Reviews with content warning for Violence - Intensité

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.

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darko9798's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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cryptofauna's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this review keeps deleting on me randomly so they’re getting shorter and shorter every time i rewrite it
i did not expect to like this one as much as i did but it was a really good time! super well written with very interesting characters and it was viscerally freaky and tense.
can definitely tell that preston and child were koontz fans and i’m fs not mad about it
having the split perspectives of the antagonist and the mc was super interesting and really helped build the tension
CHECK TWS FIRST

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