False Memory

by Dean Koontz, Stephen Lang

False Memory opens in familiar Koontz territory -- sunny California, where Martie Rhodes, a young video game designer, apparently has it all: a good job, a loving husband, and another Koontz staple -- an adorable and highly anthropomorphized pooch. Those around her have their share of woes, however -- her best friend is suffering from a debilitating case of agoraphobia and her brother-in-law has recently attempted suicide, claiming that an angel made him do it. With no warning, Martie is suddenly struck with an insidious and extremely rare mental illness: autophobia, the fear of one's self. Dark and diabolical impulses are overloading her tortured psyche; she sees car keys and scissors and lethal weapons and is afraid she may seize the knife and pull a Norman Bates on her near and dear. She insists that her husband tie her up at night, not for any consensual, good clean fun, but out of fear of what she may do to herself or to him. Martie's husband, Dusty, believes that this is more than mere coincidence, and he's right. After all, he's in a Dean Koontz novel, so of course these events are no mere outbreak of mass mental illness. After Dusty begins experiencing inexplicable periods of missing time, he's determined to uncover the shocking truth, and he will come face-to-face with a powerful and thoroughly evil adversary.

The villain of the piece is identified early in the story, thus removing the element of mystery, but the subsequent game of psychological cat-and-mouse keeps you listening, almost tempting you to pop in the last tape to end the suspense. But don't -- sit back and enjoy this audio roller coaster ride. The bad guy is one of the loathsome characters in recent popular fiction. Comparisons may be made to Hannibal Lecter, but this madman gorges on junk food, not fava beans and a nice Chianti. And while he's arguably nastier than the redoubtable Lecter, he's absent Hannibal's not inconsiderable charm -- evil incarnate to be sure, but lacking the good doctor's "bite."

Audiobook veteran Stephen Lang's dulcet tones add to the mood of malevolent menace. A respected film and stage actor, his character shifts are subtle and effective. He doesn't engage in vocal histrionics to create various personae, yet he ably delineates the characters, both male and female, hero and villain. Koontz's tales lend themselves admirably to the spoken word -- Koontz is primarily a yarn-spinner, and the oral tradition of storytelling is as old as mankind itself. This is a recommended and riveting audiobook experience.

The suspense was sometimes so excruciating that I uncharacteristically found myself shouting warnings to the characters as I listened on my Walkman -- an inadvisable activity on a New York City subway, though I was hardly the only passenger talking to himself. The NYC subway system is an eminently Koontz-ian landscape indeed.

--James Mannion

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Science Fiction

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

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, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Facebook: Facebook.com/DeanKoontzOfficial
Twitter: @DeanKoontz
Website: DeanKoontz.com

Reviews

[Maciek · Rating 2 out of 5]

False Memory is a disturbing book.

In one of the scenes in the beginning of the book, Martie Rhodes (the main heroine) is walking her dog and suddenly some mysterious disturbance falls upon her. What does Martie do ?

"When she realized that the dog had finished his toilet, Martie slipped her right hand into a plastic petcleanup
bag, using it as a glove. Being a good neighbor, she neatly collected Valet’s gift, turned the bright blue bag inside out, twisted it shut, and tied a double knot in the neck.(...)Performance of this familiar, humble task restored her mental balance. The little blue bag and its warm contents anchored her to reality. The weird incident remained troubling, intriguing, but it no longer frightened her."

A gift ? And yes guys, it's a page long description of collecting fresh, steaming dog waste. Dogs are adorable creatures as most of us know but I've yet have to met a dog owner who finds solace in holding a warm bag full of his pup's poop. But hell, I'm not a bestselling American novelist so what do I know.

I have a love/hate relationship with Dean Koontz. While I really liked some of his books I utterly loathed some of the others. Some people have ups and downs; Dean Koontz has his peaks and trenches. However there is something that drawns me to the guy's books, even if he just can't create characters that are something more than an extra employed to play his/hers part, who don't speak but relate what Koontz thinks, and his sometimes ridiculoysly bad overuse of metaphors and similes. He's propably one of those guys that require a special clause in their contracts after they rise to fame: that no editor is to touch their work. And False Memory could benefit from good editing; oh yes, it could have.

