The Face is Dean Koontz's second book in six months. One thing I immediately noticed was that the storyline seemed extremely quick. The book was typical of Dean Koontz, separate story lines for each character, then they all meet up in the end for a chase. However.. The chase lasts for for a few chapters. Most of the book is spent building up to the short chase. The Face is an actor. He is mentioned throught the book, but he is not a main character. His child, Fric, calls him the ghost dad. That's what the Face is.. A ghost character. Ethan is the former cop who is a bodyguard for the mansion in which Fric lives.

The story itself is somewhat confusing and complicated. There's a dead guy, who is not really dead. The guy is Ethan's best friend, but they haven't spoken in years because Ethan married the girl that the dead guy was in love with. And a man in a yellow slicker who wants to cause chaos in the world, even though he hates no one. Ethan dies, but he does not really. At first, Koontz gives a chapter to each character. Then, halfway, he switches into using a squiggly symbol to divide a page and start anew with a different character. The book is way too long for the story. He jumps around and just throws random things.

However, I appreciated the book when I finished it. The ending completely sums up the story. While the face lacks a strong body, the ending makes up for the confusing plot. The ending explains everything and satisfies the reader. There is a strong spiritual touch to the book, and overall the book is a pleasant read.

From the start, the stage is set for this unusual and original tale with the rain, pouring down incessantly over the city of angels. In fact, the grey, gloomy skies and rain are major characters in the book. (Koontz refers to them constantly, and to great effect) We have all the ingredients for the standard thriller genre: troubled and sensitive cops, a dazzling Hollywood star, an exceedingly intelligent and evil antagonist and the constant threat of doom, hanging over the reader like the sword of Pericles, ready to drop at any moment. But ~The Face~ gives us something more than the prototype: stereotypes are brilliantly combined with the paranormal. Throughout the reading, my rational mind continued to search for logical explanations for the many strange events that happen to the main characters. To my frustration, however, no rational answers came forth because, in most cases, there weren't any. This novel makes excellent reading because what you see in not always what you expect or get...

The strongest aspect about the writing itself is the author's skill for characterization. Even the apparent insignificant characters in the novel have certain depth, which invokes the feeling one gets when meeting someone casually for the first time. He devotes each chapter of the tale from the perspective of each major player, and we easily enter their minds, feel their thoughts and emotions. Particularly the ten year old boy, Fric, with his pubescent humor and loneliness...and, of course, the terrifying literature professor and his Deconstructive, post modern stance on the written word. As a ruthless anarchist, he could have no better or appropriate philosophy concerning literature. This guy is truly bad without being outlandishly comic-bookish, similar to many other serial killer types in the thriller market place. Corky Laputa is just plain wicked.

If you're expecting the stock-standard thriller with all the tired stereotypes, you'll be disappointed with this novel. Then again, it has all the successful ingrediants one might expect, but Koontz throws in an interesting wrench into the work, which makes the book refreshing and highly enjoyable.

Rather than write a plot synopsis in my review (which can be gleaned elsewhere), I will simply say that I consider "The Face" to be one of Dean Koontz' finest works. And that is saying a lot. I considered "One Door Away From Heaven" to be perhaps his best work a couple of years ago, and this is fully the equal of that. The prose is beautiful, the characters are sharply drawn and likable, there is enough humor and suspense to make the book marvellously entertaining, and the ending is superb. This is truly another masterpiece from Koontz, and I will go so far as to say that I think that Mr. Koontz, a hundred years or so from now, will be recognized as one of the great novelists of the late 20th and early to mid 21st century. Forget Stephen King -- compared to Koontz, he's a hack. VERY highly recommended!

This is my first Dean Koontz book and I am looking forward to more. However, I had several problems with this book. First, the story was very contrived, with many elements ripped off from The Manchurian Candidate. The plot was usually tedious and predictable, and often infuriatingly unoriginal; i.e. dead characters that keep coming back to life, or characters explaining things that should have been resolved by the narrative. Second, all the characters were poorly developed. The main character, Joanna Rand we only see as a victim and not as a fully realized human being we might root for. The love interest and detective, Alex Hunter, does nothing but sleep with Joanna and feel sorry for her, and there is nothing special about him that would clue us to why Joanna loves him--even though she keeps saying she does. Third, Koontz's supposedly visual prose style is static and mundane, sometimes unbalanced, and on more than just a few occasions, ungrammatical to the point of being unreadable. Finally, some of the violence done to the women characters were plain offensive. This is not a bad book, but you would not want to read it straight on say a long flight. It is best read over a few days, so you can put it down instead of having your patience tested, or your interest constantly straying.

