Koontzland - Dean Koontz discussion

I'm always looking for new authors I haven't read. I find goodreads participants a great source for this kind of information.
And we could always use a specific thread for other authors, so here we go.....

You are good Jackie :-)
So, I would recommend Tess Gerritsen. Right now she's my #3 favorite author. After Dean Koontz and Stephen White. She has a series that's similar to Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series - the main characters in Gerritsen's series are Jane Razzoli (female police officer) and Maura Isles (medical examiner). Gerritsen is the only other author I've considered creating a goodreads group for - not sure if I'll ever do it, but I've considered it :-) Gerritsen is great if you like fast-paced mystery/thrillers. She's "The New Cornwell" - after reading Patricia Cornwell's newest book - The Scarpetta Factor, I've about had it with the Kay Scarpetta series. I really enjoyed The Keepsake (2008) by Tess Gerritsen. She's coming out with a new book in her Razzoli/Isles series this spring.

I used to like the Scarpetta novels. I'm not sure exactly when, but it's been a few years since it's felt fresh and new; I felt like I was reading only because they used to be good.
I honestly can't wait to get my hands on Tess Gerritsen's novels.

This is a great topic.

I'd Like to recommend one of my favourite authors: Ira Levin. Author of books, plays and even songs !
Of course our main concern is his literaly output - his novels. The man is THE master of suspense - I've yet to come across such nail-biting stuff as his books.

A Kiss Before Dying is his first work; written when he was just 24. The protagonist wants to get rich by marrying a daughter of a copper factory owner. "shocking tale of a charming, intelligent man who will stop at nothing, even murder, to get where he wants to go.". PLEASE, DON'T READ ANYTHING ABOUT THE BOOK ON THE WEB - SOME SITES SPOIL IT ! Just trust me and borrow the novel, you will not regret it.

Rosemary's Baby is a great example of a modern gothic novel - I'm sure everyone heard about it. But if you're not familiar with the book, read it !

This Perfect Day - Levin's only voyage into the dystopian territory. A young man named Chip lives in a perfect society - until he begins to have doubts about its perfextion. Great, just great !

The Stepford Wives - the ideal town of Stepford: when Joanna and Walter move into it, they are just charmed. But behind the town's friendly atmosphere lies a terrible secret...mind-shattering denouement !


The Boys from Brazil is another favourite. Dr. Jakov Lieberman is a nazi hunter. One day a telephone call makes him realize that a terrible threat still might exist. Recommended !
WARNING - REVIEW ON GOODREADS INCLUDES SPOILERS ! I don't know who does that but he should get a kick in the head !

Long story short, Levin is the master of suspense. To quote Stephen King, his plots are so elaborately constructed, just like Swiss Watches. None of the mentioned books will disappoint you. Full of twist and turns, with the most unexpected and shocking endings ever written !

Dustin wrote: "You are good Jackie :-)
So, I would recommend Tess Gerritsen. Right now she's my #3 favorite author. After Dean Koontz and Stephen White. She has a series that's similar to Patricia Cornwell's Scar..."

You have good taste Dustin!
I too am a fan of Tess Gerritsen; probably position #3, after King and Koontz. My favs are on a sliding scale, never in concrete; eg. Ketchum, Cook, White and others are in my top tier. I liken Tess Gerritsen to many of Robin Cook's medical thrillers. A warning though; her earliest work is in the Romance Genre, not at all my cup of tea.

The Exorcist scared the crap out of me. I consider this required reading, even (perhaps especially) for those who were scared by the movie. How's that go? "You ain't seen nothin' yet!"

I'm moving this topic to the Other Authors, Groups and Books folder (not sure exactly what order I have them listed in ) and then I'll be back to comment :-)

Ok - sorry about that Jackie, your link to this discussion from the favorites discussion still works - :-) I just tried it. I just moved the topic to a different folder, please don't take any offense - I really appreciate you creating this topic. I just have lots of folders because I'm planning on big things for Koontzland!

Tom wrote: "The Exorcist scared the crap out of me. I consider this required reading, even (perhaps especially) for those who were scared by the movie. How's that go? "You ain't seen nothin' yet!""

Would this be a good read for someone who hasn't seen the movie? Should I see the movie or read the book first?

