I love how Koontz fans all have their own personal top 10, sure there are a few obvious ones that always make the list, but I usually see several different books. Awesome.
I haven't read enough Koontz yet to do a top 10. But my top 3 is: 1. Intensity 2. Watchers 3. Odd Thomas Off your Koontz collection video I bought twilight eyes and dragon tears and they're waiting to be read! Thanks for all your hard work. Best videos on Koontz I've seen by a mile!
@@orewahouston2143 yes I've read Night Chills and Demon Seed. Both really good. Particularly Night Chills. I read shattered too and that was forgettable.
I've read a bunch of Koontz books and False Memory is my favorite. The main villain is really well crafted and we get to read entire chapters from his perspective which make for a really interesting read.
For many years, I thought King had written a great book about carnival life. It was my favorite of his books. Eventually I realized it was by Koontz. Definitely, Twilight Eyes is my favorite.
I really loved your take on these books. My top 1 is Twilight Eyes too, followed by Watchers and Dark Rivers of the Heart. I've read so many that I can't remember some of them, great list here!
Finally, my top ten koontz (I've read 30-ish)10 Icebound. Love the setting9 Winter Moon. First half of the book is so creepy. Underrated as hell8 Night Chills. Same reasons you stated7 Odd Thomas6 Strange Highways. Great short stories. LOVED We Three, Ollie's Hands. Wish he had more collections.5 Lightning The third or fourth book I read from him, and the one that made me a major fan, and also made me realize he is NOT another Stephen King4 Life Expectancy. So unique, the structure, the humor, the beginning with a chain-smoking clown.3 Watchers2 Strangers. It's not quite my favorite, but I do think it's his best book ever.1 The Bad Place. Forever my favorite. Non-stop thrill ride from page one, mixes a bunch of genres. Crazy characters. It's weird, dark, spooky, and excellent!Honorable mention for midnight, one of my favorite opening chapters ever. "Get the bitch...."
Dean is my favorite! Night chills was my first I read and got me hooked. Odd is my fave and I had always hoped Odd and Chris would crossover as he hinted at. I'd like to see Ride the Storm come to fruition 🤪
My first taste of Koontz was reading Fear Nothing and Seize The Night, too!! I love the vibes between Chris and Bobby and Sasha, I love the whole XP element, I love Fort Wyvern... The monkeys scared the shit outta me, but I love them too. ^_^
No, Dean Koontz hasn't written Ride the Storm yet, the third book in the Chris Snow series... yet. Most recently, he mentioned finishing it after he finished his Jane Hawk series, but nothing yet.
I feel the first Knootz book anyone reads, will probably by default, make their personal top 10 list. My first Knootz book was Winter Moon and feel in love with his writing style. I about 2/3 through Quicksilver
Travis I love the top ten videos. A couple ideas for others might be: top ten book covers, top ten koontz/king villains (and protagonists), top ten movies based on king books.
Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors in history. The Key to Midnight is my favorite. I haven't re-read it but I will soon. I read Intensity too and I like it.
Twlight Eyes is one of my all time favorite books, im just now rereading it and I'm reminded why this book has always stuck with me over the years. Watchers was another favorite of mine by him. Ive read others whete the first half was amazing, then he takes a weird turn and it ends up ruining the ending in my opinion. Phantoms is a good example of that, started so good and creepy. Then took a weird turn, leaving me dissatisfied by the end.
I love love Dean Koontz and I couldnt really find other people who knows about him so I thought he is not that big hahaha! jokes on me. I got a stack of his book on my shelf. I take pride on being his fan. I personally love Winter Moon and False Memory and Intensity. Those books put me on the edge and gave me nightmares for so long. I love him.
This is the first time I checked you out. I haven't read Koontz in awhile so I thought I'd check out what his new stuff is like. I can't believe that you didn't include "The Bad Place" in your 10. It was the first one I read and my favorite. Along with the ones with the dog who could spell etc.. (sorry it's been ages since I read it) Watchers of course is great and I'm surprised "Door To December" wasn't there. I left off with Koontz around the time "OddThomas" came out. Which newer one would you recommend me to restart him.?
I think The Servants of Twilight was originally published under the title Twilight. I could be wrong, but I remember when I had the paper back in high school and something like that was on the cover.
Back in the 90s I read a lot his books and the last one I read for a long time was Odd Thomas and I just couldn't get into it. The Odd Thomas movie was good and was what inspired me to try the novel. My favourites Watchers Lightning (very cool Time travel) Phantoms (Affleck was the bomb) Intensity The Bad Place. Koontz's stuff never stuck with me the way King or Barker's stuff did but he was always a fun read.
