Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Cold Fire

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 11,969 ratings · 266 reviews

Now repackaged--the classic story of reporter Holly Thorne, who is intrigued by the strange, quiet Jim Ironheart. Jim has saved 12 lives in three months, and now Holly's falling in love with him. But what power compels an ordinary man to be a hero? Reissue.

Paperback, 448 pages

Published December 7th 2004 by Berkley (first published 1991)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Dean Koontz Books

27th out of 63 books — 513 voters

Dean Koontz's Greatest Hits

24th out of 60 books — 75 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Nov 14, 2011 Dustin Crazy little brown owl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Dean Koontz Fans & those fascinated by windmills

Shelves: worth-reading-again-and-again, read-in-2009, amazing, read-in-2005, group-reads, read-in-2010, read-in-2011

This is the Dean Koontz I love! I listened to this as an audio book a few years ago and was thrilled to re-experience the story in print. Cold Fire was published in 1991, after The Bad Place and before Koontz starting coming out with 2-3 novels each year. Some issues examined in Cold Fire include: Environmentalism, Religion and Mental Illness. Like many Koontz novels, this work crosses over many genres including: Science Fiction, Mystery, Suspense and Adventure.

It appears that Koontz has created...more

9 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2011 Patrice Hoffman rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. There was constant action and mystery. I've always enjoyed Dean Koontz writing and this book reminded me of all the things I loved about him since the first book of his I read. All through out the book I was really rooting for the main character. He's a likeable enough guy. Plus, who wouldn't appreciate a guy who risks his life to save people he's never met before.
At first, I thought that the female charachter was annoying. But, in most novels, there has to b...more

1 like · like · see review

May 15, 2013 Fizzgig76 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jim Ironheart is blessed or cursed…he can foresee danger for people and has the potential to prevent it. He doesn’t know where the gift comes from but knows that it comes to him in dreams and visions. When a reporter named Holly Thorne witnesses one of Ironheart’s miraculous saves, she begins to investigate Ironheart and finds herself pulled into his strange and scary visions. Surviving a plane crash, Holly and Jim decide to seek out Jim’s visions which means diving into his past involving a str...more Jim Ironheart is blessed or cursed…he can foresee danger for people and has the potential to prevent it. He doesn’t know where the gift comes from but knows that it comes to him in dreams and visions. When a reporter named Holly Thorne witnesses one of Ironheart’s miraculous saves, she begins to investigate Ironheart and finds herself pulled into his strange and scary visions. Surviving a plane crash, Holly and Jim decide to seek out Jim’s visions which means diving into his past involving a strange windmill on the family farm and something lurking beneath the nearby pond.

Written by Dean R. Koontz, Cold Fire was published in 1991. Following The Bad Place in 1990, Cold Fire was published by Berkley Publishing and the horror/mystery novel received positive reviews and big sales like many of Koontz’s books.

Dean Koontz is a strange writer. He came up in the whole post-Stephen King reinvention of horror, but his novels don’t always involve horror. Here, Cold Fire is almost a bit sci-fi and more of a mystery thriller than an out-and-out horror story, though it does have a lot of horror elements.

I always have felt that Stephen King is a decent writer that suffers from sometimes poor plots. Dean Koontz is a so-so writer who is but has decent plots. Cold Fire presents rather generic characters and that don’t feel necessarily rounded or real in their thoughts or conversations. It is close, but still feels like dialogue from stock characters.

Current Edition
As far as Cold Fire’s plot goes, it is pretty good. The mystery surrounding Jim is interesting and the horror of The Friend and The Enemy is rather interesting. *****Spoiler Alert***** The origin of the mysterious “Friend” and “Enemy” is pretty easy to call near the end, and it feels a bit like the characters are an unnecessary step behind. I have a hard time calling this horror because it comes down to an almost sci-fi storyline kind of like Stephen King’s The Dead Zone which isn’t necessarily horror either…both stories are more of a thriller.