First of all the thing is so long. My copy borders on almost 800 hundred pages. When a book is of that lenght the writer needs to maintain the suspense the whole way through, to keep the reader's interest - and Koontz doesn't. Since the title of the book is False Memory and it deals with people suffering from various phobias it's quite obvious what's going on - if you take into account that it's a Koontz book, who despises the academia and Hollywood.
Brainwashing
He dealt with the theme before, most notably in 76's Night Chills which is two times shorter because he wrote it on a typewriter. The antagonist is revealed in approximately 1/4 of the book, and then the suspense dies.
So what is left in False Memory ? nothing of any originality, if you've read Koontz before. Does a perfect couple with a dog running away from the evil psychopath on the loose sounds familiar ? Exactly. Add to it his standard bashing - the male lead talks to his dog how news are bad, well because, they are bad. And the main antagonist is a member of the academia and the son of a prestigious Hollywood director.

On top of all this, it;s worth mentioning that Koontz is the master of writing himself into a paper bag and the invening retarded solutions for his characters to get them out of trouble he himself has gotten them into. False Memory is no exception; the evil doctor mets the end of his fate from the hand of his former patient, who despite being insanse is sane enough to devise a masterplan cunning enough to lure him out and shoot him, and then even ensure a lawyer for herself. Does this man take his readers seriously ? I don't know. And then he gives additional 10 pages of a picture-perfect ending. And that's the worst thing that plagues almost all of his books - the reader is unable to immerse himself in the narrative, because he;s always aware of Koontz's infulence over the story. He is the protagonist, he is the antagonist, he is the plot, he is the conclusion. There's no reality to this work - there's only constant awareness that we're reading fiction, and it's cheesy fiction. That's a bad thing; a bad thing indeed that is.

So, did I dislike False Memory ? No. It's not the atrocity like
From the Corner of His Eye or One Door Away from Heaven, where Dean called Wallmart and bought himself a whole set of thesauruses and sat down to write The Great American Novel - twice. But I can's say that I liked False Memory either; it's just a book that left me indifferent. I've read the story but didn't care for it; I don't regret the time spent on it but I don't feel it was all that well spent either (thankfully I read fast; and if things get really boring you can always skim). It's just another book that will find its place on my Koontz shelf.

The real question is, why do I keep coming back for more after being disapponted again and again and knowing deep down that Koontz propably won't stop swimming in the sea of sugar and sweetness and never write a book that jumps out of his canvas ? Well, this propably can be answered by sentimentality, as he was one of the first guys who introduced me to horror fiction. And like a child to it's father I return and return, though it seems that the old man is getting senile.

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dean Koontz writes two kinds of books, good books and brilliant books, and this was one of the latter. It was gripping from beginning to end, all 750 pages of it, and I found it unputdownable. I really enjoyed the fact that the two main characters were genuinely strong, intelligent people who played the baddy at his own game and did not constantly do stupid things. And I loved that after all the tension and stress Koontz still allowed the reader a satisfactory and happy ending. I read to be entertained and this book for me was pure entertainment.

[jv poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many years ago I met a person with an eidetic memory. I'm still intrigued.

When I first read False Memory, I was thrilled with a character possessing an eidetic memory, particularly as it played such an intricate role in this psychological thriller.

Because I'm ridiculously and embarrassingly behind on writing book reviews, I've relegated myself to re-reads only, until I catch up. This was a fabulous choice---it was as compelling and hard to put down this time around too.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another early book in the career of the author Dean Koontz. This one rests on the premise of brainwashing and its misuse by a prestigious psychiatrist. Quite long, but worth the commitment.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a steaming pile of unfiltered ordure this travesty of a novel is. I am amazed, and rather proud, that I fought my way through nearly 800 pages of this woeful nonsense that has almost zero characterisation, a dubious and scientifically improbable plot, and one of the most frustrating writing styles I have ever encountered.

I hated it from the word go, but yeah, I somehow completed it. Part of me wishes I hadn't bothered. Another part is delighted, because I can now legitimately scathe about the awful thing.

***Some Minor Spoilers Follow***

I hardly know where to begin, so let's begin at the beginning. The first half - perhaps even the first 3/4s - is slow, dull, and eminently frustrating. You wait, fighting through the turgid and annoying prose, to see if it's ever going to make a point. For a long time, it does not. Even where it starts to, it still snaps back all too frequently to the two main protagonists - two people that you *long* for the bad guy to ruin, so vacuous and irritating they are - and you end up wanting to throw the bloody thing at the wall, desperately wanting it to GET TO THE F**KING POINT.

