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toellandback's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I received this as a "blind date with a book" offer and while I'd read some Dean Koontz in the past, his earlier pseudonym work hasn't been part of it.
We are introduced early on to Tina who is still struggling with the death of her 12-year old son Danny a couple of years previously, however as she's in his room, strange things start happening which suggests someone is playing with her emotions. Part thriller, part romance and part supernatural, I did enjoy it without really being totally hooked as I found parts were rushed (especially the abrupt ending) while others dragged and felt like unnecessary padding which I skimmed read. It's quite slow to begin with but the pace certainly picks up as Tina and a male friend begin to unravel what actually happened to Danny and while it was enjoyable enough, his later work - Watchers, Odd Thomas series etc - is undoubtedly better.
We are introduced early on to Tina who is still struggling with the death of her 12-year old son Danny a couple of years previously, however as she's in his room, strange things start happening which suggests someone is playing with her emotions. Part thriller, part romance and part supernatural, I did enjoy it without really being totally hooked as I found parts were rushed (especially the abrupt ending) while others dragged and felt like unnecessary padding which I skimmed read. It's quite slow to begin with but the pace certainly picks up as Tina and a male friend begin to unravel what actually happened to Danny and while it was enjoyable enough, his later work - Watchers, Odd Thomas series etc - is undoubtedly better.
michele_carolina's review against another edition
5.0
I read this before I became a mom; I wonder if I'd be able to read it now? This is one of the better early Koontz books.
dyra's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Cerita bermula ketika Tina Evans tak sengaja melihat seorang anak lelaki yang tampak mirip dengan mendiang putranya, Danny, yang telah berpulang lebih dari setahun yang lalu. Kemudian berbagai kejadian ganjil mulai terjadi di kamar lama putranya. Mulai dari ruangan yang tiba-tiba menjadi dingin, benda-benda seperti mainan serta pintu lemari pakaian yang bergerak sendiri, dan satu pesan misterius berbunyi, "BELUM MATI" yang entah ditulis oleh siapa.
Pembongkaran makam sang putra yang hendak dilakukan Tina guna menentramkan hatinya justru membawanya ke dalam masalah yang lebih serius. Melibatkan kelompok-kelompok rahasia, yang mencoba melakukan pembunuhan terhadapnya dan Elliot, sang pengacara yang baru ditemuinya.
It's fast-paced. And def a page-turner for me.
Misteri dan kesan mistis yang dituang di awal-awal bikin pembaca penasaran hingga enggan menutup buku. Selingan aksinya juga oke plus lumayan mendebarkan.
Tapi sayang, klimaksnya kurang bangat. Dan ada beberapa plot hole juga. Ending-nya pun terasa demikian timpang bila dibandingkan dengan bab awal yang ditulis seapik itu.
Pembongkaran makam sang putra yang hendak dilakukan Tina guna menentramkan hatinya justru membawanya ke dalam masalah yang lebih serius. Melibatkan kelompok-kelompok rahasia, yang mencoba melakukan pembunuhan terhadapnya dan Elliot, sang pengacara yang baru ditemuinya.
It's fast-paced. And def a page-turner for me.
Misteri dan kesan mistis yang dituang di awal-awal bikin pembaca penasaran hingga enggan menutup buku. Selingan aksinya juga oke plus lumayan mendebarkan.
Tapi sayang, klimaksnya kurang bangat. Dan ada beberapa plot hole juga. Ending-nya pun terasa demikian timpang bila dibandingkan dengan bab awal yang ditulis seapik itu.
bookishwyvern07's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
sal_loves_books's review against another edition
3.0
Not going to lie I only read this because of a certain news report regarding this book and it’s coronavirus prophecy, so other than that I had no idea what I was getting into. Yes I read a couple of Dean Koontz stories when I was growing up but time has erased memories so reading this was the same as stumbling across a new author. I have to say I was surprised by what I actually found in the pages and I enjoyed reading it, ending was a bit of a flop for me but the rest of the story was thrilling, interesting and mostly believable, well the mothers love and the lengths she goes to to save her son, no so sure on the psychic ability parts of the story but for all I know it’s possible I just have no evidence one way or another.
Is this book scary? No, but it will make you think about things that go on behind closed doors, just a shame it finished the way it did because if the ending hadn’t been such I flop I would have happily given it more stars.
Is this book scary? No, but it will make you think about things that go on behind closed doors, just a shame it finished the way it did because if the ending hadn’t been such I flop I would have happily given it more stars.
krisma22's review against another edition
1.0
Can I get the hours of my life back reading this book, please? No mention of virus or Wuhan until towards end of book (page 269 to be exact). Big snooze fest!
stang_gt3's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure I've ever read any of Dean Koontz's books before and I admit I picked this up as it popped up on some list with something about pandemic's. With the current pandemic it caught my attention and I decided I was going to go with it. Ultimately the "pandemic" part of this book is pretty dang minor and I'm not sure whether I'm disappointed or not. People are trying to make this out as some sort of predictive story for Covid-19 as it was written in 1981 and the virus they talk about was created in a lab in Wuhan. Yeah, any sort of conspiracy theories stemming from this are pretty farfetched in my opinion.
This book was just ok for me. It's pretty obvious that this is an early novel for the author as the writing is pretty simplistic. The little bit of a thriller storyline is what keeps this novel moving and makes it interesting. There wasn't anything I really loved about this story, but there really wasn't anything I disliked either except maybe the instalove of our heroes. Elliot and Tina's relationship has no real development. They meet, there's an instant connection, and they go on one date. But suddenly they're in love, and well it's not super believable.
The storyline with Danny was interesting though. I liked the paranormal elements actually. That was the most fun part of the book. It was a mystery for Tina. The things that were happening in her life were scary at first and had no clear purpose or point of origin. It was spooky and she really didn't know what was going on.
All in all I'd be interesting in seeing how the author's style developed with later books.
This book was just ok for me. It's pretty obvious that this is an early novel for the author as the writing is pretty simplistic. The little bit of a thriller storyline is what keeps this novel moving and makes it interesting. There wasn't anything I really loved about this story, but there really wasn't anything I disliked either except maybe the instalove of our heroes. Elliot and Tina's relationship has no real development. They meet, there's an instant connection, and they go on one date. But suddenly they're in love, and well it's not super believable.
The storyline with Danny was interesting though. I liked the paranormal elements actually. That was the most fun part of the book. It was a mystery for Tina. The things that were happening in her life were scary at first and had no clear purpose or point of origin. It was spooky and she really didn't know what was going on.
All in all I'd be interesting in seeing how the author's style developed with later books.