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16th out of 63 books
—
515 voters
Tick Tock
by
Dean Koontz
Tommy Phan is a successful detective novelist living the American Dream in southern California. One evening he comes home to find a small rag doll on his doorstep. It’s a simple doll, covered entirely in white cloth, with crossed black stitches for the eyes and mouth, and another pair forming an X over the heart. Curious, he brings it inside.
That night Tommy hears an odd p
...moreMass Market Paperback, 352 pages
Published
October 1st 1996
by Random House (NY)
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It's very absurd, fast-paced and engaging. A book which you can read in a few hours, not be bored, put it away and then read it again after a month or two because you've already forgotten it. Quick, fun, ideal for travel.
This book is about a man named Tommy who lives in California. One night he gets a doll that shows up on his door step. Then out of no where it comes alive and is on a mission to kill Tommy. Now, Tommy is running for his life meeting new people and trying to figure out why this thing is trying to kill him.
This book kept me reading because I wanted to know what would happen to Tommy and if he would survive the evil doll trying to kill him. I tryed to predict the ending, but predicting is a 50/50 c...more
This book kept me reading because I wanted to know what would happen to Tommy and if he would survive the evil doll trying to kill him. I tryed to predict the ending, but predicting is a 50/50 c...more
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I don't recall having read anything by Dean Koontz before. As far as I'm aware, he is regarded as a second-rate version of Stephen King. I am fairly sure I got this impression from my mother, for whom I picked up a copy of Ticktock from a second hand store. Anyway, reading the cover caught my interest and I decided to read it before handing it over.
My initial impression was that Koontz over-described everything. You could cut this 300 page book down to 200 pages and not skip a beat. I've since b...more
My initial impression was that Koontz over-described everything. You could cut this 300 page book down to 200 pages and not skip a beat. I've since b...more
This is one of Koontz's more fun, adventurous, pulse-ounding books with lots of unexpected twists and turns to it. As I was reading it, I kept calling it an 'odd book but pretty good,' which is still how I feel about it for the most part. It's a mixture of sci-fi and horror but always with some levity in it and a great Koontz adventure that will leave you breathless with an added element of humor and just a bit of romance. There's an interesting "Note to the reader" at the end of the book that s...more
What a mess. This book is just all over the place. From the nonsensical story line, to the overly goofy characters, Everything in this book can't seem to make up it's mind about what to be. It's not scary enough to be a horror novel, and the strangeness and bad puns want to make it a comedy, but it isn't very funny. I really feel as though the major plot points were chosen at random, perhaps through the "pull some words out of a hat and make a story about them" method. You can make a good story...more
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My first Dean Koontz book, and what an introduction! This book defines what Dean Koontz is all about. He'll reel you in from the first page to the very end, transport you into a world that you're so sure is this but turns out to be that. In this book you actually begin to fear a stupid little rag doll that is more terrifying than Penny Wise (from Stephen King's It) and terribly persistent, and when you find out who's controlling it... Honestly? This book will slap you over and over and over, and...more
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Slapstick horror?
It was a bit like "Bringing Up Baby" meets "Joy Luck Club" meets "Halloween" meets "Close Encounters".
I can't even imagine to whom I might recommend this book because it crossed so many genres. Horror fans would most likely find the banter annoying. Romance readers would most likely be put off by the violence.
But it made me laugh and kept me in suspense and I loved the three main characters - whom I envisioned as Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and scary Mrs. Kim from Gilmore...more
It was a bit like "Bringing Up Baby" meets "Joy Luck Club" meets "Halloween" meets "Close Encounters".
I can't even imagine to whom I might recommend this book because it crossed so many genres. Horror fans would most likely find the banter annoying. Romance readers would most likely be put off by the violence.
But it made me laugh and kept me in suspense and I loved the three main characters - whom I envisioned as Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and scary Mrs. Kim from Gilmore...more
Tommy Phan is a successful detective novelist living the American Dream in southern California. One evening he comes home to find a small rag doll on his doorstep. It’s a simple doll, covered entirely in white cloth, with crossed black stitches for the eyes and mouth, and another pair forming an X over the heart. Curious, he brings it inside.That night Tommy hears an odd popping sound and looks up to see the stitches breaking over the doll’s heart. And in minutes the fabric of Tommy Phan’s reali...more
Dean Koontz created a real page turner in TICK TOCK. Heck, even the cover art works well with the book on this one. It's an all around winner. I'll tell you up front one complaint that keeps it from being a 5 star - it's only one book.
The book chronicles the night from hell for Tommy Phan. Starting with the purchase of his first corvette the ride just keeps going from there.
This book is not what it seems at first. When I picked this up I expected a horror story, with focus on Tommy and a demonic...more
The book chronicles the night from hell for Tommy Phan. Starting with the purchase of his first corvette the ride just keeps going from there.