The second half/last quarter has more pace, to be fair, but the characterisation is so poor that the only entertainment value comes from the truly psychopathic antagonist. It's a huge indictment on this bilge that you want *him* - a truly evil man - to be the victor in the battle.

Linguistically (especially in the first half), Koontz's supremely appalling talent for hyperbolic and tenuous simile and metaphor is surely unsurpassed across the English speaking word. Another hugely annoying aspect of the writing is the fact that it's so dull, so dreadfully written as if his intention is to dumb down everything - yet then, every so often, he uses archaic, literary or otherwise insanely pretentious terminology, and it throws the reader into a confused disarray. Which is it, Mr Koontz? A novel for the masses, or an intended work of literary splendour? It can't be both.

At about a quarter of the way in (and fair play to anyone else that forced themselves through the grating, sanctimonious narrative that characterised the writing to that point), the so-called plot reached a juncture at which virtually every future element of the story was more predictable than the very worst of 'Eastenders' episodes. At this point, I almost caved in, my intention being to merely read the Wikipedia article pertaining to the book to prove my estimates correct or otherwise (a pursuit which would almost certainly have been more engaging and worthwhile than reading the book itself). Pure anti-failure, determined masochism was the only thing that prevented me from having the sense to go through with this.

Needless to say, the vast majority of my predictions turned out to be accurate. Well, that was a surprise.

Perhaps the worst thing about this pathetic drivel is its affront to mental illness and, indeed, the very real phenomenon of repressed memory. At one point, about the middle of the book, one of Koontz's characters claims that repressed memories basically don't exist, that they are all invented through iatrogenic suggestion. There is a movement - the False Memory Syndrome Foundation - that espouse such claims. The concept may even be theoretically possible (see below), but the FMSF are largely discredited and most psychiatric and psychological scholars are agreed that repressed and recovered memories are usually accurate, at least at a general level. It is widely accepted that most claims of false memories are only used in court as a defence against historic abuse. In direct contravention of the allegations made by the aforesaid character, these claims - *not* the recovered memories themselves - are usually what fails in court. (*1, 2, 3)

Unfortunately, and the entire novel's premise rests on this, induced false memory syndrome is presented as a perfectly viable practice. Whilst it is certainly arguable (and demonstrable by, for example, the MKULTRA programme) that hypnotic mind control *can* exist, the sad fact is that the book twists and normalises the concept into intertwining psychotherapy, a usually legitimate profession, and the induction of false memories. As noted above, this is a technique frequently employed by abusers who wish to disguise the actions they perpetrated to a victim during his/her childhood. It is usually used as a legal defence and eminent psychiatrists and psychologists the world over agree that it is a unsubstantiated and unlikely claim. Koontz's research, if he ever did any, is poor to say the least; that he doesn't even acknowledge that the idea of false memories is highly controversial, and that the practice of inducing them is unlikely to *ever* be done in the fashion discussed in his novel, does a massive disservice to genuine survivors of abuse who have been through the recovery of very real memories.

Although its portrayal of agoraphobia is, to its credit, relatively accurate, the condition is consistently denied to be a real mental health concern, thereby demeaning the very real psychic suffering of those afflicted with this condition. Furthermore, the main female protagonist proclaims about a quarter of the way through that she would rather have a brain tumour than a mental illness; this appears to suggest to the reader that mental illnesses are either incurable or unmanageable, which is a contention that is patently and quite demonstrably false.

I do appreciate that the novel, as a supposed thriller, is not intended to be necessarily realistic; however, the sad fact is that mental and trauma-induced illnesses remain highly societally stigmatised, and it strikes me that people who are lay to this arena may not feel that they have sufficient reason to question the dubious nature of the novel's portrayal of these issues.

All scientific criticisms aside, it just sucks ram bollocks anyway. It is boring. It is humourless (save for the odd psychopathic fantasy from Ahriman). It is pathetically characterised and hopelessly lacking in substantive plotting.

In short, whilst its turgid prose tries, and fails, to be literary and pretentious throughout, all the book succeeds in doing is atrophying and irritating the reader's mind. The very best part of it was closing it for the final time.

First and last exposure to Dean Koontz. Sorry.

---

* A few examples of sources
1 http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Taubman...

2 http://web.archive.org/web/2008010707365...

3 http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/d...