Hi, i remember reading a koontz book half way but can't remember The title. Can you help? Plot: man inherits a cabin in the woods, weird things happen like noises and he freaks out and then the tree is covering the cabin and he thinks he should chop down the tree to get more sun in the room but before he kills the tree, the tree has moved out of the way which makes him change his mind and he learns that if his intention is to be friendly with nature and respect trees, they will cooperate and let him live in peace. But it bothers me that i didn't finish it. What's the title? I just want to finish the book but i can't remember what the title was.
@@KevinsKontentKorner no, i cant find anyone who has read this book to tell me what the title might be. Some house in the woods is covered by trees, he goes to chop the tree for more sunshine but next day the tree has moved out of the way, so he decides to not cut the tree, then he finds that the trees have a connection to weather and animals and other plants, a whole network if he doesn't live their way, they take revenge which the majority of the book was about how creepy things would happen and noises would be like ghosts but it was nature all along and the uncle whom he inherited the house from, had mysteriously died while getting ready to chop down trees (implied) but i just want to read the last few pages. Recently i found this documentary ua-cam.com/video/yUwzxE648uo/v-deo.html
Great video man. My intro to Koontz was Midnight. It’s still my fav book to this day. Im reading innocence right now, and I can’t seem to relate more to the main protagonist.
Can someone please tell me what was up with the elk in Intensity?! I never understood what Koontz was trying to do there. He sets it up to where there's an implied supernatural overtone to the story, and then it's like he just forgot where he was going with it and it's just dropped with no hint of what the elk were supposed to mean. Any help?
The Stand isn't bloated? Everything King writes is bloated; it's part of his "I don't plot and that makes me cool" approach to writing. I can't even remember the total number of times I've quit a King book because his characters are either treading water, meandering aimlessly, or retracing their steps, back through a regurgitated sequence of uninteresting "stuff". This is what happens when a person so fixated on character and quirkiness, place and setting, forgets that these things need to be bound to a believable plot to create the "profluence" necessary to carry the reader's interest. I still don't understand King's success. I've often thought that it must be the result of dumb luck, good timing, and having the "right" name. Only certain writers can write without an outline, and that skill usually only comes years into a career built on years of plot development/experimentation; King has never done this; and you can tell in everything he writes. Koontz, love him or hate him, at least has a solid foundation in proper narrative construction, and doesn't waste the reader's time. Can you imagine King writing something as delicate and engaging as Lightning? Never. If he tried writing that book, it would be bogged down in unimportant eccentric personalities, introduce at least one magical African American "other" character; because, with a couple exceptions, that's all African Americans are allowed to be in King's universe (one of King's favorite, overused tropes), and have a million tired product brand name references, crude sex jokes, and a litany of boring colloquialisms that really do give that "cheeseburger and fries" style he's sought to perfect all these years. And, of course, it would be twice the size, because his characters would be running in place for at least 200 pages.
Agreed. King wrote two good books, and they were The Shining and Salem’s Lot. Other than that it’s pretty boring and unsatisfying. Totally overrated writer, and not even the best horror writer.
My introduction to Koontz was Life Expectancy and it was given to me as a gift. I was always a King fan so reading Life Expectancy made me a fan. I love Odd Thomas and Frankenstein. Strangers is a great one too.
Pretty good list. I have read all on your list except for Frankenstein and Odd Thomas. My favorite Dean Koontz book is still From the Corner of his Eye. Such a great book.
Twilight Eyes is a book I WISH I could read again for the first time. It’s been 27 years since so I hope dementia hits me soon! Absolutely AMAZING book with an AMAZING ending. Like, who the HELL comes up with that shit?!?
Hey, I've read like 30-ish books from Koontz, and his best years imo start in1983 with phantoms, and really in the mid 80's to mid-90's he was just cranking out excellent sci-fi/horror/thrillers. Read any of his books from Phantoms to Intensity, and you like it, you'll almost certainly love all of them from that same era.
Chyna Shepherd, untouched and alive. Love, love, love Intensity. I also love Darkness Comes. It grabbed me by the throat from page one. Baba Lavelle gives me the heebie jeebies to this day.
It's been years, but what the heck, I was looking for good Koontz. 1. Intensity: The best villain in a Koontz book that I've read, and one of the most compelling protagonists. 2. Funhouse: Yeah it's really high. I read this when it first came out under "Owen West". My family went to movies only very rarely when I was a kid, so I ended up reading a lot of novelizations, and this was one I read when I was about 13, I think, and it really creeped me out. I haven't read it since because I don't want to spoil the memory of that experience. 3. Watchers 4. Whispers 5. Night Chills
The Odd Thomas novels were written differently than the other Koontz novels I've looked at. He put more into the prose, much more. Were any of his other novels written like the Odd Thomas novels?