Mr. Koontz originally wrote this book under the pseudonym of Leigh Nichols (I didn't even know he had one). As Mr. Koontz explains at the end of the book, he spent quite a lot of time editing this book prior to re-releasing it under his name.

This book was definitely Koontz at his best. Though not your typical Dean Koontz plot, he did a wonderful job crossing in the the Spy Novel Genre. I read this book in one day on the beach. I found it to be wonderfully written, and I really liked the characters. I was certainly surprised to find out who was and wan not one of the bad guys. Boy did it fool me. Some of the characters I expected to be corrupt wern't and some that I expected not to be were.

The plot unfolds in Japan, and ends in Switzerland. Mr. Koontz does a great job of describing these locations without getting lengthy and boring yet making them colorful.

If you like Dean Koontz, don't leave this book off of your must read list.

I have read many of Mr. Koontz's novels and I rank this as one of his best.

This is my first Dean Koontz book and it was the most fascinating book I have enver read, I wasn't able to tell the horror part, it didn't really scare me at all, it's just of spine-tingling terror. That german doctor guy creeped me out though. The end was totally unexpected, I loved this book and I am now a Dean Koontz fan for life. If anybody likes brainwashing, foreign deciet, lies, mistaken identity. That's this book "The Key To Midnight. All of those things rolled up into one. One of the most engaging novels of all time. I love this book. I finished this book in one day, it was impossible for me to try to put it down. My parents got mad at me because I stayed up so late reading the book. I would tell myslef "just one more chapter" and then 50 or 100 pages later I would realize how much I really read.

The main character, Slim Mackenzie, lives in a carnival and has the ability to see the true nature of people. He sees goblins posing as humans with the intentions of wiping out the human race. I loved the fact that Dean Koontz went into such detail when describing the characters. You really feel as if you can see them standing in front of you. Slim was an exciting and alive character; also Rya and Joel Tuck were great characters. This was a well-written and fast-paced book, but I found it very hard to buy into. When the true nature of the book was brought out, I thought to myself is that all they really are?

I was disappointed with the ending.

I thought Twilight Eyes was one of the best books I have bought and read. I think that Dean Koontz should be recognized more than he does. I like Stephen King, but I LOVE Dean Koontz. Other favorites of mine are The Bad Place, Strange Highways, Sole Survivor, Phantoms, Fear Nothing, Seize the Night, and many others. But Twilight Eyes is my personal favorite. Slim Mackenzie was a exciting, alive, charecter and Rya and Joel Tuck were great, too.

When I was reading this book, I had contradicting thoughts about it. Sometimes I was extremely impressed, sometimes deeply disappointed. To get the worst out of the way, let me state the disappointing factors first: Dean Koontz needs to read 'The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes' and take a good look at the chapter labeled 'Don't Lecture Your Reader'! I cannot totally attack Koontz though, because sometimes the information he lingers on is important for the story, but for God's sake be brief because it disrupts the flow of events!

Now this book is about a gifted young man who can see the evil presence lurking beneath a human disguise. This evil is a physical being - not something of spiritual nature - 'goblins' as he calls them. He stalks them, kills them, and he can also see the misery that they had brought over the earth. Like in all of Dean's books, the story is enhanced by several very real, very compelling characters. And as usual, you'll love and admire the characters. You'll be surprised too, because things will be turned upside down quite a few times, which is what makes this book exciting.

I wouldn't say that it is particularly very scary. It is gripping, yes. Thrilling, yes. Even bizzarre. But not enough to classify it as horror. It can be slow at times, which is why it occured to me to give it 4 stars instead of 5, but the way it ended made it worthy of more than 5 stars. It takes a very emotional turn and suddenly you may find yourself so tuned in that time and place seize to exist. I was touched so deeply by this story, deeper than many of the other books I have read for him.

Dean is also a great thinker. In a way, he carries a message in this book that is close to saying that he wished he could blame all the misery in the world on the 'goblins'. That we, humans, cannot be entirely blamed on the destruction of our world... wishful thinking of course, but an idea on which he built this book.