Koontz also seems to suffer from ending issues. Often I don’t feel very fulfilled when I finish a Koontz novel. This one has a bit more resolution than others, but others I feel end too abruptly. Here the ending feels drawn out due to the characters trying to comprehend what is occurring (which as I mentioned feels a step behind), so it isn’t as abrupt, but the story also has a bit of lead up to a sequel feel that never has happened. The book feels a bit like his popular Odd Thomas line of stories which have developed sequels.

Cold Fire is very typical of Koontz style and writing. It is a quick easy read that won’t consume too much of your time so it is worth the ride. It is a vacation type book that is easy to pick-up and put down but also can be plowed through if necessary. Koontz followed up Cold Fire with Hideaway in 1992.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 19, 2013 Hannah Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: cold-fire

This novel I have read for my second book of the trimester is Cold Fire by Dean Koontz. In this book it talks about a man named Jim who travels around the world and saves people because he has a gift. Jim goes to Oregon to save a little boy he doesn't know why he has this power though. After he saves this boy, he meets this a news paper writer named Holly. The first time she sees him she knows she is in love.

Once he leaves for the airport she wanted to find out more about this "Jim". Holly finds...more

like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Jade rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Let me first start off by saying that Dean Koontz is someone I turn to whenever I’m looking for a light yet frightening read. I don’t expect his books to be amazingly good literary works with deep characters, lots of development, intricate plot twists, and so on. I expect his books to be scary, page-turning, and enjoyable to read. But unfortunately, that said…

This book was quite a disappointment to me. It started off as most of Koontz’ books do: characters with predictable names are introduced,...more Let me first start off by saying that Dean Koontz is someone I turn to whenever I’m looking for a light yet frightening read. I don’t expect his books to be amazingly good literary works with deep characters, lots of development, intricate plot twists, and so on. I expect his books to be scary, page-turning, and enjoyable to read. But unfortunately, that said…

This book was quite a disappointment to me. It started off as most of Koontz’ books do: characters with predictable names are introduced, as is the supernatural phenomenon that’s going to be prevalent in the book, and off we go! And the book does start off well, with an interesting protagonist (Jim Ironheart) who can sense it when something terrible is about to happen – and is then drawn to it in order to prevent it. Almost a forced hero, really. He meets our female love interest quite soon: a journalist interested in covering his story, and together they start travelling in order to prevent disasters that Jim knows are going to happen.

I very much enjoyed this first part of the book, especially as the female love interest, Holly, delves further into the person that is Jim. Many aspects of his character are explored, especially his supernatural abilities, and once more and more is revealed, it really got me curious about what was actually at the core of his character. I expected something frighteningly exciting, as I always do from Koontz, and felt like the story was building up to this, too, with both its religious and alien allusions.

And then the story does a complete turn for the worse: the big reveal practically renders the entire build-up completely useless, providing me with annoyance and an anti-climactic feeling, and the psycho-analytic drivel it puts forth as a back-up of all that has occurred just felt ridiculously out of place, and terribly forced. The big reveal and the ending didn’t feel like a logical conclusion to the first part of the book at all; though I’m all for good plot twists and new perspective on things, it’s the author’s job to make this work, to make it believable. And it wasn’t like that with Cold Fire’s ending, and that is what’s so disappointing about this book for me.

I know Koontz can do better than this, and I felt cheated by the ending, and the way the book endlessly dragged while awaiting the big reveal. The first part of the book was quite enjoyable, as was the character of Jim Ironheart, until Koontz took everything and threw it away, giving us something completely different and unbelievable in its stead.