Hmm...I can't give you a top 10 mostly because I've only read about 15 Koontz books (though my collection is ever expanding). I'll give you my top-3: 1. PHANTOMS 2. INTENSITY 3. THE BAD PLACE I just recently got a hardcover edition of THE VOICE OF THE NIGHT and I have a hardcover edition of PHANTOMS on the way (when I read it I checked it out from the library). I'm fairly new to Koontz but I like him and my collection is growing. In fact, I'm reading a Koontz novel right now. It's the third Jane Hawk novel...it's okay so far but it doesn't really grip me all that much...
The Voice of the Night is awesome. Not as developed as other books of his but he was more unpredictable in that era. It's definitely not your typical Koontz. Enjoy!
I'm looking for a book I read in the 90s. I believe it was by Koontz, but it might not have been. The detail I remember is that the bad guy laughs silently, and it's terrifying. Anyone recognize this? And my favorite from Koontz is Life Expectancy.
What I LOVE about TALKING Koontz's books with other people is how different everyone's lists are. Koontz tends to repeat himself and this leads to people having completely different views on his books according to their reading order. I've started reading Koontz when I was 14, in the very very early '90s and I've read probably more than 95% of his books so far (I slowed down a little bit in the last decade). Having said so (to justify my comment) it's easy to see why I totally agree with some books being on this list and at the same time I'm shocked that some of his worst books are in it (please, remember I love talking about this, I'm not offending you). Some of his absolute best books are missing. In short: I think that Intensity, Mr. Murder are probably his worst books ever. Dragon Tears is "meh". But Strangers, Lightning, Twilight Eyes and Odd Thomas are absolutely in my personal top ten. Great choices there. I personally think that some of his (other) best books are: The Door to December, Cold Fire, Watchers, Life Expectancy, The House of Thunder, Phantoms, Visions and the Chris Snow/Moonlight Bay books. Thanks for your time!
Have you read The Face of Fear? That's a really good one, short but gripping. Oh and what about The Funhouse? That was the first Dean Koontz book I read and it's SO good! (Funhouse is about carnie life too)
False Memory was the last favorite book of mine by Dean Koontz, with the exception of the first few books in the Odd Thomas and Frankenstein series. I have to say Twilight Eyes and Strangers are my top two. The question is, what happened to Koontz after 1999? It started with From the Corner of His Eye, which was overwritten in my opinion. It’s like the muse left him. The same thing happened with me and Stephen King with Insomnia in 1994. I had read every King novel and short story that he had written from 1974’s Carrie, including the later published Bachman books and enjoyed them all. Then along came Insomnia, Rose Madder (which I couldn’t get into), Desperation (better, but not my favorite), The Green Mile (loved), and Bag of Bones (not bad, but doesn’t justify the length of the novel), etc. it’s like I thoroughly enjoyed everything from 1974-1994, then it was hit or miss for me. I don’t know if he changed or I did. I was 22 in 1994. I started reading King at 12 in 1984 with Firestarter.
Totally agree with Lightning up in your top ten. It would probably be his best for me. FRANKENSTIN 5 books are fabulous. Especially the last that goes into a hospital. Midnight and watchers would also be there. He has a wig not a hair transplant. Id love to see your review on Richard Layman books 📚
I have to get back to read again a lot of Koontz. Yes Dragon Tears was brilliant, Mr Murder as well. Midnight it's one beast of a book for me , soooo ahead of it's time and soooo underrated. False Memory dragged to much for me. It starts slow, boring, the middle it's even slower. Should have been at least 100 pages shorter.
Can someone help me? I'm looking for the Dean Koontz book that they made into a film with Jeff Golblum... At the beginning, a teenager commits suicide while listening to black metal... Can someone tell me the title?
Top 3 Koontz books in no order except for No. 1: One Door Away from Heaven. (Leilani resonated with me for reasons. I don't always like how Koontz writes kids and she was too mature sometimes but she was a survivor and she just stuck with me.) Lightening. (First Koontz book I read. I couldn't stop turning pages. I had never read anything like it.) The Good Guy. (the epilogue bugged me but this is such a great chase book. So darn good!)
I agree with most of this but didn't like strangers personally. Intensity was amazing odd thomas was good but got a little repetitive with some things. Couple of these I've thought about getting and now probably will like Mr. Murder
Many, many years ago I promised myself that I was not going to read another Koontz book until he finished the Moonlight Bay trilogy. I kept that promise, and I've reached the point where I'm pretty sure I'm going to die without reading another Koontz book.
Don't make assumptions about books you haven't read. It's a good way to be avoidably wrong. I really liked Life Expectancy. Clowns weird me out and I liked the characters. I know people, when you think about them, they seem quite tall. Then one day your standing there and notice, dudes same height as you. He just seems tall.
