Where has this book been all of my life? And why did I write off Koontz as a hack that pushes brainless filler onto the shelves once per year? Thanks to my snobbery, I went years without picking up a book that would have satisfied my craving for a good monster story. Serves me right for thinking I knew better.

"Phantoms" is a marvelous, fun, and satisfying read. It has monsters; awesome, frightening, man-eating, intelligent, scary, what-in-the-world-is-going-on monsters. It is also an exciting read. From the beginning, Koontz immediately launches into violence and mayhem without letting up or losing track of the greater story, which itself is a neat mash-up of historical mystery and what-if. He brings in a number of characters in a short time and with economical strokes he fleshes them out just enough to provide emotional purchase. Put shortly, this is good, solid fiction.

I will not go into any more detail, because the story Koontz weaves together needs to be experienced without any spoilers. I will impart this advice: if you like monsters wreaking havoc in a creepy story, forget any stereotypes surrounding Koontz's work and read this book.