I would recommend this only for Dean Koontz fans, honestly.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 21, 2012 Sally Wolf rated it 5 of 5 stars

Holly Thorne’s life and job as a reporter was at a stalemate until she meets a mysterious Good Samaritan named Jim Ironheart. Right before her eyes, he plucks a young boy from the street just minutes before a deadly truck comes sailing over the crest of a hill. Captivated by his blue eyes and humble manner she decides to use her skills as a reporter to track him down. What she finds was more bizarre then she could have imagined. The boy is not Jim’s only heroic act; stories all over the wire te...more

like · see review

Nov 29, 2011 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

Here is another to join the shelf entitled new authors I have encountered through Goodreads friends. In a line from left to right where extreme left is ' absolutely brilliant ' and extreme right is ' oh in the Name of all that's holy what the hell was that supposed to be ' Mr Koontz sits fairly squarely in the middle. I am pleased to have read one of his enormous works...over 500 pages....but as always with these multi-tomed writers, having seen so many on the bookshop shelves I was always hopin...more Here is another to join the shelf entitled new authors I have encountered through Goodreads friends. In a line from left to right where extreme left is ' absolutely brilliant ' and extreme right is ' oh in the Name of all that's holy what the hell was that supposed to be ' Mr Koontz sits fairly squarely in the middle. I am pleased to have read one of his enormous works...over 500 pages....but as always with these multi-tomed writers, having seen so many on the bookshop shelves I was always hoping I would enjoy him more and thus open out a huge future of treating myself to one of his stories once a year or so. As it is, having read this one, I am not sure if I will indulge again and so he joins Alexander McCall Smith and Patrick O'Brian on my 'Oh well I tried ' shelf.

He is certainly a page turner and the pace of the novel is quite exciting. He builds up tension very cleverly I found with his repetitive technique and that is not in any way a back handed compliment. I genuinely did get carried along by the story, well I did until the end. The ending was really unconvincing. The story is of a lone ranger type saviour who keeps turning up at just the right time to save innocent lives from violent and unexpected death. He meets a disgruntled and down at heart journalist who becomes fascinated by the whole story and she stalks him, finds him, they fall in love and then they set of to try to sort out what is happening and why. Some of the phrases used clunk and crunch in the reading, Holly, the heroine, thinks in what Koontz evidently imagines are clever and witty images but I feel sometimes less is more and one or two of the images he uses himself in the narrative are real stinkers;

eg:- ' And in the park, for one terrible moment, she had thought that his fragile shell of sanity would crack and spill the yolk of madness '

Koontz keeps you guessing and theories and ideas are brought to the surface and then shot out of the water and so gradually the story and action hones in on one place and one tragic incident from the past which, coming at the end of a trail of tragedy is the spur for what was to lie in the future. It was all very cleverly put together but that was the problem for me; it did just seem a construction. Some of the terror and suspense was very effective and the main idea was, I would guess, quite original but something didn't convince me.

This sort of novel is perfect for a huge long journey. You would be caught up in it and swept along and would not need to think overly so tiredness and the lack of concentration that produces would not be the huge drawback it would be if you were attempting 'War and Peace'. I enjoyed it as an exciting story and the initial accounts of his heroic deeds were very well done but the ending just didn't work for me. (less)

5 likes · like · see review

Nov 24, 2011 Raelyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I tend to stay away from horror novels, finding them generally uninteresting, but this novel was recommended to me at a time when I had nothing else to read; so I thought, “eh, why not?” Cold Fire is the first book I’ve read by Dean Koontz, and I plan on reading another of his works before forming any opinions about his writing. Cold Fire is about a man, Jim Ironheart, who “inspirations” telling him where to be at a certain time in order to save a select persons life. On one of his expeditions h...more

like · see review

Sep 01, 2011 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-owned

This book was outstanding and I loved how the main characters (Jim Ironheart and Holly Thorne) were not perfect people, since no one is in real life. At first, Jim is freaked out (Spoiler Alert #1) by the force telling him when someone’s life was in danger but eventually he can’t wait to be used by this force again. In the beginning, Holly is coming to realize that she is failing as a reporter and her life is going nowhere. But in finding Jim, she not only becomes a real reporter because of his...more

