Koontzland - Dean Koontz discussion

Discuss "The Bad Place" here - I am looking forward to this one.

The Bad Place by Dean Koontz

You haven't read it yet Matt? Even Maciek is a fan of this one!

Dustin wrote: "You haven't read it yet Matt? Even Maciek is a fan of this one!"

That alone should make you run to the bookstore to get your copy !

Ha, ha! I actually found a copy today. I’ll probably start reading this soon.

I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It's one of his most enjoyable efforts to date.

I think I will – I really like the older Koontz books.

Just started the book tonight. I really like the pace of this one so far. Seems that Koontz has a thing for Uzi's...they seem to be the gun of choice in many books.

I'll have to search my shelves...don't know if I have this one.

got it, and cant wait to start it

I got mine from the library today! Just need to finish up a couple other books and I am good to go.

I own a printed copy in omnibus, but am waiting for audio CD from the library.

Waiting for mine to come in to my local branch.

I probably own more books by Koontz than by any other single author...or at least as many as any other. But not this one. I called my favorite used book store and they pulled a copy for me, I plan to pick it up tomorrow...

Predictable I suppose.

so may being only a few days away, i think i will go ahead and start :) has anyone read this one before and has opinions on it? or is this a "fresh" book for all of us?

This book is new to me.

:-) This will be my 3rd time reading The Bad Place. I really like it. At the end of From the Corner of His Eye (which I just finished) Koontz alludes to The Bad Place.

"Maybe some of those are bad places," Angel warned
"Oh sure, I know," Mary said. "But when it's a bad place, you feel it before you go in. So you just go around to the next place that isn't bad. No big deal."
-From The Corner Of His Eye, Chapter 83

Another similarity I saw between these two books, was in the husband/wife detective team in FTCOHE - very similar to two characters in The Bad Place :-) I actually checked to make sure they weren't the same characters in both books but FTCOHE begins in 1965 and The Bad Place is set in the 1980's - otherwise Dean could have just put the same characters in both books I think.

I started it a few days ago for the first time. I should be done in a week or two.

I finally found a copy of The Bad Place at Barnes and Noble yesterday. I am definitley looking forward to this, though I would like to finish off some of my other books that I'm reading.

Just started reading this yesterday. I'm only 28 pages in right now but I'm enjoying it.

I am about 1/4 of the way through and it is finally starting to get interesting, now that the Pollard family is being described and we are hearing about the details of Frank's recent somnambulistic experiences. I didn't care much for about the first 20% of it.

this is one of my favorite Koontz books and am glad I joined at the right time! Can't wait to hear what other fans think!

Picking mine up at the library today...just got notified it is in

I finished it...sorry. I won't say anything as the read wasn't to start till May. My review is here if interested. I'll join any discussion later when most have finished it.

I have the circa 1990 hardcover here, and the author photo in the flap is hilarious. The dude looks like that creepy neighbor you don't allow to play with your kids

Nathan wrote: "I have the circa 1990 hardcover here, and the author photo in the flap is hilarious. The dude looks like that creepy neighbor you don't allow to play with your kids"

I wonder why there is a picture of Shel Silverstein on your copy of The Bad Place. That is hilarious that they would mess up the author photos like that!

Shel Silverstein

note: this is not the creepiest picture of Shel Silverstein, it's just the one on goodreads :-) The creepiest picture I seen was on the back cover of The Giving Tree, which is a childrens book of course.

I'm really starting to enjoy this one. The pace is excellent and the mystery as to what is going on is unique and exciting.

FYI; I'm in the middle of Chapter 39 (about halfway through the book)

Slo, if you finish The Bad Place and want to read another Koontz book, you should give Cold Fire a try :-) Cold Fire was published right after The Bad Place and the mystery in that one is also quite intriguing. Of course if you're all Koontzed out for the time being, I've got other authors to recommend to you too :-) I'm still waiting for some library patron to return The Bad Place audio CD!!!

Dustin, it's funny that you mention Cold Fire. I was literally thinking of that book earlier this morning! I tried reading it a few years ago but wasn't able to finish it (I wasn't much of a reader then). I remember enjoying it though, so it will probably be my next DK read.

Dustin, I am listening to the audio cd version of Bad Place. It is going really fast. I'm liking this one a lot. So far the creepy twins with the cats are the creepiest to me.

You mentioned to Slo above that you had other authors to recommend. What would those be?

Sheila wrote: "So far the creepy twins with the cats are the creepiest to me."

I remember them :-) can't wait re-experience this again.

Sheila wrote: "So far the creepy twins with the cats are the creepiest to me."

