Koontz is King

To finish up my favorite authors, Dean Koontz is the guy. He been writing books for decades, and never, not once, have I read a book of his that I didn't love. Every word he puts to paper is worthy of reading, and his stories grab ahold of you from beginning to end. Like my other favorites, Anne MacCaffrey and Jill Barnett, Mr. Koontz has staying power. His writing has changed over the years, getting better and better, and he knows what a reader wants.

Mr. Koontz writes suspense novel that can fall into several genres, including comic suspense, spiritual suspense, romantic suspense, tales of terror, and even dog stories. He's written nearly 100 books, and each are unique and interesting. A few of my favorite are:

Odd Thomas. Odd Thomas is one of the most endearing, loveable, and likeable characters I've ever read. There are four book in the series so far, not counting Dean Koontz first graphic novel, In Odd We Trust. They are Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd, and the newest, Odd Hours. Odd Thomas and Brother Odd are my favorites. Odd is born with the ability to see dead people. He can see them, but they can't speak, so understanding what they want isn't always simple. But Odd would love nothing more than a simple life. He's a short-order cook in Pico Mundo, very good at his job, and loves his girlfriend Stormy. But when disaster is about to his Pico Mundo, it's up to Odd to save the day, the town, and the girl. The book is set over a two day period, and you feel as if you live ever minutes of those two days with Odd. This book is funny, intriguing, scary, thoughtful, uplifting, and simply well written. The characters, the plot, the setting, everything in it is compelling. Oh, and he sees Elvis, totally cool. In Forever Odd, Odd is back, this time to save a childhood friend. The thing about this guy is he could be anyone you pass on the street. He's not a super hero, he has a normal if not mundane job, and he's as normal an every-day-Joe as there is, except for the seeing dead people that is. That's why what he does comes across as so spectacular, because you think, I wish if anything like this ever happens to me, I'd be able to react as well as Odd does. In Brother Odd, Odd has retreated to St. Bartholomew's Abby to get away from the world for awhile, to find peace. This time there is a killer loose, and with a snow storm hit, an Abby full of disabled children, monks and nuns who aren't all what they appear to be, and other guests that are as mysterious as Odd himself is, Odd will have his hands full. But with Boo, the white dog, and Elvis by his side, Odd will find a way to prevail... maybe. Odd Hours, is the fourth in the series, and this time Odd has moved on to a new town. He's got Boo with him, and a new friend who is just as cool as Elvis, and this time it's not just the town who needs Odd to save them, it's the entire country. Every book in this series is pure gold, please, don't miss a one of them.

Another of my favorites is Dean Koontz Frankenstein: Prodigal Son. So far there are two, but they are set in New Orleans, and after Hurricane Katrina, I think it was hard for Mr. Koontz to continue the story without including the events, but he would want to do it in a respectful way. I'm hoping that as time passes, the time will come for his to continue the series, because it is truly one of the most compelling series ever. In Prodigal Son, Deucalion comes to New Orleans to stop a killer. Det. Carson O'Conner (one of the best female detective ever written) is investigating a murder and ends up crossing paths with Deucalion (I love that name!). Then there is Victor Helios, the former Victor Frankenstein, who is perfecting his 'people building' skills. This book is dazzling. In Frankenstein II: City of the Night Victor Helios's creations are mis-firing and not even he can control them any longer. So now Deucalion (still love that name) not only has his former master to confront, but he must find and destroy a monster unlike anything thing world has ever seen. Det. Carson O'Conner and her partner Michael are back, and her autistic brother. This book leaves you hanging, because like I said, there were supposed to be more. Hopefully there will be soon. He has done a new comic, or graphic novel, based on his Frankenstein series. I've not checked it out yet, but the pictures of it are very cool.

Mr. Koontz has for too many other books I love for me to break them all down here. Just trust me when I say this man is worth reading. I think he's better than Stephen King, and that's saying something. If you've not read a Dean Koontz book, you should. If you don't believe me, just check out the rave reviews for him. And don't hold some of the movies based on his books against him. Some of them came out okay, but most of them were changed so much that only the title and the characters names stayed the same: ex. Watchers. His books are so much better than any movie could ever do them credit anyway.


Sites to check out:
http://www.deankoontz.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Koontz
http://www.dkoontz.com/fanclub/indexd.htm
http://veinotte.com/koontz/
http://www.oddthomas.tv/
http://www.myspace.com/deankoontzoddthomas
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Odd-Thomas-Dean-Koontz/12484641431
http://www.deankoontz.com/forums/
http://www.dkoontz.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=26 (reviews of books)
http://dkoontz.com/aspforum/display_forum.asp?fid=14