Title: Phantoms
Author: Dean Koontz
Review: Dean Koontz is a very good writer of suspense/horror fiction and this book is consistent with his other works. Phantoms is a story where the mystery slowly and quietly unveils the near omnipotent power of a purely evil villain. A small group of dedicated civilians and police officers must try to survive after the villain decimates the entire fictional town of Snowfield, CA. While you may find that this novel very slowly develops, the novel has enough action sequences in short staccato bursts to keep the reader engaged and guessing as to who will survive.
Without revealing too much of the story, there is one drawback which is that the novel grants the villain far more omnipotent power than is explained in the novel. The villain in the novel is, for example, able to enter messages onto a computer screen without typing or any apparent access to another computer. The villain can also turn utilities such as phones and electricity on and off at will. The problem is that while the villain is unquestionably powerful, there is no explanation as to how it can operate complex computer systems or utilities. While the villain must have these powers to move the story along and create an eerie setting, the lack of an explanation is a plot hole that can be somewhat distracting.
Overall, I would highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys curling up with a good suspense/horror novel on a winter night. The villain is satisfyingly evil enough for the reader to believe it could remorselessly attack a whole town and the suspense is strong enough to keep the reader guessing if anyone will survive. You will have to read the book to find out if anyone does.
This is the first book I have read for Harborfields Public Library's "The Amazing Read" and I was not disappointed. If you like this book I would highly recommend that you read Dean Koontz's novel The Taking as it is similar in theme and tone, but in my own view, with more interesting main characters.
Rating: 3
1 comment:
I really liked this book, it grabs your attention right from the start and there are a ton of twists and turns that keep you interested. They have some religion involved in this story which always creeps me out, really good book!
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