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35th out of 63 books
—
515 voters
Winter Moon
by
Dean Koontz
"Koontz is brilliant in the creation of his characters and in building tension." - CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
In Los Angeles, a hot Hollywood director, high on PCP, turns a city street into a fiery apocalypse. Heroic LAPD officer Jac McGarvey is badly wounded and will not walk for months. His wife and his child are left to fend for themselves against both criminals that control an i...more
In Los Angeles, a hot Hollywood director, high on PCP, turns a city street into a fiery apocalypse. Heroic LAPD officer Jac McGarvey is badly wounded and will not walk for months. His wife and his child are left to fend for themselves against both criminals that control an i...more
Mass Market Paperback, 472 pages
Published
June 15th 2007
by Bantam
(first published December 28th 1993)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I listened to the audio book of Winter Moon. I have been a Dean Koontz fan for many, many years. Winter moon is easily my least favorite Koontz book.
I love the premise of the story and the climax, once we got there, was fantastic. But getting there took way too long. The book moved very slowly. I felt way too much attention was spent on everyday menial tasks, which is quite boring to read about, or listen to in this case.
The book started out strong. Jack is a police officer in Los Angeles. The...more
I love the premise of the story and the climax, once we got there, was fantastic. But getting there took way too long. The book moved very slowly. I felt way too much attention was spent on everyday menial tasks, which is quite boring to read about, or listen to in this case.
The book started out strong. Jack is a police officer in Los Angeles. The...more
I don't know how I even forgot about this book!! I've now read it two or three times but it has been a few years since the last read, but let me tell you how great it is!
It starts off with all these seemingly separate stories of these people living completely different lives. You would never think that their worlds would collide but somehow Koontz does it and it makes perfect sense. There's even parts that are so crazy that you have to ask yourself where one can come up with it all. It takes an...more
It starts off with all these seemingly separate stories of these people living completely different lives. You would never think that their worlds would collide but somehow Koontz does it and it makes perfect sense. There's even parts that are so crazy that you have to ask yourself where one can come up with it all. It takes an...more
Jack MacGarvey and his family are fed up with city life after he is gravely injured in the line of duty. He’s a street cop in Los Angeles. The city, the whole world, seems to be going crazy with violence. The bad are immortalized as heroes; the good are demonized. The City of Angels is more a home for fallen angels. It’s really quite depressing, even for the reader.
So the reader can rejoice over a change in location. When the opportunity arises, MacGarvey and his family move to Montana, a place...more
So the reader can rejoice over a change in location. When the opportunity arises, MacGarvey and his family move to Montana, a place...more
Underrated! Highly recommended for horror/Koontz fans!
This is Koontz scariest boook that i've come across in the twenty or so i've read by him. Usually, Koontz writes a mostly suspensful story with some horror moments here and there. This book is the prime example of writing with a dark undertone throughout the story, giving you the feeling that something bad is going to happen.
My real rating for this book is four and a half stars, only because the first half of the book, the first story line is...more
This is Koontz scariest boook that i've come across in the twenty or so i've read by him. Usually, Koontz writes a mostly suspensful story with some horror moments here and there. This book is the prime example of writing with a dark undertone throughout the story, giving you the feeling that something bad is going to happen.
My real rating for this book is four and a half stars, only because the first half of the book, the first story line is...more
The more I read, the more I felt like this whole book was a statement on the way life currently is - cops being killed because they were no longer respected, families being harrassed because a film-maker was seen as more important than the cop who saved a life, the world in disarray and an overall lack of civility in the more populated areas.