[Lasairfiona · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yes, Koontz has come up with a really cool idea. This is a serious psychological thriller. A woman has a friend who has a bad case of agoraphobia. Wait, now she has a crazy phobia. And now her husband too!

Koontz delves into phobias and how they might affect a person. The character's journeys are intense and seemingly real. The antagonist is horrible and evil. The writing is really interesting...

Until the end. Koontz couldn't write himself out of a paper bag. As good as the character's trials are written, I was expecting something better. To be honest I didn't finish the book because the ending was so random, so out of left field, so pulled out of his butt that I couldn't finish it (I think I was short 30 pages. I was listening to it on tape so I can't be sure).

Three books by Koontz showed me that it is a disturbing trend in his writing. I avoid Koontz these days.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

False Memory is one of Koontz's scariest (and longest) novels. He does a masterful job of establishing very identifiable, likeable characters and confronts them with a very primal fear, and they confront it heroically yet plausibly. What more can you ask? He counterpoints the horrific episodes with humorous phrases and events, and the tension and intrigue builds exponentially. It's a real page turner! (Apropos of nothing, I believe it's the first book I read in a year that didn't start with a "1".)

[Michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading this book for about 3 months...finally finished it last night. Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors because his books are always so incredibly suspenseful. False Memory is yet another example of suspense and bone chilling imagery. Koontz' characters are developed so well and are so realistic that you often forget they are fictional. He even finds ways to bring subtle humor into the most disturbing of events, for example "Dusty was thinking so hard that the wax would have been blown out of his ears with the velocity of bullets" (388).
The story revolves around a woman named Martie who wakes up one morning and is terrified by her own shadow and can't even look at herself in the mirror. This phobia is called autophobia. To add to the chaos, Martie has a friend with agoraphobia (scared of going outside) who she often takes to therapy sessions. As one could imagine, these trips to the doctor with her friend are extremely difficult! Basically, Martie's once happy marriage begins to fall apart completely, and her husband, Dusty, is desperate to find out what's wrong with her. The plot thickens!!!!!! Dusty takes Martie to the same therapist as her agoraphobic friend, in which he discovers that he HIMSELF has an even more bizarre condition than Martie. I don't want to give away anymore, but I highly suggest this book to anyone who loves suspense. However, I do not recommend this book to those who don't want to have nightmares about going crazy.

[Angel Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

** SPOILER ALERT ** My review has a bare outline of the plot, but you need to read it to really get it.

I love Dean Koontz, but this one took me a year to read; not because it was bad but because of the content.

The story is about fear. Fear that is implanted into the subconscious mind by an unscrupulous Pshycologist/Doctor who is protected by a government agency due to his research in behavior control.

In exchange for implanting thoughts and unquestioned obedience in chosen persons, the Doctor is allowed to play his "games". The Doctor enjoys implanting a small fear, increasing it until it is a full blown phobia, and once he is done "playing" he will either have the person commit suicide or they will commit a major crime resulting in their death. What is frightening is that the techniques that the Doctor character uses are currently available and/or being researched. (e.e.; the ultimate soldier/the perfect person)

The main characters are a husband and wife who begin to unravel the mystery of their newly manifested fears and unexplained moments of lost time by questioning what is happening to them. It is their love and trust for one another that assists in their quest to break away from the fear and find answers.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!
This is a "psychological thriller" to the max. It is about a psychiatrist that uses a combo drug/hypnosis/haiku to get into his subjects minds and control them. He can implant false memories, intense mental illnesses, and tell them to do horrible things. He has absolute complete control over his victims by just saying a word. I have to say that I have been a Koontz fan for a very long time, but this truly was the best book that I have ever read by him. Absolutely, extremely intense. What an awesome story...truly amazing and absolutely terrifying. I loved it!!

[Javi · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I used to love Dean Koontz's books, this wasn't one his finer moments. First of all, he gives everything away in the title- why would he be so obvious? It's a terribly long book and from the very beginning you already know what's going to happen and since the pool of suspects able to come up with such an elaborate scheme is so small ( really, it's just one person), there's no real suspense and that's saying a lot considering that the book is supposed to be about fear and extremely debilitating phobias. Yes, he describes those phobias very well but that's not enough in itself to create enough momentum to propel the story forward at a speed that would leave you breathless and most of all, scared, which should have been one of the points of the book.