If I had started my Koontz journey with Strangers that would have been the end. That book was stupid and boring and filled with NOTHING surprising. For me, I started with INTENSITY and could not put the book down. Everything that Chyna did was logical and at no point did she do anything that I thought of as stupid. I mean, when she gets onboard the motorhome to try and free her friend it made sense. There was no choice--not if she was going to live with herself afterward. It was the same with all of her choices and it made me wonder why no film starring Jennifer Lawrence had been made. The book I read after Strangers 'Watchers' was and I like it well enough to push on and read more by him. I gave up on him, Robin Cook, John Saul and Stephen King all around the time that I discovered Orson Scott Card. If you want to start with Orson, just pick up ANY book, but his HARDBACK short story collection (it is NOT available in PAPERBACK but ebay has it for paperback prices) Maps in a Mirror is the place to start and the novella within that book :Lost Boys' (not the expanded novel) is the horror story to start with. Maps in a Mirror displays Orson Scott Cards talents as a sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and slice of life writer all within the cover of one book. Believe me when I tell you, after Lost Boys, Middle Woman, King's Meat, or Mikal's Songbird (again not the novelization) you will seek out any and all things Card.
My personal favourite Koontz book is "Phantoms". It reads almost like a 1980s precursor to Silent Hill 💀👻
Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms, yo
I love how Koontz fans all have their own personal top 10, sure there are a few obvious ones that always make the list, but I usually see several different books. Awesome.
I haven't read enough Koontz yet to do a top 10. But my top 3 is:
1. Intensity
2. Watchers
3. Odd Thomas
Off your Koontz collection video I bought twilight eyes and dragon tears and they're waiting to be read! Thanks for all your hard work. Best videos on Koontz I've seen by a mile!
Dave Edmunds anymore now that you would put in your top books?
@@orewahouston2143 yes I've read Night Chills and Demon Seed. Both really good. Particularly Night Chills.
I read shattered too and that was forgettable.
I really enjoyed "The Taking" and "Midnight"(my intro to Koontz). "The Bad Place" is good and "Phantoms" is better than the Ben Affleck movie.
@@katatonickiwi8310 I've got all those books but need to read them. Thanks for the recommendation. Looking forward to them!
I've read a bunch of Koontz books and False Memory is my favorite. The main villain is really well crafted and we get to read entire chapters from his perspective which make for a really interesting read.
Thought this might help.
Books (10 to 1):
0:12 Night Chills
1:09 Odd Thomas
1:58 Frankenstein
2:39 Strangers
3:39 Lightning
4:36 Intensity
5:27 Dragon Tears
6:24 False Memory
7:13 Mr. Murder
8:09 Twilight Eyes
Raging Hope thanks man!
I would say that you could make a top 100 list with Koontz books
@@knotadoctor1455 😂😂😂
How could you do a top 10 Koontz list and not include Watchers???
For many years, I thought King had written a great book about carnival life. It was my favorite of his books. Eventually I realized it was by Koontz. Definitely, Twilight Eyes is my favorite.
Me too, along with " The bad place" and watchers
I really loved your take on these books. My top 1 is Twilight Eyes too, followed by Watchers and Dark Rivers of the Heart. I've read so many that I can't remember some of them, great list here!
Finally, my top ten koontz (I've read 30-ish)10 Icebound. Love the setting9 Winter Moon. First half of the book is so creepy. Underrated as hell8 Night Chills. Same reasons you stated7 Odd Thomas6 Strange Highways. Great short stories. LOVED We Three, Ollie's Hands. Wish he had more collections.5 Lightning The third or fourth book I read from him, and the one that made me a major fan, and also made me realize he is NOT another Stephen King4 Life Expectancy. So unique, the structure, the humor, the beginning with a chain-smoking clown.3 Watchers2 Strangers. It's not quite my favorite, but I do think it's his best book ever.1 The Bad Place. Forever my favorite. Non-stop thrill ride from page one, mixes a bunch of genres. Crazy characters. It's weird, dark, spooky, and excellent!Honorable mention for midnight, one of my favorite opening chapters ever. "Get the bitch...."
I don't know why I cant make it a list so sorry for the jumbled paragraph lol
Great top 10. Love it!
Just finished Velocity. God damn that was an awesome experience!
Was my first Koontz book. Made me fall in love with his writing.
Also me. I loved it.
Velocity was my first Koontz book too. Now I'm almost done reading his jane hawk series.
Velocity was my first Koontz as well! Ran across it in the bargain bin at the library when I was about 13 or 14 and I was drawn in immediately.