Jack and Heather are tired of living in LA. Lifelong Angelenos, they used to love their city. Not any more. The city seems to be doing all it can to destroy...more
Jack and Heather are tired of living in LA. Lifelong Angelenos, they used to love their city. Not any more. The city seems to be doing all it can to destroy...more
This is a pretty good book (despite what some others think :) Hi Maciek...we can't agree on everything LOl). I don't know if I'd call it one of the author's best he has a pretty wide swing in that area. Some I don't care for much at all, others I like very much, so... I give this one 3 stars as, my hands are a bit tied. With such a wide swing in the way I feel about the books if I give one I like a lot a "4" because it's not quite a "5" what do i do with the ones I don't quite like that much? Th...more
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I was quite surprised that the book was published in 1994. I expected a much earlier date, judging by the work. Its not really bad, but it doesn't have that gripping quality of Koontz' later works, of which I'm a big fan. That's when I got to know that this was first published as 'Invasion' in 1975 under the pseudonym Aaron Wolfe.
The book initially follows two stories in parallel - Jack McGarvey, a cop, and his family in Los Angeles, and Eduardo Fernandez, Jack's deceased partner's father, who...more
The book initially follows two stories in parallel - Jack McGarvey, a cop, and his family in Los Angeles, and Eduardo Fernandez, Jack's deceased partner's father, who...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was not one of Mr. Koontz's better efforts, although still somewhat entertaining. Story of an LA cop , Jack McGarvey, who gets wounded in action and ends up moving, with his wife Heather and eight-year-old son Toby, to a desolate ranch in Montana during winter (Montana's my home state; the snow gets high and the temperature gets REALLY low, so the description of that aspect of the book is quite realistic). The ranch was recently willed to the cop by the father of one of Jack's partners who...more
Oct 22, 2010
Jeff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those who like family cop stories and alien invasions
Really good book.
Cop (Jack McGarvey) gets shot up confronting drugged up punk in Los Angeles, losing the second partner in less than a year. Jack is in rehab for months, while his wife & child struggle with loss of income and general crap of LA.
The father of the Jack's deceased first partner dies confronting an evil entity in rural Montana, and it turns out the father has willed his ranch (which he had inherited only 8 years earlier) to Jack.
Jack & family move to the ranch in Montana and...more
Cop (Jack McGarvey) gets shot up confronting drugged up punk in Los Angeles, losing the second partner in less than a year. Jack is in rehab for months, while his wife & child struggle with loss of income and general crap of LA.
The father of the Jack's deceased first partner dies confronting an evil entity in rural Montana, and it turns out the father has willed his ranch (which he had inherited only 8 years earlier) to Jack.
Jack & family move to the ranch in Montana and...more
3.5 stars
I can't say that I fully "really liked" this book, but the last third of it did go a long way toward redeeming the first two-thirds. The first 15 chapters moved too slowly for me, with too many descriptive passages and not enough action. The story didn't pick up until Chapter 16 (page 304 of 472 in the edition I read). Once I started this chapter, however, I couldn't put the book down, pausing only to fix dinner. Apart from that small break, I read the last 168 pages in one sitting.
I d...more
I can't say that I fully "really liked" this book, but the last third of it did go a long way toward redeeming the first two-thirds. The first 15 chapters moved too slowly for me, with too many descriptive passages and not enough action. The story didn't pick up until Chapter 16 (page 304 of 472 in the edition I read). Once I started this chapter, however, I couldn't put the book down, pausing only to fix dinner. Apart from that small break, I read the last 168 pages in one sitting.
I d...more
As of this moment this feels like the scariest book I've ever raad. Had only about 50 pages left last night but it was already after bed time so went to bed and could feel the bed shaking from the heavy beating of my heart. If you have a weak heart, don't read this book. I read it approximately 2 years ago, and just re-read it because I couldn't remember the ending. Maybe the mind scrubs out the worst fears. May have to read it again in a few! It starts along two different story lines. One an LA...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I enjoyed reading this book, but I didn’t greedily hunger for the next chapter like I have with most other books. That being said I didn’t completely give up on the book, it still pinched at my curiosity to know what would happen to the “flaky city folk”.