Sheila, since you read so much, you probably are already familiar with the authors that I would mention like Tess Gerritsen and Stephen White, but if anyone wants to discuss other authors, comment in the Other Authors thread and I'll meet you there :-)

I will bring up the caboose in this group. Only on page 45 right now. I am digging the story, but the style is definitely different the limited Koontz novels I have read. (Is this the old/new Koontz argument people are talking about?) The story is fast, though it is peppered with a bit of flowery prose. I find myself thinking "enough with the adjectives, dude!"

I haven't even started yet. Its the plan for today.

I haven't read any of the comments here yet.

I started this one last night, and made it up to chapter eleven, whatever page that is (I guesstimated in my status update. LOL), but so far... I'm not really impressed.


********Spoilers up to Chapter 11********

I like Bobby Dakota, and I sort of like the thought of what Koontz was trying to do with Julie, but she's too... something. It's like Dean was like... "Hmm, how can I make her really hard core? I know, she'll weild an uzi (Really, an UZI?) and have razor sharp nails, and be out of control but IN control all the time. That will make her really stand out as a character, and especially apart from my regular independent girl characters who rely on nobody but themselves and need nothing, because Julie has a hubby who is her "other half" and would just be crushed if something happened to him!"

I can get Bobby's interests. I could even accept Julie's interests - if they weren't introduced after Bobby's. It seems like Dean didn't know how to create a realistic relationship, so just made them both like exactly the same things (except weapons) that they'd just HAVE to get along. Their interests are so similar, and they spend so much time together, that it's not realistic. If I spent 24 hours a day, every day, every. single. day. with my boyfriend, one of us would end up murdered and buried in the backyard. I love him, but I'd just have to kill him. No matter how much we get along. I'd be the girl to go insane and start asking "WHY ARE YOU BREATHING LIKE THAT?!?!?!"

I haven't started it either, though I tried the other night. I guess I just wasn't in the mood at the time. I'm hoping to dig into it tonight once I'm done packing.

"WHY ARE YOU BREATHING LIKE THAT?!?!?!"

hahahhaha..NICE.

"DO YOU HAVE TO CHEW YOUR FOOD THAT WAY? GEEEEZ!"

Trying to avoid spoilers here, I believe if you've read several other Koontz books that you'll see not only characters that are familiar, but themes that he got deeper into later.

Nathan wrote: "I will bring up the caboose in this group. Only on page 45 right now. I am digging the story, but the style is definitely different the limited Koontz novels I have read. (Is this the old/new Koo..."

Your only on page 45 and it's already 5/4?! What's wrong with you?! Get with it man! ;-)

Becky wrote: "..."WHY ARE YOU BREATHING LIKE THAT?!?!?!""

:-D

Try to keep with it. As noted above, I didn't care much for about the first 20-25% of the book, but it really gets interesting later on. ***Spoiler*** I find myself wishing the psychic Down's Syndrome brother weren't in the story, because he doesn't seem to add much to the story and somewhat breaks up its flow. It's as if Koontz realized after writing the book that he needed a gratuitous mentally challenged character. He handles such characters much better in his later works though.

Becca wrote: "I haven't started it either, though I tried the other night. I guess I just wasn't in the mood at the time. I'm hoping to dig into it tonight once I'm done packing."

Even though this book starts out at a pretty decent pace, it still took me a little while to REALLY get into it. I hope you get a chance to read a little further because it gets really good :) (to me anyway)

Becky, it's a a well known fact that all relationships in Koontz's books are fake as hell. It bothered me but now I simply ignore the fact and concentrate on the plot.

I don't think I can do that. Maybe it's a girl thing, because all of the girls in his books are so unlike REAL girls. I kind of feel insulted and misunderstood. =\

I'd say that all people in his books (or at least most of them) are unlike real people. But that's just me. LOL!
Don't take it personally. It's just Dean being Dean and his can't-be-anything-but-fictional guys and girls.

Even though some of his characters aren't very realistic, I still find them extremely likeable (in most cases).

Appraising without using details, this book strikes me a lot like an outline or possibly an early send-up of things and people who showed up in later works.


**************SPOILER COMMENT*********************

Jason, I had a thought on the brother (possibly a simplistic one). Have you finished the book yet?

Aww, I don't take offense, really. I just find it kind of appalling that Dean can't write a realistic female character... I just want to sit him down for a talk and tell him things like: Girls come in more varieties than 1) helpless beauty/victim with an abusive past and 2) Hardcore hell-on-wheels bitch.

Wow, I have a hard time reading through posts in the monthly read threads with spoilers. I end up skipping several posts. I am one of those readers who does not want to know too much about the book. I'll post more once I finish the book. I am only on page 70 so I'll be reading for a while.

Sorry Matt! =\ You're further than I am though, so I don't think I've spoiled anything for you... I hope. LOL

Mike wrote: "...Jason, I had a thought on the brother (possibly a simplistic one). Have you finished the book yet?"

No, not yet, though I am half way through and should finish very early next week.