Ovearll, the book is disturbing. But as much as I'm willing to suspend disbelief when I read any book, I know that the events described by Koontz would never happen in real life, they are too extreme.

The antagonist is not really only an adversary, it's a full blown psychopath. The heroes of the book? They're just normal people like you and me who happen to figure everything out in the nick of time. And the problem is after a while you stop caring about what happens to them and you simply want the book to end.

Man, I really misss the old Koontz that wrote gems like " Phantoms". Where is he? He's always been an author to suffer ups and downs but the difference between one book and the next can sometimes be astounding, and not in a good way.

Unless you're a hard core Koontz fan, I would stay away from this book.

[Hava · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me preface this by saying that I used to read quite a few Dean Koontz books when I was a kid. I hadn't picked one up since high school, and since this particular book had been sitting on my shelf since the late 90's, I felt obligated to read it. I was also curious to see how how his writing had held up since I was a child. I don't remember Koontz's books as being particularly well written, but they were entertaining and involving as far as plot went.

Well, Koontz is a fairly awful writer. The writing is clunky and slack. The book's premise is a woman with autophobia, literally "fear of the self". The first two hundred pages of the book are well paced and taut, and if he had just kept the book at half the length, it would have been a fun thriller. But no. Koontz stretches out the book to an interminable 751 pages. You're not Dostoeyvsky, dude! I couldn't wait for this God-awful book to end. I'm going to cleanse my palate with something that's better written.

[Елиана Личева · Rating 4 out of 5]

Заслужени 4 ⭐️. Загадка е за мен при положение, че попадам често на Дийн Кунц защо чак сега посегнах към творчеството му.
За мен брилянтно написана книга за фобии, депресии и зависимости. Леката нотка на трилър/мистерия примесена с психология правят "Фалшива памет" брутално реалистична. Личи, че авторът е направил дълбоко проучване над човешката психика. Много деликатни теми като сескуално насилие, самонараняване, натрапчиви мисли, злоупотреба с власт, отношенията родител дете.

[Kirsty Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another example of a great story where the pacing completely destroys the impact. If you look at only the storyline and the characters in this book… amazing!! Koontz has this raw talent for creating believable and intriguing characters that you can’t help empathising with; loving them, or in some cases downright loathing them. False Memory is such a terrifying concept as the MCs are targeted for mind control games by a sadistic and menacing doctor and I found myself literally screaming at the book when things got nasty. However, the story is about 150 pages too long which caused a serious lag on the pacing! Overall a great read but needed serious editing!

[Peter]

Slow to get going, but once it does....: This is the first DK novel that I have read. It has been on my bookshelf for years and to be honest, the length has put me off several times. However, I made a pact with myself to read all the books on my shelves before I bought any new ones and this one was one of them.

The first few chapters were slow to get going and I was daunted at the prospect of the next 1,000 pages - I am cursed with the afflication that once I start a book, I must finish it regardless! Nevertheless, my peseverence has paid off and I am happy to say that I have not read a more riveting novel in a while.

The book is a real thriller. The writing is good. The plot is entertaining. The characters are colourful. I enjoyed it.

[Jessi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its not fair! Some people were just born to write...This book made me experience so many emotions i thought i was going to puke. What a scary thought to be trapped inside yourself and not be in control of the decisions you make.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sat on the edge of my seat! Actually, I got half way through it then purchased it on audio CD because I couldn't spend as much time as I wanted reading and I wanted to know the outcome. I caught myself telling the characters what to do while I'm cruising down the highway.

[Kinsey Breland .: avid_midnight_reader :. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Dean Koontz dived deep into the world of phobias and the strong hold that fear can have over our lives. The biggest phobias Koontz covered was agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) and dystychiphobia (fear of hurting someone) / autophobia (fear of being alone). One of my favorite sub-genres is phobias. I like seeing how people deal with their fears in everyday life, and watching them try to overcome them.

If the therapist hadn’t been insistent on controlling so many people that knew each other, he probably would have continued to get away with this scheme of his. The fact that these characters knew each other so well, they were able to discuss the weird things they were all experiencing with one another, and ended up putting the pieces together.

My only complaint about this book was how wordy and descriptive it was. The amount of detail the author went into was not necessary, and it’s clearly why this book was as long as it is. Koontz could have cut out a lot of the details in here, and still have had a great book; a few hundred pages shorter as well.

