Wed, Jul 22 2009 - 11:18 AM
I've said it before and am likely to say it again: I am a big fan of Dean Koontz. Have been for nigh on 30 years. With over 50 bestsellers to his credit, and over 400 million copies of his books in print, the man is as prolific as Stephen King, if not quite as recognizable. His early, mid-80s novels like Watchers, Strangers, and Lightning are some of the most thrilling and suspenseful books I have ever had the pleasure to grip in my white-knuckled hands. Likewise in the 90s, tomes such as Da...
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Fri, Feb 6 2009 - 12:56 PM
The publishing world is currently in a massive state of flux. There is no lack of interesting stories to publish, but in our current economic times, the day of the huge publishing deal may be going the way of the dodo -- especially with the advent of electronic media. If, in the face of this, there is any example of a book being "the little engine that could," it has got to be William P. Young's religious allegory, The Shack.Initially rejected by scores of publishing houses (both religious and...
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Fri, Jan 23 2009 - 20:16 PM
A couple months ago, wanting to write an informed review of the film version of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, I picked up a mass-market paperback and read the thing for myself -- click here for a review of both. Although teenage girls (of all ages) are probably most responsible for turning this book and its three (so far) sequels into a cult phenomenon, there are many outside of this demographic who have also fallen under its spell. While you will never hear me ooze the same enthusiasm for it th...
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Fri, Jan 9 2009 - 18:02 PM
I've been a huge Dean Koontz fan since the early 1980s. He is, in fact, my second favorite author -- Steve King still gets the number one spot -- so it distresses me to have to give such a middling review of his latest book.Perhaps the jacket copy is the best synopsis of this strange novel:From the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense comes a riveting thriller that probes the deepest terrors of the human psyche—and the ineffable mystery of what truly makes us who we are. Here...
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Sun, Jul 27 2008 - 13:13 PM
Never heard of Joe Hill? Sure you have, you just don't remember. I'll refresh your memory near the end of this book review.Since it would be a crime to reveal too much about the plot of Heart-Shaped Box, I'll let the jacket copy speak for itself:An aging death-metal rock god, Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals ... a used hangman's noose ... a snuff film. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or dreadful as an item he learns is for sale on the Internet. For ...
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