Koontzland - Dean Koontz discussion

The Taking will be our March 2017 Group Read.

That's a good one!!

I agree :-)

It was a good one. Can't wait for the discussion.

I might get started on The Taking a bit early (second half of February) because I just got notification it has arrived at the library for me to pick up. I'll see if I can hold out until the end of February.

I remember The Taking being one of Dean's shorter novels with some nice horror elements.

I read this book. It was fantastic! Enjoy everybody! I'm looking for a book to add to my B&N cart for order while I wait on his new book to be released. I'm going to look through past months.

Megi wrote: "I read this book. It was fantastic! Enjoy everybody! I'm looking for a book to add to my B&N cart for order while I wait on his new book to be released. I'm going to look through past months."

Are you choosing another Dean Koontz book? Did you decide on one yet?

Yes. I am rereading "Your Heart Belongs To Me." I am waiting for April to be chosen so I can buy the book. I've been wanting to reread this for a day or two. So I grabbed it for the month. :) Everyone enjoy The Taking!

April Group Read will be Midnight :-)

Molly Sloan(wife) & Neil(husband) are married 7 years. Molly is stronger, able to take fear & terror. e.g. Coyotes commensurate with her - a gift of Friendship ?

Remember Annamaria and the coyotes in Odd Hours?

I will start re-reading The Taking soon - but maybe not until next week.

I just read The Taking a few months ago. It was good. Not one of my favorites though.

I liked The Taking as I do almost all of Koontz. But, like Julia, I wouldn't say it's one of my favorites. Without adding a spoiler, I'm trying to decide how I feel about the ending.

Thank you Julia and Michael :-)
I remember The Taking as having some great horror elements and some thought-provoking ideas. My favorite part has always been (view spoiler)[ the talking doll :-) (hide spoiler)]

I'm looking forward to re-experiencing The Taking

Finishing a book for another club. Don't much like that book so will be glad to stubborn;y finish it.

I think this will be my 3rd reading of The Taking but still looking forward to it. I do remember that the 2nd(?) time I read it it was a completely different story for me. So, I am wondering which Taking I will be reading this time! LOL

What is the other book you are reading? Just curious.

I hope you enjoy The Taking this third time around :-) I find it fascinating how literature or film can affect us differently at different points in our lives. Experiences between reading or viewing can make such a difference in what we take away. There are some books or films that I enjoy re-visiting time and time again and that for me is the mark of true excellence which transcends time.

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "What is the other book you are reading? Just curious.

I hope you enjoy The Taking this third time around :-) I find it fascinating how literature or film can affect us differently at different po..."

Lordy Dustin, you're a bit of a poet! Sweet...:-)

The other book is The Postmaster's Daughter
by Louis Tracy. It is an English mystery written over 100 years ago! I bought it for the large print and it sounded like it would be fun. Some of the phrases used are a hoot. I nominated it for the group but it did not win...oh well. So, I decided it was MY book of the month. But it is going slowly and it is nice to read an English mystery that does not involve serial killers. I am really tired of that for now.

I am sure I will like The Taking again. And you are right--a lot of books are liked or disliked because of where your head is (and I am not talking about above your shoulders) when you read it. That is why I have so many books that I have started and put aside--then go back and love it. For me, this is especially common with Stephen King.

Currently reading The Taking for the fifth time. This would definitely be among my favorites by Dean Koontz - somewhere in the top ten. Most excellent.

Mary wrote: "Lordy Dustin, you're a bit of a poet! Sweet...:-)


Thank you Mary. Speaking of poetry - The Taking is full of it :-)
The opening line of The Taking is a rhyme:
A few minutes past one o'clock in the morning, a hard rain fell without warning.

The writings of T.S. Eliot are all over this novel as well. I love it!

I am at where the rain stopped Molly, Neil & Virgil (Molly's dog helps them find paths & people) leave to see what aliens are doing. Empty buildings, frighten children & dead adults?

Definitely great horror elements, but I wanted more from the characters. Do you think Koontz was trying something new, the lack of character detail was on purpose, was it something else?

I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it. There are lots of references to Molly's past. Which in itself is typical of Koontz to include a character with a traumatic childhood.

That's true. I guess I'm just looking back, and the last DK book I read was a novella (What the Night Knows). In it, with very few pages, I felt connected with the main character. Maybe I just like DK novels that have less action, and more psychological elements :)

Dean Koontz's works can vary in what they emphasize. It's fascinating that so many fans have so many different favorites based on what type of Koontz variation they prefer.

You are right that this is a shorter novel - it leaves out a lot of the wordy descriptions/background found in the lengthier novels of similar subject matter such as Winter Moon or Strangers.

Fred wrote: "I am at where the rain stopped Molly, Neil & Virgil (Molly's dog helps them find paths & people) leave to see what aliens are doing. Empty buildings, frighten children & dead adults?"

Seems like I've been stuck in the Wolf's Tail Tavern for quite some time.

I.am still towards the beginning of the book but I wanted to scream at koontz at one place in particular...He was describing the door of a neighbors bedroom being smashed in. I usually love the way he picks and chooses and shows his love of words but for the love of god--please just SAY "the door was smashed open or broken)! Perhaps it was just my mood.

The ambience is so very perfect. I feel like there is a 10 pound weight on my back from the humidity and wetness. I can only feel it as hot for now (perhaps because of spent so much of my life in the south) or perhaps I am feeling a glimpse of hell. An evil is sensed all around and I have realized this is not his usual suspense but horror.

