Weak 3 stars. Good action and suspense. Bad dialogue. Weak narrator.STORY BRIEF:Tina’s son Danny was on a field trip. The bus was in an accident and he died. The cops recommended she not view the body because it was mangled. She complied. The story begins a year later. A ghost or something paranormal is sending messages to Tina. The messages say “not dead.” She is also having dreams saying her son is not dead. She believes someone is playing pranks.Tina meets Elliot an attorney. They are attracted to each other and quickly become intimate. He suggests they exhume the body so she can say goodbye to her son which might stop the troubling dreams.REVIEWER’S OPINION:It was pretty good, but I did not like the dialogue. It seemed that most of the conversations were one person saying or suggesting something and the other dismissing it as “not possible.” In the beginning Tina was the doubtful one. For far too long, she kept saying my son is dead, these messages are wrong. I kept thinking she never saw the body. Why does she keep insisting he is dead? Finally she believes the messages are coming from her son. Then Elliot becomes the naysayer. And the conversations are him saying that’s not possible. Even after Elliot is convinced, when Tina suggests something, Elliot says “how can he do that?” I’m thinking because you saw him do those other things you idiot. I was impatient with the lack of logic. Sure this is paranormal fiction. But if these things were happening to me in real life, I’d be a believer sooner they were. And I wouldn’t keep saying the things they said. So I was annoyed.Another piece of dialogue didn’t fit. Tina meets with her ex-husband Michael to discuss the pranks. He spends a few minutes telling her what his job is like and some of the interesting things he’s seen. It sounded like what he would tell someone on a first date. They were married for many years and divorced. She would have heard all that before. I think the author wanted to include those interesting tidbits in the book, but he picked the wrong characters to do it. He should have had Michael tell somebody else, not his ex-wife. The plot was good. There are some good actions and events.NARRATOR:The narrator Tanya Eby bothered me. When a situation is stressful or tense, she narrates as if she’s having a good time talking to her girlfriends. She’s too pleasant sounding when a situation is unpleasant. It doesn’t feel like mystery or suspense. For example, Tina is wondering if her ex husband “had slipped into the house like a little boy playing a cruel prank, if he had written that message on the chalk board, then his hatred of her was far greater than she thought.” The narrator read this as if she were smiling and amused about a little boy doing something cute. I thought the narrator should have conveyed suspicion and anger, not amusement.DATA:Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook reading time: 9 hrs and 40 mins. Swearing language: moderate, but rarely used. Sexual language: none. One sex scene briefly referred to, no details shown. Setting: around 1981 Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada and the High Sierras near Reno. Book copyright: 1981. Genre: action suspense paranormal with a little romance. Ending: good for the good guys.OTHER BOOKS:For a list of my reviews of other Dean Koontz books, see my 5 star review of Lightninghttp://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Dean Koontz is one of the world’s best paid author’s (bringing in more than twenty five million annually!), which means everybody who’s interested in books has probably read him–which is why I didn’t choose to review one of his more popular works like Watchers.Eyes of Darkness isn’t my favorite Dean Koontz book, but it was one of his early ones, which I think is a good place to start with Koontz. If you don’t know, DK fist began writing sci-fi, and was sometimes publishing up to eight books a year under pseudonyms such as Deanna Dwyer, K. R. Dwyer, Aaron Wolfe, David Axton, Brian Coffey, John Hill, Leigh Nichols, Owen West, Richard Paige, and Anthony North. His first big breakthrough novel was Whispers in 1980. Eyes of Darkness was the next one, published in 1981. The book focuses on a mother, Christina Evans, who sets out on a quest to find out if her son truly did die one year ago, or if he was still alive–somewhere. It’s pretty typical Koontz, with a lot of suspense, strong good vrs. evil themes, and an interesting plot. If you haven’t read it, I’d say pick it up and give it a go. You won’t be wowed, but you won’t be disappointed either.What I really want to say about DK, however, is how his writing has changed. In Eyes and other early and mid work–I’d say up to the mid-nineties–he focused on the story, which is why I liked him. But when you become as big as he is, you have a lot more freedom with what you do. This can be good or bad. In Koontz’s case I think it is bad. I know a lot of people will probably disagree with me, but I find a lot of his recent writing too preachy and too focused on the language at the expense of the story. Koontz can get away with it because he is simply a good storyteller, but every time I read a sentence along the lines of “His blue eyes were seas where sorrow sailed” I’m convinced a little book fairy somewhere falls down dead.
What do You think about The Eyes Of Darkness (1996)?
"Don't be silly, Billy." - Tina EvansThis book is so humorous, but the funny thing is - it's not supposed to be :-)I loved the paranormal aspect of this NOT DEAD idea with the message coming through so many forms and the icy drop in temperature.The dialogue is pretty bad. I did like the action toward the end and the events occurring (view spoiler)[ within the secret government facility for the Pandora Project (hide spoiler)]
—Dustin Crazy little brown owl
This is an earlier book of Dean Koontz. He wrote this under a pseudonym "Leigh Nichols". No matter. It is definitely Dean Koontz. He is one of my absolute favorite authors of all time. This book does not disappoint in any way. Involving romance,paranormal,suspense,government cover ups-and the absolute unending love of a mother who never gave up her goal. To find and be reunited with her son. Not one for giving plots out I will zip it.... :) . I highly recommend this book. It is so good as only Dean Koontz can make a book be. All thumbs up and give it a chance-and read it. I think if you are a Dean Koontz fan you will love the ride he takes you through.
—Paula
This book has gotten many negative reviews - so I guess I'm easily entertained because I loved it! I'm a mom so maybe the whole 'grieving mother goes to any extreme to save her kid' thing really appealed to me? Of course, there was the excitement of the chase - typical of so many Dean Koontz novels. There was also the 'weird and unbelievable' aspects to it, but that is why I love to read Dean Koontz! It's amazing to me how he can weave a tale so crazy that when I try to explain what I'm reading to others, even I think, wth - YET...while I'm engrossed in the story, it's totally believable! I had a hard time putting this book down, as with so many of Dean's books. Some of his stuff I can't get into from the beginning, so I've learned to just 'know' when I start reading whether it's something I can tolerate. This gripped me from the very first sentence and I knew it was going to be enjoyable. I listened to it via audiobook on my ipod while I cleaned and cooked, informing my family that I was listening to a Dean Koontz so I'll be pretty engrossed. Iow, don't try talking to me! Loved it, loved it, loved it! Didn't disappoint...sorry for others who disliked it...glad I didn't take the reviews too seriously and miss out on it completely!
—Kim