I have only given this book 3 stars because although I did enjoy reading it and was on a number of occasions so engrossed in it I had to be plucked of the ceiling when someone walked into a room, I felt slightly cheated at the end. I closed the...more
I have only given this book 3 stars because although I did enjoy reading it and was on a number of occasions so engrossed in it I had to be plucked of the ceiling when someone walked into a room, I felt slightly cheated at the end. I closed the...more
EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Deepest night, Montana. An eerie light proclaims the arrival of a mysterious watcher in the woods. And one solitary man begins a desperate battle against something unknown -- and unknowable.Broad daylight, Los Angeles. An ordinary morning erupts in cataclysmic violence. A young family is shattered in a heartbeat.Fate will lead this family to an isolated Montana ranch, but their sanctuary will become their worst nightmare. For there they will face a chillingly ruthless enemy, f
My absolute favorite "thriller" author, the master of tension-building, the whimsical aside commentator, the storyteller who evokes "awww" with "larger than life," preteen characters and almost always includes a devoted Golden--is doing what he does best in this one.
Last weekend when I fell and broke my arm--the one that holds the pen--it was Koontz I reached for, from a ginormous pile of books, for a re-read. And I seldom re-read--simply because there are so many wonderful books!
If I had a pre...more
Last weekend when I fell and broke my arm--the one that holds the pen--it was Koontz I reached for, from a ginormous pile of books, for a re-read. And I seldom re-read--simply because there are so many wonderful books!
If I had a pre...more
Publisher's Summary
Deepest night, Montana....
An eerie light proclaims the arrival of a mysterious watcher in the woods. And one solitary man begins a desperate battle against something unknown - and unknowable.
Broad daylight, Los Angeles....
An ordinary morning erupts in cataclysmic violence. A young family is shattered in a heartbeat.
Fate will lead this family to an isolated Montana ranch, but their sanctuary will become their worst nightmare. For there they will face a chillingly ruthless enemy...more
Deepest night, Montana....
An eerie light proclaims the arrival of a mysterious watcher in the woods. And one solitary man begins a desperate battle against something unknown - and unknowable.
Broad daylight, Los Angeles....
An ordinary morning erupts in cataclysmic violence. A young family is shattered in a heartbeat.
Fate will lead this family to an isolated Montana ranch, but their sanctuary will become their worst nightmare. For there they will face a chillingly ruthless enemy...more
This book is a strange animal to rate. Half the somewhat interspersed story deals with an old man coming face-to-face with some wierd supernatural events at his isolated ranch. That part of the book I would rate with five stars. The writing is crisp and suitably unnerving, ultimately very convincing...the old guy is someone you care about even as he slowly goes mad and self-destructs. The rest of the book drags down the whole product, however and turns it into some kind of one-off zombie novel.
I...more
I...more
winter moon is inspired by the short novel invasion, published under the pen name aaron wolfe and c/w/the circle around it---copyrighted, i guess, 1974 by dean r koontz.
from the dean koontz companion,1994this novel began as a revision of invasion...however, it is so different from the book that inspired it, a separate listing is not only justified but required
goes on to say this one should be in the top 1/3 of his body of work. also makes that pt. that "it should be interesting to see whether so...more
from the dean koontz companion,1994this novel began as a revision of invasion...however, it is so different from the book that inspired it, a separate listing is not only justified but required
goes on to say this one should be in the top 1/3 of his body of work. also makes that pt. that "it should be interesting to see whether so...more
There's not much going on in Winter Moon. It's pretty slow paced and not particularly well written. The book is divided into two parts - The first is pretty much Koontz's condemnation of modern American society and you'll get to learn what he thinks of universities, graffiti artists, gun control laws, the film industry, heavy metal music and a bunch of other subjects (surprise - he hates them all). It's pretty much sensless babble which doesn't add much to the plot, except for irritation. The ch...more
As I was listening to this one, I kept having moments that sounded vaguely familiar but not enough to determine if i read it before or not. Until I got to the end. When I got there a particular scene jumped out at me that I remembered vividly and knew for sure that indeed I had read this one before. But it's been years. I don't think I read it when it was first released in '95, but I'm pretty sure when it was re-released in 2001 is when I read it. Long enough ago I barely remembered most of it s...more
"Defintiely not one of Koontz's best, in my opinion, though compelling enough for me to finish it. Two stories, at first pretty separate, that come together in the end. First is policeman Jack McGarvey recuperating from a terrible gun battle in LA where the streets are detiorating into practical warfare. Second, Eduardo Fernandez, father of Jack's felled partner, on a ranch in Montana facing an alien terror. I found this part of the story rather slow."
