I want to begin by saying, this is not my favorite genre. This book was recommended to me by a friend and I took a chance. 
With that being said....I could not get enough of this book. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole first half. I needed to know what was going to happen next. I was chewing my nails and anxious the whole time. The middle got a little boring and I lost some interest. It took me a little longer to get through, but when I get to the last 1/4th of the book, I couldn't put it down again. I was reading until 4am, then had to pick it back up first thing in the morning to finish. 
Sometimes it was a bit wordy, but so much detail I could picture myself there. It really kept me anxious and worried for Chyna. I honestly did not know how it was going to end until I got to the end. I had pictured all kinds of ending scenerios....the twist at the end caused me to change my predictions multiple times. 
I am not sure I'll read another book like this for a while. To be honest, I need to let my finger nails grow back. Because it kept my interest, I gave this book 5 stars. Since, I do not read this genre often, I do not have a lot to compare it to. It had some hard scenes to read through, but I think it was pretty mild compared to others and could be a good beginning read for those starting in this genre. Overall I thought this was a great read, and would recommend!

If I hadn't read Koontz before, I don't think that I could have made it through this book. The title describes it quite well. But this is also the most disturbing villain in a Koontz novel I've encountered yet. The absolute evil that exudes from him is horrifying and I found I could only read in small bursts until the last section. Then I was speeding through it, heart racing, needing to know how it ends. It is graphically not graphic - it describes a lot of horrifying things including murder, sexual assault, rape, mutilation, torture - but Vess approaches things in such a removed almost clinical fashion that it isn't graphic yet somehow worse? Definitely a lot of triggers for people from Chyna's childhood and history to the things that take place in the novel to the things that Vess talks about in his past.
The thing that I continue to feel that sets Koontz's books apart is that even in the midst of these horrific situations, there is always a thread of hope and the power in human connection and community. It gets pretty thin in this book but it is there. I would not read this book again and I'm not even 100% sure I'm glad I read it but I'm not mad I read it either. It's very intense and not something to be read lightly.