This book is not what it seems at first. When I picked this up I expected a horror story, with focus on Tommy and a demonic...more
The novel Tick Tock by Dean Koontz was quite an attention grabber. I really like how the story took off quickly and threw in thrill in the first few pages and kept me on the edge of my seat.The book seemed to make unnecessary parts rather long, and I did not like that because I felt like I was wasting my time on the book. Even though the book kept me on edge it was predictable, and I tended to lose interest here, and there. Over all I enjoyed the book because it had an interesting storyline and...more
Not your run-of-the-mill Dean Koontz. Imagine a rag doll coming to kill you. Yes, that sounds crazy but it makes for one heck of a fun story. This was a great change from Dean Koontz's darker tales. I had a lot of laughs while reading this and my only complaint is that it ended entirely too soon.
Tommy Phan's night of terror at the hands of a rag doll is a story that will stick in my mind forever. Tommy has been trying to be as American as possible, much to the displeasure of his Vietnamese mom....more
Tommy Phan's night of terror at the hands of a rag doll is a story that will stick in my mind forever. Tommy has been trying to be as American as possible, much to the displeasure of his Vietnamese mom....more
This book Tick Tock by Dean Koontz is a pretty thrilling book that is about a Vietnamese man named Tommy who lives alone with his dog named Del who got visited by a small rag voodoo doll right on his doorstep. The doll had a crossed black stitches for its mouth, eyes plus the heart and entirely had a white cloth on, he was curious whether to keep the doll or not. What he didnt know was that the rag voodoo doll is evil, the mission for the rag voodoo doll was to follow and kill Tommy as soon as p...more
I always suspect nothing less than page-turning suspense from Dean Koontz, and this did not disappoint.
Tommy, a Vietnameze-American, has shunned his heritage every since he and his family arrived in the States when he was 7. Instead of being a doctor or part of the family bakery, he makes his living writing detective novels, which greatly offends his mother and the majority of his family.
One day when he arrives home with a brand new Corvette, Tommy is feeling great-as if his American dream is f...more
Tommy, a Vietnameze-American, has shunned his heritage every since he and his family arrived in the States when he was 7. Instead of being a doctor or part of the family bakery, he makes his living writing detective novels, which greatly offends his mother and the majority of his family.
One day when he arrives home with a brand new Corvette, Tommy is feeling great-as if his American dream is f...more
Very enjoyable book. So far I find Koontz's books really rank high in the area of characters that are both memorable, and people you enjoy getting to know. I can't say I've done much reading of 1st generation Americans with living immigrated parents since my Amy Tan days over a decade ago. This story's foundation rests on that cultural conundrum, and it seems the guilt might make Tommy lose his mind. We meet Tommy just as he's bought his dream car, a Corvette, which represents him reaching the p...more
Let me start by saying I very much enjoy reading anything Dean Koontz. Even if the reviews have been fairly dim I always get excited when I get another one of his books or see he has a new book coming out soon. With that being said I keep flip flopping on "Tick Tock". The premise of the story, I think, is brilliant but for some odd reason I cannot get myself to sit down and read it at a constant rate. I think I started this book as one of the first 3 Dean Koontz books I ever read so that must ha...more
Tommy Phan is living the American Dream. He was a reporter, now he’s a self-employed detective novelist working from the comfort of his home. With his new, larger salary, he is able to buy a corvette and fulfill his childhood dream. Although Phan is Vietnamese by birth, he thinks of himself more as an American. He actually wants to be just an American. However, Phan’s desire to “Americanize” himself doesn’t sit well with his family, especially his mother, since they live according to simple Viet...more
This review is for the abridged audiobook version. I keep meaning to get around to reading the entire book but something else always grabs my attention and the narrator read this book with such glee that I'm afraid I'd be disappointed.
Tommy Phan has just about everything he ever dreamed of; a successful career as a novelist, a brand new Corvette, and all the trappings that money can buy. His life would be perfect if only his Mother would stop making him feel guilty for forgetting his Vietnamese...more
Tommy Phan has just about everything he ever dreamed of; a successful career as a novelist, a brand new Corvette, and all the trappings that money can buy. His life would be perfect if only his Mother would stop making him feel guilty for forgetting his Vietnamese...more
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I usually don't read this kind of book because Koontz scares the socks of me, so I don't know what I was thinking when I picked this book up for a quarter at a garage sale last summer (I put off reading it for a year because I was so scared). I was a little worried about it for the first 80 pages and debated if it was worth the nightmares, but then I began to get into it and found the humor in it. Instead of being scared of the "doll/monster" I formed a funny picture of a little, tiny alligator...more
As a long time fan of the incomparable writer of 'edge-of-your-seat' thrillers, Dean Koontz, I come to expect a consistent level of excitement and wildly original chills.
He delivers this in spades in his story of a Vietnamese mystery writer on the lam from a homicidal doll, in 1996's "Tick Tock".
Inspired by the frenetically paced screwball comedies from the 1930's and 40's like "Bringing Up Baby", "Tick Tock" is one part hilarious crackpot, the other part 'Chucky' the killer doll--with scaly ski...more
He delivers this in spades in his story of a Vietnamese mystery writer on the lam from a homicidal doll, in 1996's "Tick Tock".