Tom wrote: "You have good taste Dustin!
I too am a fan of Tess Gerritsen; probably position #3, after King and Koontz. My favs are on a sliding scale, never in concrete; eg. Ketchum, Cook, White and others are in my top tier. I liken Tess Gerritsen to many of Robin Cook's medical thrillers. A warning though; her earliest work is in the Romance Genre, not at all my cup of tea. "

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! I have not read her romance books and I have no intention of doing so :-) btw, she is still writing them in between her medical thriller releases which is probably why it takes so long for her new books that I want to read to come out. I have read a lot of Robin Cook but I stopped in 2006 when he started bringing back the Jack Stapleton character - the books just didn't seem worth my time anymore. My favorite author positions are also not set in stone. For example, after reading The Lost Symbol this past fall - Dan Brown went down on my list of favorite authors. If you read Stephen White and want to find other fans - please join my Stephen White - Alan Gregory group. That's the only other group that I moderate - It is a much smaller and quieter group :-) and we could really use men because the vast majority of group members are women right now.

Ok, back to Gerritsen, Have you read her entire Jane Razzoli/ Maura Isles series? I listened to most of them on audiobook but I've gone through all of them. She also has some good Stand-Alone medical thrillers which I've listened to on Audio. A fairly recent one I'd recommend is The Bone Garden - I think Gerritsen put alot of herself into that book. It was her newest medical thriller release before The Keepsake. I guess it wasn't technically in the Razzoli/Isles series but Maura Isles did make a cameo appearance.

Maciek wrote: "Rosemary's Baby is a great example of a modern gothic novel - I'm sure everyone heard about it. But if you're not familiar with the book, read it !"

I watched the movie when my wife was pregnant - which was an insane experience (I mean watching the film when my wife was about to have a baby, not the fact of my wife being pregnant). I haven't read the book.

Dustin wrote: "Ok, back to Gerritsen, Have you read her entire Jane Razzoli/ Maura Isles series? ..."

AFA I know, I've read all of her medical thriller type books.
Another author who comes up with good stuff is Gregg Hurwitz. _Minutes to Burn_ is the first that comes to mind.

Here are my thoughts on The Scarpetta Factor and the Scarpetta Series by Patricia Cornwell:

I enjoyed Scarpetta (2008) better. The Scarpetta Factor had many references to older titles in the series - I would have liked more new material. It seemed like Cornwell basically used The Scarpetta Factor to promote her more popular Scarpetta books. There is even a page devoted to this in the back, which states:

If you enjoyed The Scarpetta Factor, other recommended Scarpetta stories that relate to the one you just read include:
The Body Farm
Point of Origin
Black Notice
The Last Precinct
Blow Fly
Book of the Dead
Scarpetta

I mean, why didn't the publisher just list them all - well, because Trace and Predator were especially lousy that's why. I gave The Scarpetta Factor 3 stars, I've been giving a lot of 3 stars lately.

I do enjoy Cornwell's commentary on current events in her novels such as the economy, Obama and Madoff but that's about all The Scarpetta Factor has going for it.

*Spoiler Alert - Below - A bit about the ending*
Another character gets their brain matter splattered on Kay as Benton saves her from an attacker. Nothing really new.
*End of Spoiler Alert*

Kay Scarpetta barely gets her cooking scene in before the book ends. I honestly am thinking Cornwell needs to retire Scarpetta - I'm no longer enjoying this series. With the exception of of last year's "Scarpetta", Blow Fly was the last good book.

So there you have it... feel free to agree or disagree :-)

I rarely give out 5 stars, 4 if I REALLY liked it. So mostly, I give a lot of 3 stars.
NP on the move, I didn't know where to put it.

Dustin wrote: "Maciek wrote: "Rosemary's Baby is a great example of a modern gothic novel - I'm sure everyone heard about it. But if you're not familiar with the book, read it !"

I watched the movie when my wife..."

Actually the movie is extremely close to the novel. Roman Polanski often phoned Levin to ask, for example, what shirt the protagonist was wearing in one scene, or what newspaper he was reading ? he went as far as to try to find the exact issue mentioned in the book !