Warning for rape and detailed descriptions of ways to kill people

4.5 stars

[Мелани Шакири · Rating 5 out of 5]

➣ 𝑵𝑬𝑾 𝑩𝑳𝑶𝑮 𝑷𝑶𝑺𝑻 ➢

Здравейте, книжни дракони! 🫀

Завръщам се към блог света на книгите и ревютата с кратичко мнение за един от по-старите психо романи на Дийн Кунц, който обаче ми влезе под кожата с неочакваните си обрати, кървавите си сцени и драстично покачващото се напрежение, което ме гонеше през станиците, както ловец - плячка. Говоря ви за "Фалшива памет", която "попих" чрез страхотния прочит на Даниела Йорданова в Storytel. А сега нека поговорим повече за самата книга ↝

(...)

Запознах се с Дийн Кунц чрез "Шадоу Стрийт 77" (ревю на линка ето тук), която отново намерих в обичния Storytel. Бях толкова очарована от невероятния стил на Кунц, че нямаше как да не потвърдя мнението си чрез прочитането/изслушването на още някоя негова книга, а по-точно - "Фалшива памет". Още с анотацията си това негово произведение от 1999г., разгръщащо се в 19 часова аудиокнига, ме грабна и завъртя във вихъра на ентусизъма.

(...)

*

Цялото ревю на линка по-долу или в биографията ми 👇🏼
https://melithefangirl.blogspot.com/2...

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Dean Koontz, and even though it is older, it really didn't suffer from aging (unlike most of us...ha!) This is a loooooong novel, but it never seemed tedious and read faster than I expected. A brilliantly evil doctor who engages in mind control and is a master of haiku, not to mention some incredibly funny, brilliant thoughts at times, kept me turning pages, captivated. Koontz elicited a gamut of emotions in me as I read this: often disgust, occasionally fear, sometimes mirth, and always an excited anticipation of what was yet to come. I've always loved the Japanese poetry of haiku, the humorous and the deep, and this book includes many, a few that made me laugh out loud, others that made me shiver. I can see why the reviews are all over the map for this book, as it is certainly not for everyone, but I thought it was brilliant -- and incredibly twisted.

"I'm listening." I'll never hear that phrase again without thinking of this wild, intense story!

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa! I'll start by saying the bad guy is a super-sociopath. The book is about what it says in the title: false memory. The main characters have lapses in their memory and start coming down with weird psychoses. The plot and events that happen in the book are a little frustrating, that's probably why it takes some people months to years to read it. But when you're at the middle to the end of the book, you can't put it down because you so badly want to see the bad guy go down.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm Listening(on audiobook).

False Memory is real thriller. The plot is entertaining. The characters are colorful. I'm enjoying it.

2015 Update:
This was my fourth time reading False Memory, and I believe the most enjoyable read since my initial experience. This is one of Dean Koontz's best books, also one of his lengthier novels.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! I highly recommend it!

Even better the second time!

[Wendy Nahmias · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out very slow but when it gets good it is good.