Inspired by the frenetically paced screwball comedies from the 1930's and 40's like "Bringing Up Baby", "Tick Tock" is one part hilarious crackpot, the other part 'Chucky' the killer doll--with scaly ski...more
This was a fast read. Very enjoyable! It had humor,mystery, thrills and even a little romance. My favorite character was Scottie the dog. I loved the humor it had. It was so cute! I did think that Del and her mom were very weird and could not figure them out until the end of the story. I sympathized with Tommy's mother. I felt bad for her that she wanted her son to be a certain way and he was not what she wanted. In the end however, she came to accept him how he was as any real mother does. I re...more
I settled in with my book, excepting to engage in another one of Koontz's dances with danger and the paranormal, only to find myself swept up in whirlwind of comedic, yet senseless quotes, thinly supported by the usual anticipation of "impending doom" to the characters.
What starts out as quirky attempts from Del (our other major character in the story) to avoid answering truthfully to one of MANY questions from Tommy (our main character), quickly lose their appeal, and instead of achieving a sat...more
What starts out as quirky attempts from Del (our other major character in the story) to avoid answering truthfully to one of MANY questions from Tommy (our main character), quickly lose their appeal, and instead of achieving a sat...more
I finished it last night, it was a good book in a slightly different style to his usual books, it was not as gross so it was a bit of a lighter read maybe a good on to read inbetween two of his more thrilling reads as a break.
Having said that i still liked it i espcially liked the characters of the main characters mothers they were exceedingly well written and funny, espcially Tommy’s mother. I also liked the storyline, although in my humble opinion i would of liked too see more explaination at...more
Having said that i still liked it i espcially liked the characters of the main characters mothers they were exceedingly well written and funny, espcially Tommy’s mother. I also liked the storyline, although in my humble opinion i would of liked too see more explaination at...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Unbelievable storyline. I was up all night wondering to myself, is this really Koontz or I have the wrong book?
When you read 4 or more books of an author, you can almost grasped his style of writing. From there, you can see patterns woven in his every story - similar to a masterpiece painting where the strokes and lines and colors represent the painter well, so you'll be able to recognized the creator of such art. Its the same in reading, the only difference is how can this writer pull it off an...more
When you read 4 or more books of an author, you can almost grasped his style of writing. From there, you can see patterns woven in his every story - similar to a masterpiece painting where the strokes and lines and colors represent the painter well, so you'll be able to recognized the creator of such art. Its the same in reading, the only difference is how can this writer pull it off an...more
All in all this book ended up better than I thought it was going to when I started it. It didn't seem to have much plot except that Tommy has to survive until dawn or this thing would kill him. I didn't think there was going to be much of a story, but there was it just took a long time for it to develop. It wasn't until a while after Del become involved that there is any sort of explanation regarding what is happening to Tommy and why.
Del's character is very likable, but not very realistic or be...more
Del's character is very likable, but not very realistic or be...more
Quick and entertaining read - I thought there were some really great moments of suspense. This is what I remember Dean Koontz to be like. This was an easy and fast ready that held just the right note of humor - something I have always believed is so complimentary to horror in such a strange way. I really enjoyed the Afterword to the reader in this piece. At first I was a little disappointed with the ending, I felt like it was a little too out there and lacked a climax between certian characters....more
Well this book is about a boy called Tommy Phan.It's about this doll that he finds on his door steps.This doll has and "x"on the eyes,heartand mouth.At first he does know what it is so he takes it inside his house.When he does later that night he start to hear nosies he when to where the doll was and the doll was tearing up by it self.this doll want to take over Tommy's then he see that his computer turns on and it says "TICK TOCK"and it also says that he has a little bit of time to break this c...more
The novel Tick Tock by Dean Koontz was quite an attention grabber. I really like how the story took off quickly and threw in thrill in the first few pages and kept me on the edge of my seat.The book seemed to make unnecessary parts rather long, and I did not like that because I felt like I was wasting my time on the book. Even though the book kept me on edge it was predictable, and I tended to lose interest here, and there. Over all I enjoyed the book because it had an interesting storyline and...more
"Tick Tock" by Dean Koontz, was one of my favorite books to read. It is also an adult level book so if your someone who likes to read books that are a higher reading level this is the book to pick. I am one of those people who love's suspense and this is deffinetly one of those books. I first started reading Dean Koontz books when I was in 6th grade, and in 7th grade I had read this book and I never wanted to put it down. I think that if you are someone who likes books that can catch your eye an...more
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bookworm Buddies: Tick Tock, Dean Koontz Nov. 12 - DONE | 21 | 12 | Nov 14, 2012 09:01am | |
| Koontzland - Dean...: Tick Tock (Group Read - October 2012) | 56 | 57 | Oct 23, 2012 10:48pm | |
| Bookworm Buddies: Tick Tock - Dean Koontz - Nov 12th-DONE | 1 | 9 | Oct 14, 2012 07:35am | |
| Bookworm Buddies: Tick Tock, Dean Koontz | 17 | 13 | Sep 29, 2012 10:10am |
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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“Tommy told Sal about the strange white-cloth figure with black stitches that he had found on the front porch.
"Sounds like Pillsbury Doughboy gone punk," Sal said.”
—
9 people liked it
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"Sounds like Pillsbury Doughboy gone punk," Sal said.”
Apr 05, 2010 01:19pm
Apr 05, 2010 01:56pm