This is one deeply engrossing novel. The beginning dragged a bit, because of a previous Koontz book I just read "The Mask" and that also took a lot of place in the hospital, and it involved memory loss.
The story hovewver has a few scary surprises, that made my heart race. Susan Thornton is one character that we grow to like, and we do not want anything to happen to her. Unfortunatelly for us and for Susan, there is a clever ploy going on at the hostpital that will turn her world upside - down.
Just when you think she's safe, she ends up in a much worse situation.
I read this book into deep hours of the night, it was hard to put down. The ending was very surprising! Not a guesser at all.
Great book from Koontz, trully worth your time : )

Susan Thornton is the main character in this book. After a car crash she wakes up in a hospital and can't remember various parts of her life. What she does remember is a murder she witnessed when she was younger. Then anytime someone mentions her employer, who she can't remember panic sets in.

This was a great fast paced book. I read it in one day. Like most of the books by Mr. Koontz, the characters are colorful and well written. At times this book is a little far fetched but that's fiction.

If your looking for a book that is part medical thriller, espionage thriller, supernatural and just a lot of fun to read, then this is for you.

I gave this book 5 stars and have recommended it to many of my friends.

Pick it up and enjoy.

I have read a very long list of books by Dean Koontz. Once I read this book, I have yet to find another that compares. This book had what I needed. Mystery, excitement, passion, intensity of the unknown. Excitement when you do not know where events are going to take you and the passion we all wish would happen to us.

This book is very well written. The plot and setting are all excellent. The characters interacted very well. I couldn't stop before finishing it. It was filled with suspense. The ending was what it needed. If you are a thriller fan or a Dean Koontz fan stop wasting time and go read it.

It's unfortunate that I could not put 20 stars down- that's what it deserves for being such an amazing novel. I first read this book 3 years ago and still pick it up and look at it (skim the pages and read my favorite parts) almost everyday. Although this book's premise does not fit my definition of "horror," it is still scary because it could actually happen and and because Koontz is able to get you to feel for both the characters (near the end of the book I was relatively empathetic to Roy because of some issues he had and still has) and therefore it makes the prospect of something happening to them (for the most part it's Colin you worry about) daunting. It's an incredibly exciting book, with action and subtle clues of the suspense that is to come and it also has psychological elements to it that also interest me because I am fascinated by psychology and such things. I love this book! It's one of my favorites and my favorite of his. Feel free to email me to talk about the book, any of his other books (or other authors and their books) or anything in general.

An excellent novel! Just like "The Amityville Horror" (the original) I couldn't put it down. The reader gradually grows attached to the main character (Colin) and throughout the book the reader will hope nothing terrible is going to happen to Colin. It really was a nail-biter and a page-turner. This was the first book I've read of Dead R. Koontz and I guarantee it isn't the last one!

OK, I did enjoy most of the chase scenes and the early appearances of the monsters. But the rest of the story was very poorly written. The main characters were incredibly two dimensional and the dialogue was some of the worst I've ever read. Audible groaning is usually a sign that a book is bad for me. Death threat on your kids? Not to worry, you still have time for a giddy, childish romp with one of the worst written females in novel history. Good idea but bad execution, this truly is Koont's dark fall.

WHAT R U PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT???

Novice dialogue? DK has a reputation as having witty repartee without peers!... Koontz creates believeable characters and puts them in unreal situations. He does this and has no peer!

Sure, this isn't his BEST BOOK, but it's still better than what is passing for horror fiction THESE DAYS!!! Check out Ron Dee and so many others, then tell me DK can't write! Or better yet try WRITING!!

Koontz writes a great read for a dark and stormy night!! The story does bog down at times, but is still very enjoyable and gobble-able (Is that a word?).

An early novel that shows he has what it takes to compete with those in the SCREAM FACTORY!!

If I were only allowed to use one word to describe Darkfall ... well it simply could not be done. This has to be one of the best books I've read in a very long time. Dean Koontz not only keeps you captive while reading but he also writes a great chase scene at the end that has you going wild. The setting is just right, as the story takes place in the almost DEAD of winter. Four corpses found scattered around the town. The way Dean writes the murders is so realistic; you could almost feel when the victim breathes his final breath. The two cops in the story (a male and female just like in every other Dean Koontz book) can't figure it out. They have no idea who (or exactly what) is behind the murders. One thing I really enjoy about Dean Koontz' writing is the way he tells a few stories that all come together in the end. Another interesting twist I greatly enjoyed is how the male cop's daughter gets involved. Does she become a victim? I really can't tell you. To tell you the truth, I can not make the book as suspenseful as Dean Koontz writes it, so I'll leave it up to you to read and enjoy. If you like voodoo-related, psychopathic, weird and twisted novels, this one is your calling.

