I'm one of those who waits expectantly each December for Dean's latest. He's a solid writer with a great imagination and I like and agree with many of the ideas circumscribed in his "agenda". Like many reviewers here, I've become less enamoured of his more recent efforts and long for the Dean Koontz of old.

I doubt that he'll be making a comeback to those glory days.

Mr. Koontz is a different writer now, but I'm not quite ready to dismiss him as one of those publishing powerhouses who's gone off the deep end writing what he wants because he can without much regard for his fans. He's still a consummate entertainer, an important cultural allegorist, and a narrative ringmaster who can hang with the best of them. Yes, the themes and imagery are beginning to fatigue a bit, and black and white are often presented in stark, unrealistic contrast in novels like 77 Shadow Street.

My thoughts after 100 pages -- Too many protagonists, yet some so similar that it causes confusion. I could barely keep Bailey, Kirby, and Silas straight at this point. Are we dealing with a haunted apartment building here, or something more?

After 200 pages -- Weirder and weirder, but that's Dean Koontz. Love his ability to imagine the most depraved human and non-human monsters. This is interesting enough to keep reading.

300 pages -- Really, bio-tech, nano-tech apocolypse, combined with an ill-advised time travel condundrum? I'm surprised at this, but it's still interesting. Some of the good guys are dying, and that's a bit of a switch. This is becoming somewhat of a whodunnit, and I'm starting to care about some of the characters.

Home stretch -- No spoilers, but I liked the last part of the book best. Somehow, it all ends up making sense. I never was really frightened of any of the scenes themselves (even with the lights off), but the wholesale premise is terrifying. If this is supposed to make us paranoid about scientific advancements, mission accomplished. I was excited to see no dogs as characters for once, just a couple of cats that meet a tragic fate. As I approached the last page, I said to myself, "wow, not even a mention of golden retrievers". Alas, that most cherished of breeds is mentioned twice in the final 400 words.

This was just enough to keep me reading, Dean, but I'm not as excited about your new releases anymore!