[Fiza Pathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the cover of my copy of ‘False Memory’ is a quote about the author by The Times which states that the author Dean Koontz is :
“ Not just a master of our darkest dreams but also a literary juggler”
This is according to me the perfect analysis of not only the authors works in general but also with regard to the book ‘False Memory’. The novel wraps the reader in a web of literature which makes the reader tense & agog with the happenings……I won’t be exaggerating by saying that, the novel felt a lot like a 3D Film with all the special effects courtesy of Dean Koontz who makes the scenario so impressively real &….’happening’. It’s a fast paced thriller with enough of shocking material to make it a must read for any reader interested in a good mystery. What is more however, is the dark recesses of the human mind that Koontz allows his reader to get his or her teeth into. Koontz actually through this novel, has given us a glimpse of a very morbid side of the human brain which can stoop to the most gross business possible, just to feel POWERFUL or in control……the deep dark desire inherent in all of us to control & manipulate is seen in ‘False Memory’ & …….it is seriously frightening.
Dean Koontz has done something equal to an exorcist. He has managed to make the evil side of the imagination ‘talk’. The sordid nature of men in power who we trust with our lives at times (if not all the time) taking us for a ride…..turning us into puppets for their own disgusting pleasurable purposes is gruesome………but, it is real…….IT HAPPENS…….IT HAPPENED………..IT WILL KEEP ON HAPPENING ! As long as men are power hungry & human life is treated like a mere commodity, ‘False Memory’ can take place over & over again, across borders……….into the very depths of the human brain.
The story puts the reader on target at the very beginning itself in the usual Dean Koontz way, & an ardent Dean Koontz reader will know, the action always begins in the first chapter itself. In the story, we have four people who are connected in a very intricate way. There is Martie who is a well-balanced & great human being, until out of the blue she is diagnosed with autophobia (fear of oneself) ; there is her best friend Susan, who apparently also suffers from a serious phobia called agoraphobia (the fear of open places) & feels that she is being mysteriously sexually violated in her sleep….when there is no one in the house & the doors are bolted ; there is Dusty who is Martie’s ever caring & alert husband who is always out to help people, but who cannot get over the fact that he has been having some memory lapses ; then there is Skeet, Dusty’s wayward 23 year old brother who is an addict to drugs & suddenly one day plans on finishing himself by jumping off someone’s roof. All these incidents are neatly warped up in a maze of deceit & violence beyond ones imagination.
The characterization is excellent but, the character in the book that most intrigued me was the psychiatrist Dr. Mark Ahriman. He is shrouded in mystery although he is the real central character of this whole story & appears in every chapter after the first few three initial chapters. What I appreciate is the way Koontz brings out the terrible side of this man of medicine which results in dire consequences. The doctor himself was a child prodigy but who had a warped sense of living life that clouded his humanity & unleashed his thirst not only for the tears of his victims but also the power to control them. This character brought to my mind the various influential people in today’s modern world who have power in their hands…….but do we really know what’s really going on in their minds, its eerie & so is Dr. Ahriman.
The novel also brings to light corruption in the medical field where people with influence get away with murder or even child molestation……….or worse! (as in the case of the novel) Such practitioners instead of being on the edge, rather, enjoy themselves in style without the slightest trace of a conscience ; of course, sometimes insanity & warped mentalities does aid to obliterate all reason just like in the book ‘False Memory’.
There is a contrast of conscience however seen in the character of the ruthless doctor & in Martie , Dusty, Skeet & Susan ; the later four although not highly intellectual, are much better humans than not only Dr. Ahriman but also Dusty’s step father whose half crazed world of ‘ideas’ got the whole lot of characters into the mess in the first place. This novel proves that, what the world needs is not intelligent personalities, but people with hearts big enough to save even one life.
The way the author unravels the mystery through the person of the astute Dusty is pure genius & his descriptions are spooky enough to drive the reader into a frenzy if read at night.
Altogether, a very interesting thriller to possess in one’s library.

[RodrigoCR · Rating 4 out of 5]

El primero leido del maestro Dean Koontz.
Muy buena novela de suspenso y thriller psicologíco.
Me resulta dificil explicar la sinopsis del libro pero lo intentare: Dusty y Martie es un matrimonio feliz hasta que sus amigos y familiares empiezan a tener extrañas fobias y episodios psicóticos. Incluyendo a Martie, quien durante la novela empieza a desarrollar un extraño caso de autofobia (miedo a uno mismo), sin embargo Dusty empieza a tener dudas respecto a dichas enfermedades, y todas sus sospechas van hacia su psicólogo, el doctor Mark Ahriman.

Quiero empezar diciendo que la trama es muy interesante ya que trata temas como las fobias, el hipnotismo, el control mental, la venganza y el odio familiar. Ademas de que creo que la novela trata de exprimir muy bien todos estos temas para darle mas suspenso y fuerza a la historia.
Otra cosa que me sorprendio es que esta obra, a pesar de tener muchas partes muy descriptivas, no se hace pesada la lectura para nada, no se hace aburrida la historia en ningún momento, es mas, cada capítulo va haciendo que la trama mejore. Esto significa que la narrativa del autor es muy buena.
Eso si, creo que hay partes en la que la historia se hace un tanto lenta, pero de repente se acelera y eso hace que haya partes en las que me disguste un poco.
Los personajes se me hacen super buenos ya que algunos son super empaticos, por ejemplo skeet (el hermano de Dusty), Foster Newton (amigo de skeet y dusty), y el psicólogo Roy Closterman. Pero también hay personajes que generan lo contrario por ejemplo el doctor Ahriman y la madre de Dusty.
En cuanto al final se me hace un poco al estilo de jaque al psicoanalista, es decir, muy inesperado y que le da un giro muy fuerte a la trama. Pero sin embargo también creo que hay muchas partes muy tipo sacadas de la manga, es decir giros de trama muy repentinos y que dejan caer su peso sobre la historia. Mas sin embargo el libro me sigue pareciendo increíblemente bien hecho.
En conclusión me parece que es un libro que no decepciona para nada, si tienen la escaza oportunidad de encontrar este libro en formato fisico no duden en darle una oportunidad.
Por cierto, este seria el primer libro que leo de este autor y espero leer mas de el muy pronto, este tuve la oportunidad de leerlo ya que tuve la oportunidad de comprarlo usado en formato físico y muy barato, asi que creo que estuvo bien.
Mi calificación a este libro es de 4/5😉