In this slim novel, originally written in the late 1970s, many of the standard elements of Koontz's better work appear: psychic ability, a romantic element, gripping prose. However -- and maybe this is because I have read several other, recent novels -- I found this one predictable. The story revolves around psychic Mary Bergen's vision of several murders that seem to have familiar victims (although she can't nail down why the victims are familiar to her). She is also torn between loyalty to her brother, Alan, and her new husband, Max, who don't get along. The setting is the Christmas season, and this provides the right weather conditions -- rain and cold -- and the right contrast -- happy season v. grisly murders -- to keep the reader's interest to see what will happen next. Unfortunately -- at least for me -- I pretty much guessed 'whodunit' in the beginning, so although I doubted myself a couple of times (kudos to Koontz), I enjoyed the 'why' more than the 'who'. The end is gripping, and the fate of the core characters is up in the air. Good, but not his best.

This book completely took over my rainy afternoon and turned into a study in facinating mystery! The central character of this book is Mary Bergen, a sweet, sensitive, psychic. She endured a torture at the tender age of 6 that she can't remember. Through the physical and emotional trauma at that tender age, she developed psychic ability. She uses that psychic ability to help police solve homicide cases and find the killers.

With her during these endeavors is her devoted brother Alan, always at her side, pained with concern over her. Also there is her tough, but tender husband, Max. Max is depicted as a tough character with eyes of cold steel that only show tenderness when he is with Mary. Of course Alan and Max don't get along, each hating the other.

Soon a series of brutal murders begin to take place. Mary sees the crimes committed, can feel the pain of the young women who are murdered, but never manages to develop a vision of the killer's face. Soon, she knows, this killer is going to come after her. Can she solve this series of brutal crimes before she becomes the next victim?

This story is well written but short enough to read in a single day. Koontz crafts characters that you genuinely care about, and some fearsome, evil chracters as well. None are comic book, stereotype characters, which makes them all the more believable. The story is so well told that it'll draw you in and keep you held in it's grip until the brutal end.

I just finished reading the book the vision and I would honestly have to say it is my all time favorite. The Mystery keeps you going and I can read for hours with this book! Dean Koontz always likes to write mystery books and is good at it, but I think he's got a winner. I recommend this book to anyone you has a thirst for mystery and suspense, I garuntee that you will be on the edge of your seat!

Returning to her desk in the Donnerville town library just before closing time, librarian Jane finds an envelope on her chair. Inside she finds a fifty dollar bill and a message: "Dear Jane, Come and play with me. For further instructions, look homeward, angel. You'll be glad you did. Warmest Regards, MOG (Master of Games)."

Guessing that the mysterious Mog is referring to the classic book by Thomas Wolfe,Jane locates it on the shelves. In its pages she finds a hundred dollar bill and further instructions. Thus begins a high stakes game of cat and mouse between her and Mog, a game where risks and rewards escalate at each stage. Appealing to Jane's greed and competitive spirit, Mog gradually ups the ante to the point where Jane is battling for her very life, a battle where the odds are most definitely against her.

I'm pleased Leisure saw fit to reprint In the Dark, one of my favorite Laymon novels. Displaying all his strengths--expert pacing, a great sense of atmosphere and a winning sense of humor--it also features two of the most fully developed characters he's created, the aforementioned Jane, and her
companion Brace, a man she meets at the beginning of the game. The novel focuses on Jane's transformation from a dowdy wallflower to an assertive, aggressive and attractive young woman, equal to any opponent, even an apparent psychopath. Laymon captures her inner turmoil quite well, making her reactions to Mog's increasingly outrageous,dangerous
tasks are that much more believable. He's also careful in his approach to chronicling the budding romantic relationship between Jane and Brace, taking great pains to show an initial chemical attraction blossom into a deeper love based on shared experience and mutual respect. It's nice to watch Laymon tackle an
adult relationship for a change, instead of providing yet another (albeit accurate)glimpse into the skewed psyches of the horny teenagers who populate so many of his stories.

What's most interesting about the novel is the nature of "the game" itself. Mog's tactic of offering money to Jane to provoke uncharacteristic behaviors, and in placing her in increasingly untenable situations, prefigured reality shows like Survivor, Temptation Island and Big Brother by several years. The sad thing about reading quality work like In the Dark is recalling Laymon's sudden death last year, and the fact that there are no new Laymon books to look forward to.