like · see review

Jun 28, 2011 Anthony Policastro rated it 5 of 5 stars

In Dean Koontz’s Cold Fire, the author introduces his two primary characters – Jim Ironheart and Holly Thorne – by way of a series of heroic adventures. When Jim saves the lives of Billy Jenkins, in Portland, Oregon, and Lisa and Susan Jawolski, in the Mojave desert, and several other people, he falls into the radar, and into the scrutiny of Holly Thorne, a reporter for the Portland Press. Of course, Jim has special powers – he is somewhat of a mentalist or a psychic – and, thus, Holly soon disc...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 18, 2011 Deepak rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Coldfire was a really interesting book. It is another suspenseful thriller by Dean Koontz. It was fun while reading through it, but the ending disappointed me. Jim Ironheart is the protagonist and he finds himself questioning himself and his abilities more than the world around him. He has some sort of conscience that leads him to certain places where a tragic event will occur, even in other states, in which he prevents the whole thing from happening. He is sent to these places from some power w...more

like · see review

Nov 19, 2010 Johnny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Several years ago I wrote a chapter by chapter in-dept analysis of “Cold Fire”. Of course, this review has gone lost in a virtual junkyard, but it would have been too long to include here anyway. So I’ll just write the highlights of this novel.

Jim Ironheart suddenly knows when a person is in mortal danger – but without knowing the full details. As he leaves on his quest to save someone, the information filters in so he can act accordingly. Often he’s frustrated by the lack of knowledge from the...more Several years ago I wrote a chapter by chapter in-dept analysis of “Cold Fire”. Of course, this review has gone lost in a virtual junkyard, but it would have been too long to include here anyway. So I’ll just write the highlights of this novel.

Jim Ironheart suddenly knows when a person is in mortal danger – but without knowing the full details. As he leaves on his quest to save someone, the information filters in so he can act accordingly. Often he’s frustrated by the lack of knowledge from the start, because even though he always succeeds in rescuing that one person, their loved ones who happen to find themselves in the same situation still perish.

Holly Thorne is a reporter who stumbles upon Jim’s case. At first she just wants to tell his story, but soon, after going through one of Jim’s rescues together, she’s set in helping him and finding out where this precognitive information really comes from.

Here is a Koontz duo we get to know through and through. “Cold Fire” is very psychological in nature, with plenty of inner dialogue, motivations, thoughts and regular dialogue which is fluent, fresh and funny as usual. The point of view switches between Holly and Jim, but the two grow so close that sometimes it’s difficult to remember from which point of view a particular part is supposed to be.

The chapter about Jim’s exploits in the Mohave dessert could have been a short story in itself. The chapter with the plane is one of the most exciting and chilling in any Koontz book. There’s an episode of Stephen King’s “The Dead Zone” television series which reminds me a lot of this scene.

The second half of the book is a bit easier on the action and concentrates on the nature of Jim’s gift. This makes it a lot heavier to follow. The tone of the book is changed completely and it becomes a lot more supernatural and mysterious, with clear influences from “Strangers” even. The scene in the mill and the conversations there remind me of the encounter with Blaine the Mono in Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” books.

The ending always makes me hungry for more. It’s a bit like the movie “Unbreakable”, where we have followed David Dunn’s awakening as a super hero up to the point where he finally learns to do something with it. Just when things get interesting, the movie ends. For the same reason I always compare this book to “By the Light of the Moon”, and I can’t help but imagine a sequel to both books where the characters meet up, though this might lead too much into the world of comic books and graphic novels.
(less)

like · see review

May 11, 2009 Sarah Rios rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: love-love-love

