Entertaining and engaging

Extremely well written, a highly recommended book, however there were minor drawbacks. Prior to reading this book I had read 3 other books by Koontz, A Key To Midnight, Dragon Tears, and Intensity, all of which I really enjoyed. So recently I saw a commercial for his new suspense novel, so I decided to pick it up. While reading it I found it very captivating, and extremely entertaining, that is up to page 500, where it continued to stay good, but became slightly drawn out. Out of all the books I have read by Koontz, I found this to be quite similar to them in substance, but a little lacking in means to organization.


Characters


I found his use of characterization great in this story.
Each person in the story had a unique personality, and realistic emotions. Koontz portrayed the actions of people suffering from phobias, and he did this well. Also, as always, the part of the psychotic and what was going through his mind was written in beautiful detail.


Plot


The plot is about a group of people with major problems. Two of the main characters are suffering from unique and rare phobias, one from a memory lapse, and the other is suicidal. The story also incorporates a psychiatrist and various other doctors into the mix, however the psychiatrist is one a vital part of the story. It is very unusual for such a group of friends and relatives, such as these people, to all have rare/ unstable conditions, and upon reading this novel you may start wondering whether or not the peoples conditions are linked somehow, but I'll leave that up to you.


Problems with the book


The book, while very interesting has many times when you question to as of why you are still reading it. Occasionally after reading a very riveting part of the book, Koontz follows it with a boring side story that could have either been taken out, or could have been spiced up a bit. He also tends to draw out emotional and suspenseful moments a little too much, and he does this throughout the whole book, and surprisingly he sums up the whole thing withing the last twenty pages, wish he would have elaborated a little on the death of the evil character, for although he sums up the guys death well the quickness in which he died was disappointing.


Bottom line


An excellent read if your up to reading 751 pages. The two hundred or so pages of confusing and slightly boring portions of the book will hopefully be overshadowed by the excellent plot, and the other 500 pages.