In The Dark is considered to be one of Richard Laymon's best work of suspense. And suspenseful it is! This is the kind of book that grabs you from the very first page to take you on a roller coaster ride that never seems to end. This is like reading a good B-movie; it's completely unbelievable, full of twists and turns and surprises and very very fast-paced.

When Jane receives a note coming from a man who calls himself MOG (short for Master Of Games), she decides to follow the stranger's instructions just to see where it'll take her. And when it brings her to an envelope full of cash, she doesn't shy from obeing his next command. And with each new command, comes a new envelope filled with even more cash.

But with each new envelope, the stakes get higher and higher. How far will Jane go for money? And who exactly is that young professor who keeps popping up at the strangest of times?

Laymon's writing isn't brilliant. His style is simple; short sentences, lots of dialogue and internal dialogue. And yet, this style helps to elevate the novel to a whole new level of suspense. It's also very interesting to see how Jane changes through the book; she starts out as a fragile, shy woman and ends up confident and even full of herself.

I loved this book. It was so much fun! It takes you on a wild ride that you will not soon forget. Laymon does live up to his reputation once again. This is the master of suspense at his thrilling best.

If you're a fan of Richard Laymon novels, then you'll no doubt enjoy "In the Dark". All of the Laymon staples are present, i.e. great characterizations, sympathetic lead characters, gratuitous sex and violence, copious amounts of blood and vividly graphic scenes.

"In the Dark" is the story of the 2 week adventure of a small town librarian who, starved for excitement and love, finds both as she is manipulated by a heinous villian known only by his acronym, M.O.G. or "Master of Games". Why MOG picks out this librarian named Jane is never really explained, but he sends her scurrying all over town at midnight picking up envelopes of cash as she deciphers his clues and poems.

Laymon's books often take ordinary people and puts them in extraordinary circumstances bordering on the unbelieveable. "In the Dark" is no exception. Jane's greed, as she searches for MOG's envelopes of money and clues is sometimes hard to fathom, especially since most of the searches take place during the "witching hour". She's a brave young lady, but portrayed as almost TOO brave! Along the way Jane finds love in the person of Brace, a college professor. As she pursues MOG's money, she begins to lose track of what's really important in life - that the love of a good person is much more valuable than any amount of money.

I'll stop here because it is not my intent to give away the entire plot. As long as you can put aside some of the unbelieveable portions of "In the Dark", then you'll find this to be a extremely fast read which will keep you up way into the wee hours of the morning. Laymon has done it again, reinforcing the credo of his fans that "he can't write a bad book!".

Graham Harris, ex-mountain climber and publisher of a climbing magazine is having precognitive visions of a psychotic rapist/murderer. Recruited by the NYPD to aide in the capture the psycho finds out and sets his sights on Graham's girlfriend Sarah.

Trapped at his office in a high rise office building with Sarah and all escape routes cut off (gee, why didn't Graham see this) they must do something daring to escape. What else but scale down the side of the building with the climbing equipment which just happens to be in his office (yeah right, Ok So its fiction). Oh, did I mention that due to a climbing accident on Mt. Everest that Graham has a bad leg and an even worse case of Vertigo (fear of heights).

Over looking the faults, this is an above average fast paced book which once into, you will find hard to put down.

I was only able to give this book 4 stars because of the faults I mentioned previously.

If you are offended easily then you may not want to read this. Many of the scenes described in the book are very graphic.

Previously published under one of Dean Koontz's many pseudonyms (Brian Coffey), "The Face of Fear" is a simple, action-packed thriller that primarily takes place in a large, deserted New York office building during a snowstorm. This setup is contrived by a serial killer, Frank Bollinger (aka the Butcher), who is after a clairvoyant ex-mountaineer, Graham Harris, and his live-in girlfriend, Connie Davis. For the duration of the night, these two must try and escape the Butcher's strategic deathtrap before he finds them first.

Granted, "The Face of Fear" isn't as complex and serious as some of Koontz's more recent novels, but this is still a fun read for suspense fans. You might even want to watch the TV movie that was made in the early 90s if you enjoyed this book.