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I thought I saw the ending to this one coming from a mile away (and actually groaned aloud like "really, koontz? really?"), but thank God I was Wrong with a capital W. I never really got into Dean Koontz before because I started with a different story of his that I just didn't like. Nothing wrong with his writing,I just didn't like the story. Kind of like I don't do chick flicks (but love romance novels... figure that one out). There's nothing inherently wrong with chick flicks. I just don't ten...more I thought I saw the ending to this one coming from a mile away (and actually groaned aloud like "really, koontz? really?"), but thank God I was Wrong with a capital W. I never really got into Dean Koontz before because I started with a different story of his that I just didn't like. Nothing wrong with his writing,I just didn't like the story. Kind of like I don't do chick flicks (but love romance novels... figure that one out). There's nothing inherently wrong with chick flicks. I just don't tend to enjoy them as much as other types of movies. It was the same with the first book I read of Koontz's -- just didn't dig the story.

This book, however, hooked me. I *love* the dialogue. Not a lot of male fiction authors get that dialogue thing down to a point where I'm smirking as I read (which is why a lot of female authors adorn my shelves) but Koontz did it in this book. And I'm beginning to see the buzz about his ability to sustain suspense. He had me turning pages to a point where I blinked and went woah, hold on, that one event was like 80 pages? No way! This thing hit me like the multi-genre force of nature it really is. I finished the book and I shit you not my first thought was "okay when are they making the movie?" Lo and behold, the afterword had a blurb about that which was FRIGGIN HILARIOUS. (((this is the start of the spoilery part)))

Turns out they have a script ready to go, they're just waiting on the right person to get the movie going. He's held up because ((SPOILERY SPOILER ALERT)) all the directors keep telling him "but what if there really WERE aliens in the well?" to which I was mentally shouting BE GONE DEMON HOLLYWOOD PERSON. GET THEE TO THE NEAREST PIT OF FIRE. Mostly because that was what made me groan about the book in the first place. Aliens, Koontz? Really? Are we really going there? But no, it was not aliens, and the Sass was pleased. The people rejoiced. And some fifteen years later there is still no movie because all the directors have the same "original" idea to actually put aliens in a story where there are none. Good job, Hollywood people. Way to be original.

Maybe Koontz should send his stuff to JJ Abrams. I bet JJ wouldn't frigging stick aliens in a story where there are none.

Anyways, peace out. Buy yourself this book and have at it.

~~Sass~(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 08, 2012 Angela~twistedmind~ rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lovers of psychological thrillers

I just love this author! There are very few authors iincluded in my favorites but he is right up there at the top. Even his more lackluster stories are, more times than not, better than most. The man can spin a tale. So imaginative. So thought provoking with his random profound statements, some of which make you proud to belong to the human race, some that rock your convictions to the core. Such twists. Such turns. I was happily putting along, about 2/3 finished with this one and BAM I'm hit wit...more I just love this author! There are very few authors iincluded in my favorites but he is right up there at the top. Even his more lackluster stories are, more times than not, better than most. The man can spin a tale. So imaginative. So thought provoking with his random profound statements, some of which make you proud to belong to the human race, some that rock your convictions to the core. Such twists. Such turns. I was happily putting along, about 2/3 finished with this one and BAM I'm hit with a twist I never expected, though, in hind sight, I really should have. Wait. WHAM BAM, I'm hit with a turn and suddenly we're on a slippery slope, dealing with a touchy topic. That's when I started devouring it, impatient to discover how it all ends up, seriously wondering if I'm going to be satisfied or if this was going to be one of those books that you love......until the ending, and you hate the ending so much it just ruins the whole book. Does it? You'll just have to read it and see. :P

