Monday, June 18, 2007
By the Light of the Moon

Leisurely reading or not, Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors. When I read anything written by him it absolutely captivates me. Yes, he tends to write about sometimes disturbing topics, but he is such a brilliant man and the things he comes up with fascinate me. The way in which he writes is so vivid and real. I love it.

So yesterday I finished his book "By the Light of the Moon."
It was my favorite one yet, I think I say that after each of his books though.

There were several important characters, but the top three are Dylan O'Connor, Sheppard O'Connor and Jillian Jackson. The O'Connors are brothers, Dylan is the oldest and he takes care of his brothers as both of their parents are dead. Shep has severe autism and Koontz wrote his character superbly. Jillian is a comedian who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the three of them end up being united forever during the their terrifying ordeal. All of this involves nanotechnology which I knew nothing about until I read this book and it is VERY interesting.

**Spoiler Alert**

Dr. Proctor is an insane man who is too smart for his own good. He has studied nanotechnology in such a "mad scientist" way that he feels he can create a whole new generation of people. He injects Dylan, Shep and Jillian with an unknown substance he refers to as "stuff." Their lives are changed forever, not just because his enemies are now after them to kill them and destroy evidence of the "stuff" but also because the substance has them experiencing very strange symptoms. They all begin to have premonitions and callings which they cannot deny even if it means risking their lives. Shep is able to fold through a dimension and appear in another place of the world within seconds. For a person which severe autism it is very difficult for him and his friends to explain to him what is happening. Especially since they are not sure what is happening either. All they know if that they are racing around the country saving and helping strangers in need.

This book was just awesome. And even with all the tense moments, Koontz still always manages to make me laugh. The connections between characters are written very well. And I love the witty banter of their dialogue during certain scenes. Excellent, just excellent!

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    Tuesday, April 24, 2007
    The Consciousness Plague

    A little bit mystery, a little bit sci-fi and a whole lot of inquistive character development kept me glued to "The Consciousness Plague" from beginning to end. For those interested in medicine, serial killers and msyteries you'll find this book a quick read and you'll wish it didn't have to end so soon.

    Paul Levinson out did himself with this story. It is written perfectly. There are a lot of in-depth discussions which involve how the brain communicates and remembers things. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to understand the dialogue, but Levinson wrote it in such a way that I was able to make sense of it and enjoy it.

    Phil D'Amato, our main man, is a NYPD forensic detective. There is a serial killer plaguing his area and the person(s) are strangling women, stripping them and leaving them for dead. At first there doesn't appear to be a motive or connection between the women. In fact, there doesn't even appear to be a suspect until much closer to the end of the book.

    There is another storyline that develops throughout and that involves a flu epidemic that is spreading worldwide. The newly developed antibiotic Ominin seems to kick the bacteria within a week's time, but there is one extreme side effect. It messes with your memory and people are forgetting hours of their days.

    Can you see how Ominin could complicate the murder case?

    Oh and it does.

    The twists and turns that this story takes were rivetting and I may end up reading this one again later down the road. There is some holes in the story with the secondary events and characters, but they can be forgiven overall.

    My score:
    Solid B+

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    Friday, March 2, 2007
    Odd Thomas

    In addition to being a music fiend, I also LOVE to read. And yesterday I finished a great book; another Dean Koontz pick called "Forever Odd."

    Odd Thomas is the name of the main character and he can see dead people. Laugh if you must, but this is not as cliche as Sixth Sense. In fact, this is a gift in which people come to Odd for resolution or sometimes even for reasons he doesn't quite understand. In addition he has a gift of psychic magnetism which guides him to the right places at the right time.

    The book begins when Odd wakes in the middle of the night to find the spirit of Dr. Jessup in his room. He isn't scared, but he is alarmed because Dr. Jessup was perfectly alive earlier that day. So he follows Dr. Jessup to his home and finds his murdered body. Dr. Jessup's son is nowhere to be found. Thus the plot thickens and we follow Odd throughout the book searching for Danny (the missing boy) and dealing with the three sick people who have kidnapped him. The sickest being Datura, the woman who befriended a crippled Danny and took advantage of secrets he told her about Odd's supernatural gifts.

    I won't get into the rest, because it was such a good read I would rather you find out for yourself. But I will tell you that despite many of the grim details, Koontz is a very funny writer. There were quite a few times in which I was laughing at how he described things. He is a vivid writer with a phenomenal imagination.

    And next on my reading list is "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire.

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