The Husband
by Dean Koontz
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Book Reviews of The Husband
Book Review: A downhill ride
Summary: 3 Stars
This was my third Koontz book, and so far, it's my least favorite. I like Koontz's work, but I expected a little bit more out of this one.
The book starts out with a pace and tone that will give you whiplash; almost like riding on a roller-coaster, but once you get to the top of the track and you're expecting that thrilling, tickling sensation in your stomach as you plummet straight down at 70 miles per hour.....the brakes kick in and you're only tavelling at about, say, FOUR miles an hour.
The characterization is weaker than some of Koontz's other works, and that sort of damages the level of emotional involvement the reader is willing to invest. When the "hair-raising" climax comes to pass, the book just abruptly ends leaving you with the felling that there should be something more.
It's not a BAD book, it's just not as good as some of the other things Mr. Koontz has done before. This book won't make me give up on him. I'm looking forward to reading more of his novels. I like his writing style and the ideas he comes up with.
Book Review: Decent summer read....I guess.
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this book because I left my other one on the plane and needed something to read on vacation. I read a Koontz horror novel about 20 years ago, and remember thinking he was a far cry from Stephen King.
The Husband starts off well, with good pace and plenty of intrigue, but looses its way and ends up unsatisfying. The reviews suggest a book full of 'twists and turns', but there is really only one, and a fairly predictable one at that. Koontz does a nice job building up the main character and his wife, but introduces a bunch of other people that he pretty much ignores, and makes you wonder why he brought them in. The mental instability of one of the kidnappers is pretty interesting, but don't expect to find out why he is the way he is.
Koontz also weighs down the book with too much rambling hyperbole. He needs to realize he will never be nominated for the Pulitzer; it might help him get on with the story. Anyway, I guess this an okay summer read, but I won't read another Koontz book for at least another 20 years.
Book Review: Two Million Dollars?
Summary: 4 Stars
The summary of The Husband pulled me in when I read the back cover that told about a landscaper who received a call about his kidnapped wife. The kidnappers wanted two million dollars from a man who only had eleven thousand in the bank. I had to find out how this man, Mitch, was going to get his hands on two million dollars.
At first, I found Dean Koontz's description of certain elements beautiful, but after a while, it became distracting because it was interrupting the flow of the action. Even so, I still enjoyed the novel because of its engaging plot.
As I continued to immerse myself in this novel, it made me question what I would do if I found myself in the same situation as Mitch. I wouldn't want to give into a kidnapper's demands, but at the same time, would the love for my spouse propel me through the same obstacles Mitch faced? What if they killed his wife anyway? I like it when writers compel me to ask myself tough questions like these. It drive my curiosity on and makes the novel that much more intriguing.
Book Review: A Vortex of Action but Sophomoric Plot
Summary: 4 Stars
Koontz pulls off an entertaining, action filled novel despite its amateurish plot, quickness, and cumbersome shifts in style.
Readers will enjoy the thrill of the story line that takes off immediately and keeps up the pace until the conclusion. Koontz throws all types of characters into the vortex of action...including the usual evil suspects and naive innocent thrown in the midst.
Koontz' eloquent descriptive language and philosophic ponderings don't fit this novel and seem thrown in as window dressing. They serve to interupt the fast-paced plot, and I ended up skimming through many of them. In this short novel, readers have to take Koontz' word for the characters' good or evil natures. We get little background of the secondary players and just a little of the main characters'.
This seems like something Koontz wrote quickly without much effort. I think readers will enjoy the entertainment value but might be left wishing for more profundities and depth that often accompany Koontz' entertainment.
Book Review: If I hear a description of another plant, I'll be sick!
Summary: 2 Stars
What a dissapointment this book was! The storyline had so much potential and this could have been a great book. However, Koontz spends far too much time describing every flower and blade of grass (which add nothing but filler) than he does developing the characters. Out of a group of co-workers who share audio books, I was the only one who actually listened to it till the end. The endless descriptions of flora just turned everyone else off. But I thought the plot was good, so I held out for the ending, trying to ignore the fact that Koontz seemed to be trying to prove he could use a thesaurus and knows how to use adjectives. Then comes the ending-UNBELIEVABLY RUSHED and incomplete-faster than a NASCAR race and you feel robbed as he leaves too many unanswered questions. I have never felt before like a book was a waste of my time, but this one--oh yeah! It was like he got tired of writing the book and just rushed the ending to get it over with, dropping the characters and leaving too many loose ends.