"The corpse you planted last year in your garden, Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?"
-T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

The human imagination may be the most elastic thing in the universe, stretching to encompass the millions of hopes and dreams that in centuries of relentless struggle built modern civilization, to entertain the endless doubts that hamper every human enterprise, and to conceive the vast menagerie of boogeymen that trouble every human heart.
-Dean Koontz, The Taking , Chapter 32

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: ""The corpse you planted last year in your garden, Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?"
-T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land"

:-)

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: " The human imagination may be the most elastic thing in the universe, stretching to encompass the millions of hopes and dreams that in centuries of relentless struggle built modern civilization, to..."

He is still choosing and loving each word. I do love Koontz. It would not have been the same to say "the door was smashed in" lol

I thought the garden quote was timely with first day of Spring being tomorrow :-)

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I thought the garden quote was timely with first day of Spring being tomorrow :-)"

Bah-ha-ha!!!

Had to put that on fb.

I posted the quote on Facebook :-) Right after I posted here the other day.

For some reason I wasn't getting the posts from this discussion.

I was a little hesitant about reading The Taking because I remembered being so depressed when reading it before but this time around I loved it. I liked the dogs of course, especially Virgil. I was glad the woman in the story was so strong and seemed to take on the leadership position.

Karen B. wrote: "For some reason I wasn't getting the posts from this discussion.

I was a little hesitant about reading The Taking because I remembered being so depressed when reading it before but this time ar..."

I was wondering where you wer Karen.

Mary, honestly ... I've also been lazy. I read books and then I don't feel like writing reviews. But after I read the Taking and looked on here there weren't many comments yet.

Karen B. wrote: "Mary, honestly ... I've also been lazy. I read books and then I don't feel like writing reviews. But after I read the Taking and looked on here there weren't many comments yet."

Ha Karen, we are having the same reactions to this book just at different times. This time I am the one finding it dragging me down. Dustin is keeping me afloat...ha

I thought you had finished re-reading The Taking, Mary.
What chapter are you on now?

SPOILER< SPOILER(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]
Hint : no more reports from space stations.

I am new to the kindle and last night I thought it said I was on chapter 24 but today chapter 15. Either way, I am making progress. Let's just say I am slowly savoring every moment of gore.
I usually read 2 books at a time so my reading is sometimes slow. :-)

If you are in chapters 15-24, then you haven't seen that T.S. Eliot Corpse Quote - it appears right before Chapter 25 (Part Four).

Mary, another thing to keep you going if you're like me ... the dogs. OK I admit it I love Koontz's dogs. I love dogs period but his dogs are always so loving and giving and smart.

I love dogs too! :-) Them Angel Dogs of the Koontz Universe are a common denominator for many of us Koontzlanders.

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "If you are in chapters 15-24, then you haven't seen that T.S. Eliot Corpse Quote - it appears right before Chapter 25 (Part Four)."

It looks Iike I am skipping back and forth. My sister told me about a setting that keeps that from happening when you turn book in a different direction. It seemed to be working last night.. Will see what the gremlins did when I wasn't watching.

T>S. Elliot is one of my favorites , simply for his quotes...like Oscar Wilde.

Mary, if you're talking about your Kindle switching pages on you, I found with mine sometimes if I am reading on a page and then close it, it goes back to a previous page. If you find the setting your sister sister told you about tell me. If I shut my Kindle down while on the page I am on it's usually okay but if it freezes and I need to restart it that's when I am in trouble.

Hi Karen, Sis showed me the bookmark button. On the right top of page there is a row of 3 buttons, tap those and one will be an icon that looks like a bookmark. So far, it has worked to get me to the right page. It saves all your bookmarks so I am not sure what happens when you finish a book. I will let you know. She uses hers when she thinks she might want to read a chapter or page again.

I have the kindle fire 10 and she has the paper white.

And I was having troubles with closing it or putting it down and coming back and thinking Koontz was losing a few marbles because he kept writing the same stuff over and over. Or maybe it was me....
Maybe that will help?

Dean Koontz does write similar themes & ideas within in several books :-)
Some readers have thought Dean was losing his marbles when he wrote "Breathless". It seems now that Dean is getting a bit older, he's also taking his writing a little slower. I think this shows with the quality of Ashley Bell released in 2015 and that we haven't seen another novel from him since then.

I'm excited that there is a new release from Dean Koontz this Summer! :-)

Well, I have finally left the chapel. Scary stuff, I tried to come up with a reason why only the adults were killed and thought "it will be revealed". Then the slow run under the trees had me scared too. That reminded me of the runs to the bathroom when reading Salem's Lot as a teenager...literally running.
The church scenes made me think of the first two thirds of The Book of Counted Sorrows except that seemed to be directed at his readers so made me uncomfortable in a different way.

Dustin, I thought The City was really good and was happy to see Koontz write a different kind of story...branching out.

Hopefully, Koontz is spending some time just enjoying life. He deserves it after all the entertainment he has given to so many.

Mary, thanks I know about the bookmarks. You can remove them as when you go to the page to pick up where you left off. My problem happens when my Kindle Fire freezes usually when I am reading with immersion reading ... text and audio together. I had forgotten about using bookmarks though so thanks for reminding me.

Karen B. wrote: "Mary, thanks I know about the bookmarks. You can remove them as when you go to the page to pick up where you left off. My problem happens when my Kindle Fire freezes usually when I am reading with ..."

I am really new to the the eread thing, Karen. I need a structured class where I would take notes, study that night and have a test in the morning!
Immersion reading?
Oh well, I will learn as I go along.

Mary, Immersion reading is when you have an audio book along with the text (when you buy the audio it says "Whisper sync) which means you can sync the two. I love it. I get twice as much enjoyment out of the book but of course it is more expensive to buy both the Kindle edition and the audiobook. I do it for Koontz books whenever I can. There is one narrator who does some Koontz books that I love.