I read this book a long time ago and really liked it. Now, after reading it for the April Koontz group read, I enjoyed it all over again. Having read it before and knowing the connection between the stories caused the first part to seem to go on a little too long this time, and made the ending seem a little abrupt. I really liked the action scenes at the beginning and loved the suspense of the Montana scenes. One of the things I forgotten about and found interesting was some of the similarities...more
After losing two partners in a year and suffering from multiple gun shot wounds during a standoff, Jack, his wife Heather, and son Toby are ready to leave L.A. Meanwhile, Eduardo Fernandez who lives on a ranch in Montana finds an extraterrestrial being that seems out to control the living organisms in the Montana wilderness. Unexpected circumstances bring Jack's family to the ranch and they find a horror awaiting them.
Some people's reviews say the ending of this books was dumb, but I thought it...more
Some people's reviews say the ending of this books was dumb, but I thought it...more
Not his best work
Bottom Line: Loaner
Not every book can be great, and this book for me, was one of the not great ones.
It was okay, ended up skimming a lot of it just to get to the interesting parts. The dual stories going on at the same time was a little weird, until the author revealed who the guy on the ranch was. Also, none of the characters really peaked my interest either.
I'd recommend Koontz's Intensity or Icebound.
Comment
Bottom Line: Loaner
Not every book can be great, and this book for me, was one of the not great ones.
It was okay, ended up skimming a lot of it just to get to the interesting parts. The dual stories going on at the same time was a little weird, until the author revealed who the guy on the ranch was. Also, none of the characters really peaked my interest either.
I'd recommend Koontz's Intensity or Icebound.
Comment
Winter Moon is one of the scariest books I have read that Koontz wrote. It always amazes me how he can have different people and lives in a book and bring them together. Jack, Heather and Toby took me with them through the horror they were enduring. Almost always there is the Golden that is a part, and I worried about Falstaff the Golden surviving as well. I remember reading this years ago now that I am done, and was as scared this time as the first!
I was rather disappointed by this book. It started out with some great characters and the plot could have been interesting, but it soon became a trite formula embellished with good descriptive prose. This story lacked the imaginative plot development, the unexpected twists and turns that I expected from Koontz. Honestly, I skipped ahead to read the last chapter and it ended exactly as I thought it would.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koontzland - Dean...: Winter Moon (Group Read - April 2013) | 108 | 103 | May 12, 2013 08:16pm | |
| Rereading Koontz | 5 | 18 | Mar 08, 2013 08:50pm | |
| Eduardo and nothing else. | 4 | 13 | Jul 09, 2012 05:07pm |
Acknowledged as "America's most popular suspense novelist" (Rolling Stone) and as one of today's most celebrated and successful writers, Dean Ray Koontz has earned the devotion of millions of readers around the world and the praise of critics everywhere for tales of character, mystery, and adventure that strike to the core of what it means to be human.
Dean R. Koontz has also published under the na...more
More about Dean Koontz...
Dean R. Koontz has also published under the na...more
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“Maybe when all was said and done, the imagination was the most powerful of all weapons. It was the imagination of the human race that had allowed it to dream of a life beyond cold caves and of a possible future in the stars.”
—
36 people liked it
“Sometimes, life seems to have a higher meaning. Events unfold in uncanny sequences. Long-forgotten acquaintances turn up with news that changes lives. A stranger appears and speaks a few words of wisdom, solving a previously insoluble problem, or something in a recent dream transpires in reality. Suddenly the existence of God seems confirmed.”
—
27 people liked it
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Apr 04, 2013 07:52am