But still, It's an extremely pleasant read (as are all of the mentioned books). If you have some spare time you can give it a shot.

Maciek wrote: "Actually the movie is extremely close to the novel. Roman Polanski often phoned Levin to ask, for example, what shirt the protagonist was wearing in one scene, or what newspaper he was reading ? he went as far as to try to find the exact issue mentioned in the book !"

I love it when films go by the book, unfortunately, it's very rare :-)

Jackie wrote: "I rarely give out 5 stars, 4 if I REALLY liked it. So mostly, I give a lot of 3 stars.
"

I guess I'm about the opposite on my star-giving. I'm a pretty liberal star-giver :-) I rarely give out 1 or 2 stars. 3 stars are given to mediocre books. I like to give out lots of 4 and 5 stars :-) For example, I gave Breathless and The Husband 3 stars, I gave Relentless, A Big Little Life and Dead and Alive all 5 stars. I gave Your Heart Belongs to Me 3 stars just to be nice to Dean :-)

Tom wrote: "The Exorcist scared the crap out of me. I consider this required reading, even (perhaps especially) for those who were scared by the movie. How's that go? "You ain't seen nothin' yet!""

I love the movie but also heard the book is 10 times scarier. The cover of my paperback even freaks me out...

Maciek, not a good time to watch Rosemary's Baby, what were you thinking? LOL
Did you ever read the sequel? I can't remember the name of it, but it was pretty good. I've read a lot of Levin, and I didn't even realize it. The only one I didn't read out of the four you mentined was This Perfect Day. If I see it at a book sale I'll pick it up. I did like his other novels.

I've read the sequel. It's titled "Son of Rosemary" but I was disappointed by it. I gave it three stars only because I'n a Levin fanatic.
"This Perfect Day" is briliant, seriously. Go get it if you have a chance ! It's a great story.

Son of was pretty good, but nothing like Rosemary's Baby.

Arthur C. Clarke rules!!! :-)

I've read several of, and liked them very much books by Clive Barker.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/c...

The Great and Secert Show, Weaveworld, & The Thief of Always. Those are the only ones i've read, but so far so good. I have seen the movie The Books of Blood, and it wasn't as gory as the books. At least that's what i've been told by people who have read The Books of Blood.

Does anyone read Jeffrey Deaver? If so, what do you think of his books and how do you think Deaver compares to Dean Koontz? I'm currently reading The Blue Nowhere - it's my first try at reading Jeffrey Deaver.

I'd like to recommend a book that will creep you out (if you are in the mood for a good horror story)
It's called Haunted, written by British author James Herbert. Truly chilling, modern gothic tale. A must read for anyone into haunted houses.

I'll put it on my to-read list and try to check it out :-) Thanks for the recommendation Maciek!

No problem Dustin. It's short, but SO engrossing and chilling. You'll love it.
PS. Don't read about it on the web - some people post spoilers in their reviews :/

I love reading crime novels and one of my favorite authors is John Sandford. I love reading his Prey Series and I would really love to collect all of the books in the series. Right now, I'm looking forward to the latest addition to the series: Storm Prey which will be out on May 2010 according to http://www.johnsandford.org/.

Are there any John Sandford followers here too? I would love to hear your comments on his books. :)

Dustin wrote: "Does anyone read Jeffrey Deaver? If so, what do you think of his books and how do you think Deaver compares to Dean Koontz? I'm currently reading The Blue Nowhere - it's my first try at reading Jef..."

I have read his Speaking In Tongues : A Novel and was indeed astounded by his writing style and by the story itself. I still have to read The Bone Collector. It's next on my list of to-read books by Deaver's. I heard it's good. :)

Lynai wrote: "I love reading crime novels and one of my favorite authors is John Sandford. I love reading his Prey Series and I would really love to collect all of the books in the series. Right no..."

I tried to read Sandford last year. I enjoyed The Night Crew and then I read Dead Watch and didn't like that as much (those are both stand-alone novels of his) I tried to read The Dark of the Moon but couldn't get into it so I stopped trying Sandford. Are his Prey books the best? I just thought I'd try his stand-alone books and then I tried his shorter series - didn't work out for me :-) Still, I love The Night Crew, but it may not be a typical John Sandford book.