Great book
Dean is my favorite! Night chills was my first I read and got me hooked. Odd is my fave and I had always hoped Odd and Chris would crossover as he hinted at. I'd like to see Ride the Storm come to fruition 🤪
I really liked Dark Rivers of the heart and Life expectancy
I have not read any of those books, which maybe explains why Koontz is so hit or miss for me. My faves to that point are Watchers and The Bad Place
Mr. Murder was also my first Koontz book. My mind was blown.
False memory was my first book I read by him. OMG. Awesome
My favorite's are Fear Nothing & Seize the night. I wish he would finally finish the 3rd installment. Would love to see how it all ends.
He did
@@treweis1141 huh?
My first taste of Koontz was reading Fear Nothing and Seize The Night, too!! I love the vibes between Chris and Bobby and Sasha, I love the whole XP element, I love Fort Wyvern... The monkeys scared the shit outta me, but I love them too. ^_^
No, Dean Koontz hasn't written Ride the Storm yet, the third book in the Chris Snow series... yet. Most recently, he mentioned finishing it after he finished his Jane Hawk series, but nothing yet.
He is one of my all time favorite authors....The Bad Place my number 1 of his books.
LaTreace Warren , Yes, that’s the first book of his I read and it’s still a favorite.
The ending was so kick to the guts/heart.
I have to agree. It was the first of his i read and ive read it atotal 3times. Still my favorite
Truth right here !
True, the plot was so good
I feel the first Knootz book anyone reads, will probably by default, make their personal top 10 list. My first Knootz book was Winter Moon and feel in love with his writing style. I about 2/3 through Quicksilver
Top favorite is intensity.
Totally agree with this comment and as such Watchers was my first and as such will always be in my top 3
Travis I love the top ten videos. A couple ideas for others might be: top ten book covers, top ten koontz/king villains (and protagonists), top ten movies based on king books.
Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors in history. The Key to Midnight is my favorite. I haven't re-read it but I will soon. I read Intensity too and I like it.
gotta give night chills some love! great book, koontz was no-holds-barred in that one. ditto on the surprise
first koontz i ever read
Twlight Eyes is one of my all time favorite books, im just now rereading it and I'm reminded why this book has always stuck with me over the years. Watchers was another favorite of mine by him. Ive read others whete the first half was amazing, then he takes a weird turn and it ends up ruining the ending in my opinion. Phantoms is a good example of that, started so good and creepy. Then took a weird turn, leaving me dissatisfied by the end.
Watchers was the first one I read. I liked the outsider. I probably won't be reading anymore Koontz but I've had some fun moments with his books.
Watchers and Strangers are both incredible books. Many many more, but those two are my faves
Dean Koontz stories will take your reality and turn it into a thrilling nightmare ride. Favorite author 😊
INTENSITY..... couldnt put it down.... but then again he's the BEST!
Fn great book
The Bad Place is my #1, Honorable mentions the taking, midnight, Whispers, Ice bound
Icebound was underrated. Agree on Bad place
I bought "strangers" for 2 buck at goodwill. Loving it so far.
Great review! I had been looking for Twilight but only found Twilight eyes! Your review really helped! :)
Yeah, keep the Koontz coming! :)
I love love Dean Koontz and I couldnt really find other people who knows about him so I thought he is not that big hahaha! jokes on me. I got a stack of his book on my shelf. I take pride on being his fan. I personally love Winter Moon and False Memory and Intensity. Those books put me on the edge and gave me nightmares for so long. I love him.
This is the first time I checked you out. I haven't read Koontz in awhile so I thought I'd check out what his new stuff is like.
I can't believe that you didn't include "The Bad Place" in your 10. It was the first one I read and my favorite. Along with the ones with the dog who could spell etc.. (sorry it's been ages since I read it) Watchers of course is great and I'm surprised "Door To December" wasn't there. I left off with Koontz around the time "OddThomas" came out.
Which newer one would you recommend me to restart him.?
The Bad Place is SIIIC K !!!!!
10. Tick Tock
9. Winter Moon
8. The Bad Place
7. Midnight
6. Velocity
5. Dragon Tears
4. Whispers
3. False Memory
2. Strangers
1. Phantoms(Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms)
I think The Servants of Twilight was originally published under the title Twilight. I could be wrong, but I remember when I had the paper back in high school and something like that was on the cover.
From the Corner of His Eye is my first Dean Koontz book and still my favorite til now
Love that book
I liked that one too
Loved that book.
The Taking, Watchers, Midnight, by the light of the moon, Phantoms I liked.
Intensity is my personal favorite of his. It's just so, so good.
well we had 3 in common in our top 10... lightning, strangers and intensity... but shocked you didnt have Phantoms on your list..
Night Chills is my number one so far.
Back in the 90s I read a lot his books and the last one I read for a long time was Odd Thomas and I just couldn't get into it. The Odd Thomas movie was good and was what inspired me to try the novel.