[Lucy'sLilLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had taken a break from Dean Koontz after reading: Breathless, Fear Nothing, Seize the Night and Night Chills and not really enjoying any of them. Some of his books have been hits for me like Life Expectancy but he's become so hit and miss now that I don't have much motivation to reach for one of his works. Dean Koontz used to be one of my go-to authors and now I find myself avoiding him.

In true Dean Koontz fashion there is of course a dog as a semi main character, which is always nice. The premise of this book was mind control and hypnosis which was interesting. However, did this book need to be over 800 pages long, absolutely not. I do enjoy longer books, but I don't think thrillers ever need to be this lengthy. Considering this pretty epic page count there wasn't many characters which meant there wasn't a great deal of avenues to go down.

There were true moments of horror in this book and everything involving Susan was heartbreaking! Be carful going into this one if you are particularly triggered by rape and sexual assault because this gets extremely nasty. The action section of this book got messy and I found myself having to re-read certain parts because I was getting lost.

Honestly this wasn't a bad book at all but it was just too long, too convoluted and a little messy. As a Dean Koontz book goes it's middle of the road. The characters were quite well developed, I liked Susan in particular she was struggling but she also came across as strong and courageous. Dusty was another fun character, smart, sweet and caring. I thought Martie was fine, nothing special for the leading lady and I did wish it had followed Susan instead. The ending all wrapped up nicely, I think there could have been an extra reveal to have a bigger shock factor, there was no real shock factors everything was pretty clean-cut.

[Антоанета · Rating 4 out of 5]

Избрах книгата на посоки от каталога на Сторител и първоначално доста ме напрягаше - чудех се дали да продължа.
Д-р Ариман е психиатър, който чрез хипноза внушава на пациентите си да правят извратени неща и си играе с тях като марионетки. Манипулира ги със стихчета хайко и достига пълен контрол над съзнанието им, а след като излязат от транса, те не помнят нищо. Така само с "дърпане на конци" доста от тях убиват или се самоубиват по негова заповед, а той чувства върховно удоволствие.
Докато не се заема със семейството на Дъсти - бояджия и жена му Марти, която прави компютърни игри. Противно на логиката, те се оказват изключително умни и успяват да дешифрират злостните игри на доктора. Въпросът е как да го обезвредят и той да си плати за стореното?!
Разбира се накрая добрите побеждават, но малко ми беше неубедително цялото преследване и достигането до истината. Толкова много хора са станали жертви на "добрия доктор", а накрая някакви обикновени хора с обикновен живот го разгадаха и изиграха.
Въпреки това през цялото време им стисках палци и се надявах да не пострадат от манипулациите, а когато злото вземаше превес наистина се напрягах. За мен беше доста добър трилър и мога само да се надявам, че такива експерименти не могат да съществуват в реалния живот. 4*

[The Cats’ Mother · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a few of his more recent books and enjoyed them, but this was too long, the baddie was revealed far too early, and having so much of the story told from his point of view made for uncomfortable reading. There were lots of elements that seem to be common to most of his books - an every-man hero perfect husband, thrown into an impossible situation, nasty sadistic violence, a golden retriever... but unlike many of his books there was no supernatural element. In this case this was a flaw, as I found the idea that anybody could be hypnotised to that degree totally ridiculous. The reviews on this seem very polarised between people who loved it or hated it - and it was loaned to me my a friend who'd raved about it - but I actually found it fairly average. It did get me hooked to find out the ending (and for once, I didn't mind the ending), but I resented spending all that time on it. If it had been 300 pages long instead of 750 I probably would've rated it much higher.

[Cliff Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter, but this was an excruciating read due to the author’s ultra-cringey writing style and worldview. No more Dean Koontz for me.