Respectfully disagreeing with some of the reviews of this book in this web page, I think it is the best thriller I have ever read. A true thriller is supposed to pull all stops. It's supposed to keep you hooked on to page one and if the author is supremely successful in his goal, you will pick up the book, read the first page, and as you keep going, you will find that you have not moved a single muscle, except for the thumbs turning the pages and the eyes following the words, until you finally put the book down at the last page. This is what happened to me, a person who's never read a whole book in one sitting, let alone a nearly 300 page book! Dean Koontz has succeeded with this story. To anyone who hasn't read it, I will not give you a detailed account of what the story is about because then I will be giving away the good parts, depriving you of a suspenseful read. Just picture this - a man with a limp and a woman are alone in an office building, trapped with a serial killer in the middle of a snowstorm. The only thing these weaponless, vulnerable victims can do to defend themselves from this gun - totting serial killer is to run and not look back. It is a long, suspenseful, and enjoyable chase scene. And I mean it when I say enjoyable. You will love it. For Dean Koontz, only the highest praises. Mr. Koontz, between you and me, I honestly think you outdid Stephen King on this one. As for writers out there who want to write suspense fiction - Dean Koontz is the master to learn from. Face of Fear is truly the most thrilling novel ever.

I have read quite a number of books now by Dean Koontz and enjoyed most of them. Besides some of his earlier work, the only major disappointment to me was Fear Nothing (so much so, that I haven't dared read the sequel yet; I mean, as a person who hates dogs I can only stand so many books about clever canines...; besides, the book read as a major rush job). So it was a pleasant surprise that False Memory was so gratifying. The book is full of warm characters in the typical Koontz-style and the familiar wonderful humor (where else can you find a sadistic killer complain about self-mutilation (i.e. piercings etc.) being the rage today?).

The story is wonderful and well written. OK, it is a tad long and there are the usual metaphors that sometimes work and sometimes just distract or annoy. The idea behind the story works very well, and I just can't understand the reader complaining about reading 'who did it' after just 200 out of 600 pages. I mean: in case you didn't notice, it is not a whodunit!!! Actually, the book wouldn't have worked nearly as well and turned out a major disappointment if the question who did it all was kept hidden till the last couple of pages.

For me, the book was a very enjoyable read and kept me really looking forward to his new book. Hopefully, it won't feature another smart dog...

This was my first reading of Dean Koontz, and it prompted me to read some of his other works. I was very impressed with the writing, the characterisation, and the suspense in the novel. As in some of his other works, there is a sinister quasi-government organisation, but this time it's personal. I really loved the main characters Dusty and Martie, and koontz's description of all the characters really brought them to life. The book deals with very disturbing and frightening themes like rape, child abuse, murder, and mind control, and some people could be disgusted, but the basic goodness of human beings shines through all the horror. There are other memorable characters in the book, like Dusty's half brother Skeet, the lovable self destructive addict, Fig, the monosyllabic alien hunter, Dr. Mark Ahriman, one of the most complex characters i've ever come accross in fiction, and Valet the dog, Dusty and Martie's touchstone, a fully fledged character in his own right. The action in the book mirrors that in The Lord of the Rings, the video game Martie is working on, as she and Dusty journey to a meeting with evil in their own personal Mordor. After reading the book a second time I understood the motivations a lot better and i'd reccomend this book to anyone who loves a good story and excellent writing.

Dean Koontz has done it again. Being an avid fan of the cross-genre author, and having read every book he has ever written, this is definitely his best work to date. His characters are believeable, flawed, and all-too-human. This scenario, combined with the often-complicated workings of the subconsious mind, link the reader to a very plausible situation where one's occupation as a doctor of psychiatry may not always be to help others, but to help yourself to others. The book is about Dusty, a housepainter from a rather dysfuntional family, and his wife, Martie. He and his wife live a quiet and seemingly uninteresting life, interrupted only by a suicida brother and a friend suffering from agrophobia, a fear of the outside world. Martie's childhood friend suffers inexplicable from this fear, and they are further bound by their excursions to Dr. Ahriman's office, where Susan is currently seeking help. Then, one day, Martie herself is afflicted by a strang fear of herself. Shocked at first, she is slightly amused to see herself acting so strangely...until it happens again and again. Dusty, helplessly watching his wife fall into a downward spiral of self-fear and loathing, seeks Dr. Ahriman's help for his wife. With this, however, he uncovers a web of deciet and intrigue that will keep the reader begging for more. The story is further enabled Koontz's characteristcally witty exchange between characters. The emotions behind the characters also keeps the average reader completely in step with what is happening. All too often, I had to pause for a few moments and remind myself that it was just a book! Koontz has outdone himself yet again, and I can only hope that he will continue to put out such great works of fiction unmatched even by Stephen King, who's books lack the integrity and believability that has become Koontz's trademark.