Jim Ironheart, an ordinary schoolteacher, flies to Portland, Oregon, on an impulse, unable to explain why he's compelled to make the trip. There he risks his life to save a young boy from being killed by a drunk driver.
Reporter Holly Thorne witnesses Jim's heroism. His athletic grace and courage intrigue her. When he declines to be interviewed for her newspaper, she's impressed by his self effacement.
Soon after, Holly sees a news-wire story about the nick-of-time rescue of a little boy in Boston. There is a photograph of the rescuer-Jim Ironheart.
Burned out and cynical and looking for a life beyond journalism, Holly finds her newshound instinct rekindled. Her research shows that Jim Ironheart has quietly performed twelve last minute rescues in twelve far-flung places over the past three months.
Realizing she is onto the biggest story of her life, Holly tracks Jim to California. He insists that he's not a psychic, that he sees no visions, he merely believes God is working through him. Holly is certain his explanation is too simple. About this, she is correct. "There is no wonder in life," she argues, "no great mystery." About this she is dead wrong, for she and Jim Ironheart are about to plunge into a dark sea of wonder, mystery-and stark terror.
When Jim suddenly says, "There is an Enemy. It is coming. It is relentless." he has no idea where the words come from or what they mean. Soon the meaning is all too clear, and he and Holly are running for their lives from a savage and uncannily powerful adversary. In grave jeopardy, they are drawn first to the farm where Jim spent part of his childhood, then to the high room in the old windmill where as a boy he experienced something frightening and strange.(less)

1 like · like · see review

May 04, 2009 Lu rated it 1 of 5 stars

Hrm. Again, grown-up books are tricky. I've really been trying to find some I can appreciate, but this one didn't measure up. It was a suspense/mystery/pseudo sci-fi thriller type. And it was written by Dean Koontz who gets at least one whole shelf to himself at my tiny library.

This is the story of a man who somehow knows the future--he doesn't control when he'll know or what he'll know: but each time he follows the "directions" he saves someone's life.

Then he meets a reporter for a small time...more

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 10, 2012 Bridget rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

The basic premise of Cold Fire is this: Jim Ironheart, a thirty-something guy from southern California, has a mysterious savior complex that allows him to know when and where someone will be in danger, and how to save them. He doesn’t know where this power comes from or why he is the instrument through which it works; he avoids all publicity and has no close relationships. That is, until he saves a young boy in front of Holly Thorne, a reporter from Portland. As they are drawn to each other, see...more The basic premise of Cold Fire is this: Jim Ironheart, a thirty-something guy from southern California, has a mysterious savior complex that allows him to know when and where someone will be in danger, and how to save them. He doesn’t know where this power comes from or why he is the instrument through which it works; he avoids all publicity and has no close relationships. That is, until he saves a young boy in front of Holly Thorne, a reporter from Portland. As they are drawn to each other, seemingly by the same mysterious force that sends Jim flying about the country saving people he doesn’t know, they are faced with a dark revelation: just what, exactly, is working through Jim—and is it as benevolent as it seems?

I don’t have much to say about this book except that I enjoyed it. Not one of Koontz’s best by a long shot, but certainly nowhere near his worst. There were plenty of twists and it was paced very well—kept me on my toes throughout, and did a good job of preventing me from getting any work done. The story was creative, for sure, and as usual, did a good job of incorporating Koontz’s usual themes of love and faith.

One part that I was disappointed wasn’t explored more was early in the book, where Jim saves a young woman and her daughter, and then rides off into the Mojave desert on a motorcycle. He ends up suffering from severe heatstroke, and is nursed back to health by a priest. The priest decides to take Jim’s care into his own hands because—get this—when he finds Jim unconscious in his church, he discovers that Jim is marked by stigmata: nail holes in each of his palms and feet, scrapes around his forehead that could have come from a crown of thorns, and a gash in his side that could have come from a spear.

But then that’s it. The priest reveals this to Jim as he rushes him to the airport on another of his strange missions. I don’t think the stigmata ever come up again; it’s definitely not part of the big revelation at the end. It definitely drew me in, but since it never came up again, it just seems out of place now.

I did like the book, though. Didn’t love it, but it kept me occupied, which is sometimes all I can ask for.(less)

like · see review

Mar 05, 2012 Jordie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow! I was not really expecting much from this novel.