My favourites
Watchers
Lightning (very cool Time travel)
Phantoms (Affleck was the bomb)
Intensity
The Bad Place.
Koontz's stuff never stuck with me the way King or Barker's stuff did but he was always a fun read.
whispers is by far my favorite
Have you read a lot of Koontz? I was thinking of adding Whispers to my collection!
Try shadowfires and the bad place
all the book covers are dope.
What about Whispers. That was my first Koontz book. Excellent read
Whispers is definitely in my top 3
Hi, i remember reading a koontz book half way but can't remember
The title. Can you help?
Plot: man inherits a cabin in the woods, weird things happen like noises and he freaks out and then the tree is covering the cabin and he thinks he should chop down the tree to get more sun in the room but before he kills the tree, the tree has moved out of the way which makes him change his mind and he learns that if his intention is to be friendly with nature and respect trees, they will cooperate and let him live in peace. But it bothers me that i didn't finish it. What's the title?
I just want to finish the book but i can't remember what the title was.
did you find it out?
@@KevinsKontentKorner no, i cant find anyone who has read this book to tell me what the title might be. Some house in the woods is covered by trees, he goes to chop the tree for more sunshine but next day the tree has moved out of the way, so he decides to not cut the tree, then he finds that the trees have a connection to weather and animals and other plants, a whole network if he doesn't live their way, they take revenge which the majority of the book was about how creepy things would happen and noises would be like ghosts but it was nature all along and the uncle whom he inherited the house from, had mysteriously died while getting ready to chop down trees (implied) but i just want to read the last few pages. Recently i found this documentary ua-cam.com/video/yUwzxE648uo/v-deo.html
Great video man. My intro to Koontz was Midnight. It’s still my fav book to this day.
Im reading innocence right now, and I can’t seem to relate more to the main protagonist.
Can someone please tell me what was up with the elk in Intensity?! I never understood what Koontz was trying to do there. He sets it up to where there's an implied supernatural overtone to the story, and then it's like he just forgot where he was going with it and it's just dropped with no hint of what the elk were supposed to mean. Any help?
The Stand isn't bloated? Everything King writes is bloated; it's part of his "I don't plot and that makes me cool" approach to writing. I can't even remember the total number of times I've quit a King book because his characters are either treading water, meandering aimlessly, or retracing their steps, back through a regurgitated sequence of uninteresting "stuff". This is what happens when a person so fixated on character and quirkiness, place and setting, forgets that these things need to be bound to a believable plot to create the "profluence" necessary to carry the reader's interest. I still don't understand King's success. I've often thought that it must be the result of dumb luck, good timing, and having the "right" name.
Only certain writers can write without an outline, and that skill usually only comes years into a career built on years of plot development/experimentation; King has never done this; and you can tell in everything he writes. Koontz, love him or hate him, at least has a solid foundation in proper narrative construction, and doesn't waste the reader's time. Can you imagine King writing something as delicate and engaging as Lightning? Never. If he tried writing that book, it would be bogged down in unimportant eccentric personalities, introduce at least one magical African American "other" character; because, with a couple exceptions, that's all African Americans are allowed to be in King's universe (one of King's favorite, overused tropes), and have a million tired product brand name references, crude sex jokes, and a litany of boring colloquialisms that really do give that "cheeseburger and fries" style he's sought to perfect all these years. And, of course, it would be twice the size, because his characters would be running in place for at least 200 pages.
What are your criticisms of his short stories? Did he get lucky with them too?
Agreed. King wrote two good books, and they were The Shining and Salem’s Lot. Other than that it’s pretty boring and unsatisfying. Totally overrated writer, and not even the best horror writer.
I read the first half of The Stand and gave up. The characters were so bland I didn't give a hotinanny if they lived or died
My first Koontz book was fun house in 6th grade... the bat scene scarred me for life
My introduction to Koontz was Life Expectancy and it was given to me as a gift. I was always a King fan so reading Life Expectancy made me a fan. I love Odd Thomas and Frankenstein. Strangers is a great one too.
Pretty good list. I have read all on your list except for Frankenstein and Odd Thomas. My favorite Dean Koontz book is still From the Corner of his Eye. Such a great book.
I think i found some of Koontz's lost hair in my vacuum cleaner.
Lol
Later Koontz does little for me, but I'll totally agree with Twilight Eyes and Strangers! (Although it's probably 25 years since i read them!)
The Bad Place was my first love of his.
Twilight Eyes is a book I WISH I could read again for the first time. It’s been 27 years since so I hope dementia hits me soon! Absolutely AMAZING book with an AMAZING ending. Like, who the HELL comes up with that shit?!?
