Be Afraid..... Be Very Afraid

Dustin and Martine Rhodes are your average American couple. Martie is a computer game designer, whose most recent work is a game based on the bestselling novel, The Lord Of The Rings. Dusty is a house painter who takes care of his beloved brother Skeet, who has previously been addicted to narcotic drugs. Dusty and Martie are living a normal life, with family problems but still neverthless a normal life.... until one day, everything changed.

Martie one day woke up from bed feeling a bit strange about herself. Brushing of the feeling, she took Valet, their family dog, off for her morning walk. But suddenly, Martie is struck by a strange feeling of self fear. Her mind kept thinking of things, horrible things that a normal state of thinking would find gruesome. Unable to compose herself, Martie went home to fix herself up and take Susan, her friend afflicted with the case of agoraphobia (afraid of open spaces), to sessions with her psychiatrist, Dr. Ahriman. Martie tried her best to hide her sickness during the whole day while, after taking Susan to Ahriman, getting rid of anything in her house which might prove useful to be a weapon, which in case is about anything. From knives to car keys, Martie is afraid of hurting her husband when he arrives home. Martie is desperate.... and she is afraid. Of herself.

Having known as one of the best psychiatrist to seek for advice, Dusty having known of Martie's trouble, went to Dr. Ahriman for help. Little did he know that this could be one of the gravest decision he had ever made, because he is walking right into evil's doorstep. Martie, diagnosed by Ahriman of having the case of autophobia (fear of oneself), is in even greater danger than before. Because the phobias are just the tip of the iceberg in this novel's web of lies and deception, where you could not trust no one... not even yourself.

THE CHARACTERS: Very nicely done. I had myself engrossed with the villain rather than the good guys. His brilliant way of thinking, his cleverness, his accuracy to the smallest detail makes him a very formidable especially if fitted against two normal American citizens in which one is a video game designer while the other is a house painter.

THE WRITING: Although Koontz decided to rely more on his "villain" character here rather than the good ones, i'd say he did it for the better. Even though Koontz decided to focus more on the evil character here, i'd have to agree with his idea since this style of writing further contributed to the presentation of how mad and dangerous the evil character is. Koontz visualized the evil character here as a persona of pure evil, one who loves to play dangerously rather than play safe but which his brilliant mind can take him out of any kind of dangerous situation he gets himself into. The good characters on the other hand, are trapped within the evil mind's dangerous game of "Trust No One Not Even Yourself" and has little chance of winning the battle. All this evolves around Koontz work which he masterfully molds into an unforgettable story of cat and mouse.

THE CLIMAX: I'd have to say, i'm kinda disappointed with the novel's climax. After building page after page of tension and anticipation, i didn't quite realize that the story would end the way it ended. Not too bad though, but Koontz should thought of a better one.

A very nice work, especially if you're a Koontz fan. It just doesn't get any better and scarier than this!!