I guess I don't really buy into the popularity of a writer like Koontz, I never got it.
A friend really pressed me to give this book a shot and I'm real glad I did.

The novel is driven by two great characters, separate stories, weaving together in what feels organic or serendipitous.
There are also plenty of similarities to The Dead Zone considering the romantic storyline and the protagonist's peculiar abilities--but I felt like this really pu...more

like · see review

May 13, 2010 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is another one of those books that I think started out well. I liked the way it was unfolding, I liked the main character (though he was quite shallowly drawn) and I was really quite annoyed with Holly.

To be annoyed with a character there has to be something there. In this case she was a little more solid than Jim, even if annoying.

Unfortunately soon I was thinking "oh, are we going here?" And, we did. This isn't a bad book, but it could have been so much more. Koontz is a good writer and...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 09, 2012 Simon Jenner rated it 2 of 5 stars

In parts excellent and in most other parts overly descriptive and over explained. I've read loads of Mr. Koontz'z books in the past and most of them have been excellent. This one I think often talks down to the reader and explains things over and over which have already been hinted at and should be left for the reader to work out.

The book could have been written in half the pages and would have been the better for it.

It's not all bad and I loved some of the writing as always but put together as...more

like · see review

Jun 02, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Cold Fire" by Dean Koontz is a book of two halves. In the first half, we learn that Jim Ironheart is receiving messages from somewhere. They tell him to go and save people. In response, we see him he criss-cross the country, chasing people down to save them.

In the second part of the book, he is tracked down by a reporter who works out that he has been somewhat successful at saving people (and not taking the credit). The reporter then talks him into returning to the area he grew up in to try and...more

like · see review

Jan 04, 2013 Ken Consaul rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: high school senior who keeps a journal

I'm currently reading this early Koontz work and one thing for certain, Koontz has gotten a lot better at his craft. The story just seemed stilted to me, often burdened in detail of a visit to a convenience store and the size of the coffee cups. Some of the descriptions are repetitive and cliched or overblown (lambent light is an example that flickers before me in the darkness).

The dialog is often contrived to the point where the reader thinks 'no one talks like that'. Koontz has honed his skill...more

like · see review

May 25, 2010 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was another good yet scary Dean Koontz book. Like most of his books I have to give a warning to the faint of heart. If you don't like creepiness or even some gore please stay away, you just won't like it (yes Deb I mean you ;-). I listened to a good audio book version of this and enjoyed living through the twists and turns (I'm tempted to peek at the end of books when I read them, so with books of this sort, I like to do audiobooks). I liked the two main characters, and was even sort of sur...more

like · see review

Dec 21, 2012 Courtnie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, male-author

Dean Kootnz is the guy who taught me the love of reading, the satisfaction of finishing a book. He taught me this lesson in the 5th grade when my bus mate handed me a copy of this book that she stole from her older brothers bedroom.

I remember distinctly when my grandmother (a avid reader) found this book mixed in my school stuff and asked if I read it. I, of course, told her that I had (you don't lie to grandma!), so she thought it wise to read it herself. Later she asked me if my dad knew I wa...more

like · see review

Jul 31, 2011 Tracy Walters rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book had me staying up til the wee hours of the morning to finish it.....it was GREAT!!!.....Jim Ironheart is a very intriguing and fascinating character......there is a part in the book about a plane crash that will make your heart beat out of your chest because it is so intense.....I found myself not breathing a few times because I was sucked into the story and felt like I was living thru it.......there was a part towards the end that WAS going to piss me off because I thought it was goin...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 05, 2010 Patrick Gibson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror-of-it

There was a time when I thought Dean Koontz wrote circles around Stephen King. He wasn’t famous. He had a cult following and he made you feel like you just discovered someone cool. He was the anti-King you could keep to yourself or share with a selected few. Koontz, of course, went the way of all flesh and began cranking them out and repeating himself. Fame? Well, if ‘Family Guy’ rips on you, fame has become your enemy. I haven’t read a Koontz novel since Odd Thomas became a regular character. T...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 01, 2009 Ryan Mishap rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: when-i-was-a-lad