The Night Crew is good but it's far different from the Prey Series. In the Prey Series, Sandford delves more into the criminal mind, most often his antagonists are serial killers involved in very gory murders, and the plots are page-turners, they have kept me up at night all the time! So, if you're into serial killer stories, you will find the series thrilling. I have to admit, though, that I did not read the books in the series in order. But I enjoyed them nonetheless. You may want to try the first book Rules Of Prey and see if you like it. :)

I'll give the Prey series a try - thanks for the info :-) I do like cereal killers! I ate cereal for breakfast.

Just wanted to share that one of our new group members, Nathan Henrion is author of an e-book titled Two Lane. Two lane is available to read for free on smashwords!


link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...

I would like to share the writer Nicholas Beck. The first novel that was written by this author is titled The Animal. This is surprisingly good book for being a debut novel and shows a lot of promise for the young author.

Here's the Goodreads link to your book page Nicholas :-)

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The Animal by Nicholas Beck

Lynai wrote: "I love reading crime novels and one of my favorite authors is John Sandford. I love reading his Prey Series and I would really love to collect all of the books in the series. Right no..."

Lucas Davenport is my favorite character in all of literature.

Nicholas wrote: "I would like to share the writer Nicholas Beck. The first novel that was written by this author is titled The Animal. This is surprisingly good book for being a debut novel and shows a lot of pro..."

Wow, you certainly don't lack confidence.

Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "Wow, you certainly don't lack confidence. "

There's nothing better than a shameless self-promotion in the morning ! I do it all the time.

LOL :-) This cracked me up!

I think confidence is a key part of writing. If I wasn't confident in my ability to write a great story, then I would have never been able to finish all the work I did on just my first book. Then, I started writing another right after with even more assurance that I this was my calling. That second story I am currently editing and at the same time writing another. I remember reading in Dean's newsletter that he had more ideas for novels than he could ever write, I know how that feels, since everything I see or do is being viewed as a potential story, or plot twist.

I am a big fan of books on serial killers and a lot of other non fiction so thats usually what I'm reading if its not Koontz. Well that and I try to get some classics in there too.

I recently bought a few King books at a Library sale and I'll be reading them here soon. I've never read him before, I always feel like he and Koontz get compared and you have to pick a side haha. But IMO you can't compare Dean to anyone since he totally has his own genre. But we will see about King, I'm going to give him a try.

Some really good novels to choose from! You guys are awesome!

I'd like to mention an excellent novel: Desert Places by Blake Crouch. I gave it a rare 5 star rating. Stayed up all night to read it and gave myself a huge headache...but it was so worth it. It reminded me of Koontz in the way the author pulled you in right away and didn't let go, fast pacing, excellent story from start to finish. I was even hoping for a sequel.

Jackie wrote: "Some really good novels to choose from! You guys are awesome!

I'd like to mention an excellent novel: Desert Places by Blake Crouch.."

This sounds pretty good. I always figure if a book will keep you up all night, its got to be worth reading!!!!

It definitely is! There's a sequel I haven't gotten around to reading yet, called Locked Doors: A Thriller, mainly because it wasn't out when I read DP and I've since forgotten. Now that it's at the forefront of my mind, I plan on getting it within the next few months. Desert Places was one of the few books I had hoped would have a sequel; it was that good.

I've read Locked Doors by Blake Crouch and it was wonderful!

Tamara, was Locked Doors as good as Desert Places?

Jackie wrote: "Tamara, was Locked Doors as good as Desert Places?"

I haven't read Desert Places yet, but want to. I didn't know about this one until I read the messages.

Tamara, Desert Places is the first part of the story. I'm sure you'd like it.

I ordered Locked Doors, it should be here any day now. I'll have reread Desert Places.

I like Dustin reccommend Tess Gerritsen. I would say she is my #2 writer at this moment as far as a whole. Drakes Bay I would reccommend to anyone loving thriller/mystery historical type books. John Saul is similar to Koontz so I would also reccommend him, and reccommend starting with Shadows. Also Jilianne Hoffmans newest book Pretty Little Things is great, about a serial killer named Picasso. Ted Dekker is great, when not overly religous. I reccommend Adam as his best and Three as his second best. :)