Frankenstein: Dead and Alive (2 page)

“Koontz tries to create serious literature. He largely succeeds.”

—
USA Today

“Classic Koontz features a distinctive narrative that verges on the wise-crackingly facetious…. He is also a dab hand at tying in a wacky love story … an acquired taste, but one acquired by millions.”

—
The Times
(London)

“Dean Koontz … is at the top of his field. [He] delivers all we have come to expect from him, including suspense, action, violence and general weirdness … wonderfully understated … being raised above [his] contemporaries by excellent, deceptively detailed characterization.”

—
January Magazine

“While dazzling the reader with magnificent turns of phrase that will evoke simultaneous admiration and envy, [Koontz] alternates the mood between tenderness and suspense.”

—Bookreporter.com

“Koontz skillfully blends elements … of romance, horror, fantasy, mystery, suspense, thriller, and detective fiction…. All of Koontz’s novels are about how to live and his people are the main event. You can believe them. You can believe in them. The clash of good and evil will keep readers turning pages to the end. Koontz maintains the chilling atmosphere and sense of foreboding, while including a great deal of humor. He can be wickedly satirical and funny…. He has a good deal of faith—like Dickens and Chekhov—in individuals.”

—
The Tampa Tribune

“Dean Koontz is as much philosopher as mystery weaver … as much mystic as realist, as much romantic as pragmatist … mov[ing] back and forth between mystery, love story, the supernatural, morality tale, and suspense.”

—
Asbury Park Sunday Press

“Koontz is king of highwire suspense.”

—
Denton Record-Chronicle

“We [are] mesmerized by Koontz’s gift of words and colorful prose.”

—
The Oakland Press

“Koontz is famous for the way he falls in love with his characters. They’re so richly and compellingly drawn, you can practically hear them breathing from the page. You’ll never want to leave the worlds Koontz draws you into. Open your mind and your heart.”

—
Lexington Herald-Leader

“Koontz builds mansions of place and time … examining the depth of the human spirit, our capacity for good and evil … and the consequences of even the simplest deed.”

—Harrisburg
Patriot-News

“Exceptional writing and storytelling. Year after year, Koontz provides fresh ideas.”

—
San Antonio Express-News

“For some time now, Koontz has been quite ambitious with the themes of his thrillers … Joy is definitely in the journey.”

—
The Flint Journal

“Magic.”

—New Orleans
Times-Picayune

“Vintage novel writing.”

—
The Calgary Sun

“Dean Koontz is not an author to be taken for granted. Each of his books stands alone; they do not fit a pattern…. Well-developed characters [are] a trademark of Koontz’s…. Highly diverse … marvelous people.”

—
Fort Myers Beach Observer

“Creative and far-reaching … riveting … Koontz is on top of his field.”

—
Deseret Morning News

“Dean Koontz achieve[s] a literary miracle…. A tapestry of intrigue and suspense … stunning physical description, unique turns of phrase.”

—
The Boston Globe

“Koontz has the power to scare your socks off and the ability to fill your eyes with compassionate tears.”

—
Orange Coast

“[Koontz] breaks new ground in the scope of [his] themes and sheer story-telling prowess…. Koontz drives you crazy with suspense as he weaves a web of psychological and mystical tension.”

—
Tulsa World

“Dean Koontz is a prose stylist whose lyricism heightens malevolence and tension. He creates characters of unusual richness and depth. A level of perception and sensitivity that is not merely convincing—it’s astonishing.”

—
The Seattle Times

“A master storyteller. Sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking, but always riveting. His characters sparkle with life.”

—
The San Diego Union-Tribune

“Koontz raises intriguing questions about life, death, evil, and faith that are worthy of C. S. Lewis.”

—
The Flint Journal

“Koontz’s prose is at times lyrical without ever being naïve or romantic. This is a grotesque world, much like that of Flannery O’Connor or Walker Percy. Scary, worthwhile reading.”

—New Orleans
Times-Picayune

“Koontz’s prose is as smooth as a knife through butter, and his storytelling ability never wavers.”

—
The Calgary Sun

“Koontz is a master at constructing vivid, eerily realistic worlds that hold readers spellbound.”