I devoured Koontz and King back in middle school and part of high school. In retrospect, I could have spent my time on better books, but these chillers were an escape from things I didn't want to think about, especially at night when I couldn't sleep and my mind twisted my perceptions nauseatingly.
I'm not saying you should bother reading these, especially now that Koontz is openly being Christian and Stephen King thinks he is a writer, but I have a fondness for some of these books. If you are...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 16, 2012 Geku rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, audiobooks, read-in-2012

"Madness favored darkness, but light was the kingdom of reason. If the waking world provided no sanctuary from nightmares, if daylight offered no sanctuary from unreason, then there was no sanctuary anywhere, anytime, for anyone."

Audiobook. I didn't like either of the narrators and it was extremely difficult for me to listen to and feel something - anything but annoyance - for the characters, even though they were so perfectly flawed. I think reading it would have been a lot easier and I would h...more

like · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reporter Holly Thorne is intrigued by Jim Ironheart, who has saved 12 lives in the past three months. Holly wants to know what kind of power drives him, why terrifying visions of a churning windmill haunt his dreams, and just what he means when he whispers in his sleep that an enemy who will kill everyone is coming. a oeA master storyteller, sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking, but always riveting. His characters sparkle with life. And his fast-paced plots are wonderfully fiendish, taking une...more

like · see review

Aug 06, 2011 Quintin Merwe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Done brilliantly in the way that we know Dean always does!
Very good read and I am sharing this one with my friends.
I have to mention though that I did not really know what I felt when I read the bit where we learn about the initial twist and found myself at times asking WTF? I hoped that this did not continue on the track it was, but Dean saved the day by letting all the puzzle pieces fall together. (I should have known, so my bad)
Sorry if this seems to be a bit vague, but if I give any specif...more

like · see review

Jun 24, 2011 Steven Slavick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Read this one twice. The first part of the book deserves a 5 star ranking. The hero and heroine are both very well delineated and their backstories are very well done. The second half, however, suffers from trying to create a bizarre story about...well, I can't give that away. Needless to say, the 2nd half sort of brought down the novel. I read it twice to see if the first half truly was as good as I thought (it was) and the second half was really as bad as I thought (it was). Still, strangely,...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Koontzland - Dean...: Cold Fire (Group Read - November 2011)	84	103	Mar 10, 2013 09:39am
Koontzland - Dean...: Turn 'Cold Fire' into a TV Mini-Series?	18	37	Jan 29, 2013 10:19pm
Should a sequel be written for this book?	9	33	Dec 13, 2012 08:57pm

combine
Other Editions (46)

More editions...

Genres

Horror

292 users

Thriller

81 users

Suspense

41 users

Mystery

36 users

Science Fiction

16 users

Fantasy

14 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

11 users

Academic > Teachers

10 users

Literary Fiction

10 users

Fantasy > Supernatural

9 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

The Key to Midnight
by Leigh Nichols (pseudonym)
Chase
by Dean Koontz
Sleepwalk
by John Saul
The Dean Koontz Companion
by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)
Predators
by Ed Gorman (Editor / Contributor)

About Dean Koontz

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...

Books by Dean Koontz

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Cold Fire

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Cold Fire

“A high degree of intelligence yes in no other creature in the natural world. That's why nature shuns us and why we subconsciously hate her and seek to obliterate her. High intelligence leads to the concept of progress. Progress leads to nuclear weapons, bio-engineering chaos and ultimately to annihilation.” — 4 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Cold Fire
avg rating	preview: Cold Fire Goodreads rating: 3.68 (11969 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32442.Cold_Fire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309211354l/32442.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32442.Cold_Fire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Cold Fire by Dean Koontz[/url]

Cold Fire

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website