Love Midnight and Winter Moon
Hey Travis. What‘s the golden Koontz era in general? I mean from first to last? Cheers :)
Hey, I've read like 30-ish books from Koontz, and his best years imo start in1983 with phantoms, and really in the mid 80's to mid-90's he was just cranking out excellent sci-fi/horror/thrillers. Read any of his books from Phantoms to Intensity, and you like it, you'll almost certainly love all of them from that same era.
Chyna Shepherd, untouched and alive. Love, love, love Intensity.
I also love Darkness Comes. It grabbed me by the throat from page one. Baba Lavelle gives me the heebie jeebies to this day.
It's been years, but what the heck, I was looking for good Koontz.
1. Intensity: The best villain in a Koontz book that I've read, and one of the most compelling protagonists.
2. Funhouse: Yeah it's really high. I read this when it first came out under "Owen West". My family went to movies only very rarely when I was a kid, so I ended up reading a lot of novelizations, and this was one I read when I was about 13, I think, and it really creeped me out. I haven't read it since because I don't want to spoil the memory of that experience.
3. Watchers
4. Whispers
5. Night Chills
Darkfall left me on a wooden plank, in between courtyards. Excellent annal.
The Odd Thomas novels were written differently than the other Koontz novels I've looked at. He put more into the prose, much more. Were any of his other novels written like the Odd Thomas novels?
Hmm...I can't give you a top 10 mostly because I've only read about 15 Koontz books (though my collection is ever expanding). I'll give you my top-3:
1. PHANTOMS
2. INTENSITY
3. THE BAD PLACE
I just recently got a hardcover edition of THE VOICE OF THE NIGHT and I have a hardcover edition of PHANTOMS on the way (when I read it I checked it out from the library). I'm fairly new to Koontz but I like him and my collection is growing. In fact, I'm reading a Koontz novel right now. It's the third Jane Hawk novel...it's okay so far but it doesn't really grip me all that much...
The Voice of the Night is awesome. Not as developed as other books of his but he was more unpredictable in that era. It's definitely not your typical Koontz. Enjoy!
@@KevinsKontentKorner I remember The Voice of the Night reading more like a King book than Koontz. Very good read
And throw Whispers in there and Its my top 4
What about the Jane Hawk series? Any thoughts?
Really good , his new material is amazing
Loved his books from 90s
6:29 this was really good, I see what you did there hahahaha lmao clever real clever
I'm looking for a book I read in the 90s. I believe it was by Koontz, but it might not have been. The detail I remember is that the bad guy laughs silently, and it's terrifying. Anyone recognize this? And my favorite from Koontz is Life Expectancy.
You should do some Tom Clancy novel's
Really hard to choose a list and place them with so many legendary ones.
The Watchers and Lightning... my favourite Koontz books
My favorite ones are those from the late 70s to early - Mid 80’s like chase ,face of fear , house of thunder , shadowfires
My favorite intensity
What I LOVE about TALKING Koontz's books with other people is how different everyone's lists are. Koontz tends to repeat himself and this leads to people having completely different views on his books according to their reading order. I've started reading Koontz when I was 14, in the very very early '90s and I've read probably more than 95% of his books so far (I slowed down a little bit in the last decade). Having said so (to justify my comment) it's easy to see why I totally agree with some books being on this list and at the same time I'm shocked that some of his worst books are in it (please, remember I love talking about this, I'm not offending you). Some of his absolute best books are missing. In short: I think that Intensity, Mr. Murder are probably his worst books ever. Dragon Tears is "meh". But Strangers, Lightning, Twilight Eyes and Odd Thomas are absolutely in my personal top ten. Great choices there. I personally think that some of his (other) best books are: The Door to December, Cold Fire, Watchers, Life Expectancy, The House of Thunder, Phantoms, Visions and the Chris Snow/Moonlight Bay books. Thanks for your time!
Have you read The Face of Fear? That's a really good one, short but gripping. Oh and what about The Funhouse? That was the first Dean Koontz book I read and it's SO good! (Funhouse is about carnie life too)
Your reading nook looks cool
Travis McBee, hmmmm. Any relation to Mrs. McBee in The Face? LOL. Like your review and your personality! Keep up the good work.
I don't know if anybody has read these but two of my top favorites are probably "by the light of the Moon" and "from the corner of his eye"
False Memory was the last favorite book of mine by Dean Koontz, with the exception of the first few books in the Odd Thomas and Frankenstein series. I have to say Twilight Eyes and Strangers are my top two. The question is, what happened to Koontz after 1999? It started with From the Corner of His Eye, which was overwritten in my opinion. It’s like the muse left him. The same thing happened with me and Stephen King with Insomnia in 1994. I had read every King novel and short story that he had written from 1974’s Carrie, including the later published Bachman books and enjoyed them all. Then along came Insomnia, Rose Madder (which I couldn’t get into), Desperation (better, but not my favorite), The Green Mile (loved), and Bag of Bones (not bad, but doesn’t justify the length of the novel), etc. it’s like I thoroughly enjoyed everything from 1974-1994, then it was hit or miss for me. I don’t know if he changed or I did. I was 22 in 1994. I started reading King at 12 in 1984 with Firestarter.
