Strangers

This book is several years old, but I love it. It is one you can read over and over. It is about several different people from different walks of life who begin to have severe panic attacks about everyday things. A surgeon who gets transfixed by water swirling down a sink. Her attacks are so severe that she doesn’t remember running from preparing to operate and finds herself in an alley several blocks from the hospital. Other characters include a truck driver, an auther, a family, and a private detective who is more that just a pi. When these people start to figure things out is when the story really gets good.

This book is long, but so intriguing that you think about even when you aren’t reading it. that’s why I love Dean Koontz.

I’m a Dean Koontz fan, so anything he writes is bound to end up on my TBR list. I love his storylines and his writing style.

Strangers was a good read (audio version) and I enjoyed it but it wasn’t my favorite of his. It was written in the 80’s, so I was prepared for that aspect, and I very much enjoyed the characters and their backgrounds…but in my opinion it was too long and parts were a little slow for me. And I had so hoped the ending wouldn’t be what I figured out in the beginning. Having read some of his other thrillers, I kept hoping it wasn’t what I thought that brought the “strangers” together.

I felt the ending was rushed–such a huge book and so many facets were brilliantly brought out but I was left hanging to the questions brought up by the ending. Questions I’d hoped would be answered but weren’t.

All in all, I would recommend this book by all means, but be prepared for a long, long story.

I’m looking forward to the next one of his of which I have many. Oh, to choose!
Stay safe and well out there.

Could not put it down

I read this book when it first came out and thought it was great. I am tempted to read it again to see if it’s still as good as I remember.

Somewhere along the line, I missed this book. As usual, Mr. Koonzs’ works are intriguing and draw you into his wonderfully convoluted way of thought.

This is one of those novels that will linger in your thoughts for decades and I don’t just mean an image or two. From the very first chapter, Koontz starts cultivating feelings of suspense and ever increasing tension that will have your desperately turning pages, or, if listening to it in audio as I did this time, finding excuses to keep the book playing long after your commute is done. What is especially impressive for an author who made his reputation in the horror genre is that it’s not even clear that there is going to be a supernatural element for half the book. It opens with a man who finds himself hiding in the closet after apparently sleep walking. He’s sore, he’s frightened, and he has no idea what is going on. But it isn’t until he pulls himself together and sits down at his computer to continue writing his books that things get really eerie. He finds that while sleep walking he has typed page after page of just two words: “I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared.”

Koontz then shifts focus to a young doctor on her day off who panics and flees in a fugue state when she notices a pair of black gloves. Next we meet a retired marine who is suddenly terrified of the dark and trying desperately to hide his fear from his wife. None of these people have any apparent connection, yet they are all showing evidence of psychological suffering they can’t explain. Later in the book we meet a young child who has become terrified of doctors and a priest whose deep and abiding faith suddenly collapses so that he throws the chalice in the middle of Mass. And the list goes on. What makes this all the more frightening is it is way too easy to imagine yourself suffering these almost normal problems which means that you will enjoy a high level of empathy with each of these very well drawn characters.

As we get deeper into the novel, elements of a vast conspiracy begin to be uncovered with the real possibility of danger for the people trying to find out why they are suffering these bizarre symptoms. This ramps up the tension to a whole new level as we also began to meet people who have gone over the edge and even kill themselves as a result of the psychological harm they have suffered. At the same time suppressed memories begin to pop free in those sufferings and they separately begin to evolve plans that will ultimately bring them together to find out what incredible event triggered all of this.

I don’t want to give away the end of this novel, but I found it to have a totally satisfying conclusion. The chief villain, when he is revealed, is both frightening and believable. This is a long book—nearly 30 hours in audio—but every page is worth reading.

Great read!

Love this author!

While I have mixed feelings about the length of the book, it was a pretty good read! At some points I thought the story could have been conveyed in a much shorter novel, but at other times I truly appreciated the length because it gives the reader an in-depth look into the characters’ lives. That is perhaps the greatest strength of the novel, the character development.

I will say that every chapter of this book had me wanting more! Koontz makes it strikingly clear that there is a huge secret that will be revealed at the end of the book, and I was pleasantly surprised by his ability to maintain suspense throughout the entirety of the novel. In hindsight, I did think the final reveal did not completely explain some of the characters’ previous behaviors. This revelation caused improbable reactions in some of the characters in my opinion. For instance, one of the characters was able to let go of traumatic experiences that she went through as a child, but I don’t think what happened explains this reaction.

Overall, a pretty good book that keeps you on your toes! If you’re looking for a book with interesting characters and a lot of suspense, then Strangers is definitely for you!

I love Dean Koontz’ books – this is a wonderful story that challenges your perceptions of the universe.