him which in turn humiliates him) becomes a force of nature. Nothing will stop him from destroying her. Not even death... I've read this book at least twice now and will probably read it again. It's a classic "chase novel" with a creepy blend of science and horror and suspense. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Makes me wonder why I keep reading Koontz...
Review: Maybe I'm jaded, but the more of Koontz I read, the more I wonder why I keep going back for more. This book is a really good example of why: it shows Koontz's ability to take what could have been a really creepy ghost story and turn it into a government conspiracy. To top it all off, the ending was almost identical to that of "Mr. Murder" -- just a bit more predictable. If you'd like to see a better version of this same story, try "Mr. Murder." The one good thing I can say about "Shadowfires" is that I liked the characters...but sometimes characterization just isn't enough.
Rating:
Summary: Too Long... but SCARY!
Review: OK... KOONTZ HAS WRITTEN ABOUT GENETICS BEFORE (AND CONTINUES TO DO SO...HENCE, THE CHRISTOPHER SNOW BOOKS.) BUT, I PERSONALLY LIKE THIS BOOK EVEN BETTER THAN WATCHERS (TRANSLATION...IT'S SCARIER!) Eric Leben is a truly frightening villain... he wasn't well glued together before his death and self-imposed resurrection, but he becomes (literally) a monster upon his return. The "shadow fires" of the book's title are psychologically chilling. Leben is definitely one of Koontz's best villains...and that says a lot. He's certainly more interesting than Candy, the vilain of The Bad Place...which nonetheless remains my fav Koontz novel. Anyway, if u are looking to get chills, th is is the book for u. Just realize the book is a bit slow in places. it definitely could've been tighter. BUT the supporting characters in this book are great... especially THE STONE and the sadistic federal agent... Sharp, i believe his name was. so pick this one up... and prepare to be spooked. :)
Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful Story
Review: Originally written under the pen name of Leigh Nichols, this book tells of a love triangle gone horribly wrong. Rachel Leben has been separated from her brilliant husband for months. Eric Leben is a genetic scientist whose main obsession is youth. Rachel has become tired of her older husband's obsessive lifestyle and is wanting a divorce. After a violent argument, Eric storms out into the street and is killed when he is hit by a truck. Horrified by the situation, Rachel reluctantly leans on Ben Shadway, a man that she is falling in love with. But their nightmare has only just begun. There are signs that Eric isn't dead, that he is coming after Rachel with a rage that goes beyond anything human. Now Ben and Rachel must run, not just from Eric, but from a terrible secret that the government is well aware of. Like many of his other books, this story has deep, complex characters, heart pounding action, and thrilling suspense. A fast paced read, this tale keeps you riveted until the very end. The only complaint I have with the story is that all the loose ends in the story were all tied up in a very brief climax. (Almost as if a time limit was up and the story had to be finished right now.) Other than that it was quite enjoyable.
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