1.Seize The Night
2.Intensity
3.Phantoms
4.Twighlight Eyes
5.Strangers
6.Watchers
7.Lightining
8.Fear Nothing
9.Midnight
10.Whispers
Why no Phantoms!!?
Really? No phantoms. That book was intriguing
Totally agree with Lightning up in your top ten. It would probably be his best for me. FRANKENSTIN 5 books are fabulous. Especially the last that goes into a hospital. Midnight and watchers would also be there. He has a wig not a hair transplant. Id love to see your review on Richard Layman books 📚
You are the man!!!!
Do you suggest best horror book?
I have to get back to read again a lot of Koontz.
Yes Dragon Tears was brilliant, Mr Murder as well. Midnight it's one beast of a book for me , soooo ahead of it's time and soooo underrated.
False Memory dragged to much for me. It starts slow, boring, the middle it's even slower.
Should have been at least 100 pages shorter.
Cool
I stoped read novels fr 10 years, not science. Just read Frankenstiens. He is really keeping up with the times. I was deeply inpressed
Can someone help me? I'm looking for the Dean Koontz book that they made into a film with Jeff Golblum... At the beginning, a teenager commits suicide while listening to black metal... Can someone tell me the title?
Hideaway. Probably my favorite movie that was adapted from one of his books. The book is way better than the movie ha ha.
@@TheAlleycat77 thank you! And yes, the book is always better than the movie!
Agreed. Book is way better
Top 3 Koontz books in no order except for No. 1:
One Door Away from Heaven. (Leilani resonated with me for reasons. I don't always like how Koontz writes kids and she was too mature sometimes but she was a survivor and she just stuck with me.)
Lightening. (First Koontz book I read. I couldn't stop turning pages. I had never read anything like it.)
The Good Guy. (the epilogue bugged me but this is such a great chase book. So darn good!)
The Taking is one of my faves
Intensity is Phenomenal!
I agree with most of this but didn't like strangers personally. Intensity was amazing odd thomas was good but got a little repetitive with some things. Couple of these I've thought about getting and now probably will like Mr. Murder
Havent read mr murder, heard good reviews. So im going to order
Does it all have a dog?
His novels include a dog but the novel"shadowfires " had no dog character
Read Midnight during the lockdown. Good read
Many, many years ago I promised myself that I was not going to read another Koontz book until he finished the Moonlight Bay trilogy. I kept that promise, and I've reached the point where I'm pretty sure I'm going to die without reading another Koontz book.
thx vor the video, will start with Intensity. :)
The only Koontz book i.read so far was Darkfall...it was a good book, 90s nyc crime/scifi mystery...
Don't make assumptions about books you haven't read. It's a good way to be avoidably wrong.
I really liked Life Expectancy. Clowns weird me out and I liked the characters. I know people, when you think about them, they seem quite tall. Then one day your standing there and notice, dudes same height as you. He just seems tall.
Twilight Eyes,...the first one I read and I still think it's the best because Twilight Eyes really exist.....
The Bad Place is my favorite Dean Koontz book.
What is Koontz's world view?
Ive never read any Koontz books so thanks
If I had started my Koontz journey with Strangers that would have been the end. That book was stupid and boring and filled with NOTHING surprising. For me, I started with INTENSITY and could not put the book down. Everything that Chyna did was logical and at no point did she do anything that I thought of as stupid. I mean, when she gets onboard the motorhome to try and free her friend it made sense. There was no choice--not if she was going to live with herself afterward. It was the same with all of her choices and it made me wonder why no film starring Jennifer Lawrence had been made. The book I read after Strangers 'Watchers' was and I like it well enough to push on and read more by him. I gave up on him, Robin Cook, John Saul and Stephen King all around the time that I discovered Orson Scott Card. If you want to start with Orson, just pick up ANY book, but his HARDBACK short story collection (it is NOT available in PAPERBACK but ebay has it for paperback prices) Maps in a Mirror is the place to start and the novella within that book :Lost Boys' (not the expanded novel) is the horror story to start with. Maps in a Mirror displays Orson Scott Cards talents as a sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and slice of life writer all within the cover of one book. Believe me when I tell you, after Lost Boys, Middle Woman, King's Meat, or Mikal's Songbird (again not the novelization) you will seek out any and all things Card.
Wasn't there one about agoraphobia?
what Stephen King book is titled twilight?