—
Booklist

“His prose mesmerizes…. Gut-wrenching clarity. It’s in the description of emotional states—from love to despair—that Koontz has consistently hit bull’s-eyes, evoking reactions of ‘Yes, I know
exactly
how that feels!’”

—
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“Koontz fuses narrative brio with benedictions.”

—
The New York Times

“Koontz writes first-rate suspense, scary and stylish.”

—
Los Angeles Times

“Genre-bending … Koontz’s use of original metaphors and similes … give his stor[ies] a depth rarely found in such tales…. The modern master of suspense.”

—
Tulsa World

“For years Koontz has aimed at more than thrills; he is a novelist of metaphysics and moral reflection. Koontz remains one of the most fascinating of contemporary popular novelists.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Koontz knows where we keep our bejesus and what it takes to scare it out of us…. [He] spins his yarns effortlessly.”

—New York
Daily News

“As scary as anything Poe ever crafted. Koontz has that rare ability to mix despair and hope in almost equal measure.”

—
Mesa Tribune

“Dean Koontz has always been a master of plot, dialogue, and description. As gifted a writer as Koontz is he’s a better storyteller. The blood of the shaman and chronicler courses through his veins, as he conjures up stories of decent people placed in terrible circumstances. His theme centers on the Grand Romance with its temptations, love, and the struggle against evil. If Koontz tells us anything it is that we are accountable for the choices we make, and one way or another, the bill’s coming due. Fast-paced and dark … Koontz knows we live in a world where evil delights in justifying itself, where materialism has become an end in itself, where the gray, half-light of moral ambiguity supersedes moral verities, and where mankind has turned its collective face away from God. What will become of such a society? Koontz requires us to examine the condition of our kind and there is much to answer for…. Classic literature [that] deserves a place on the bookshelf beside Orwell’s
1984
, Bradbury’s
Fahrenheit 451
, and Berry’s
Jayber Crow.”

—
California Literary Review

“Show[ing] influences from H. G. Wells’
The War of the Worlds
, John Wyndham’s
The Day of the Triffids
, Dante’s
Inferno
, and the stories of H. P. Lovecraft, not to mention
The Wasteland
and other T. S. Eliot works … Koontz effectively merges science-fiction and horror conventions with Judeo-Christian traditions.”

—
Rocky Mountain News

“Koontz may like to scare readers, but he also likes to charm them. He succeeds at both efforts.”

—
San Jose Mercury News

“Dean Koontz incorporates mysteries into his plots, but his protagonists are more mysterious than the crimes they solve. He knows how to hook the reader … how to play with our expectations.”

—
The Globe and Mail

“His prose is rich and evocative. His characters are among the warmest—and most despicable—in modern fiction.”

—
Ottawa Citizen

“Koontz is writing right where popular culture swells into something larger, just as it did for Homer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. He’s got the gift.”

—
The Australian

“After three dozen novels and more than 200 million copies sold, Dean Koontz can still reach out and pull the reader into terror.”

—
San Antonio Express-News

“Koontz’s plots and characters are always compelling, absorbing, and beautifully drawn with a deep respect for the redemptive power of love.”

—
Orange Coast

“Dean Koontz … has the power to scare the daylights out of us.”

—
People

“Koontz’s superlative ability to balance sensationalism with psychological, emotional, and physical realism keeps readers riveted to the page.”

—
Mystery Scene

“A master of the [suspense] genre.”

—
Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Koontz is a master at creating believable characters and realistic dialogue…. He has few peers when it comes to snappy one-liners and irreverent humor.”

—
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Koontz knows how to turn the screws, and dealing with internal terrors, really takes the reader for a ride.”

—
The Globe and Mail

“Koontz long ago mastered the art of grabbing a reader’s attention and hanging onto it into the wee hours.”

—Baton Rouge
Advocate

“Koontz has a touching faith in the human spirit. [His] sure fire plotting and a roster of characters built out of painful tragedies make the pages move.”

—
People

“The poet laureate of paranoid pop fiction … You’d be hard-pressed to find a writer so tailor-made for the strange, paranoid, black-and-white century we’ve just entered.”

—
The Denver Post

“Koontz drops readers into the middle of the action, then doubles back to provide the background for his characters, deftly making us care about them…. [He] keeps the action moving at a frenetic pace.”