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Hell's Gate
Earth becomes the battleground for alien creatures and men from the far future.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1970
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1134 people want to read
About the author
Dean R. Koontz
288 books545 followersLibrarian's Note: This author writes under the name Dean R. Koontz and Dean Koontz. As both names appear on his works, both should be kept.
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.
Known Pseudonyms:
Leigh Nichols,
Brian Coffey,
David Axton,
Owen West,
Deanna Dwyer
Aaron Wolfe.
K.R. Dwyer
John Hill
Richard Paige
Anthony North
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.
Known Pseudonyms:
Leigh Nichols,
Brian Coffey,
David Axton,
Owen West,
Deanna Dwyer
Aaron Wolfe.
K.R. Dwyer
John Hill
Richard Paige
Anthony North
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 5, 2022
Before Dean Koontz become well known for his thriller and suspense novels he wrote science fiction. This is one of those early works of science fiction. In this one, Victor is sent to kill someone. He has no idea why or who ordered the murder. He performs this mission but a whole new world is opened up to him in the process.
When I read one of these early works by Koontz I classify them as a "novelty read". I am not expecting to be blown away by the book. It fills my curiosity itch as I get a peek in on the early stages of writing by my favorite author. This one met my expectations in that regard. This story is streamlined from the get go as we immediately open up with the main character performing his mission. There is no build up to it at all. Then this story delves deeply into the science fiction genre as we deal with multi universes and aliens. I was interested in the plot of the book. I was surprised in the direction of the book as I was not expecting it to go that way. I did think the ending was a little abrupt and it was classic Koontz as we get a deus ex machina to resolve the situation for the protagonist.
For me the most interesting part of this particular "novelty read" was the hallmarks of Koontz that I have grown accustomed to over the years. We have a dog that plays an integral part (if you have read Koontz you know it cannot be a Koontz book without a dog), multi universes (it seems like Koontz has been writing about these a lot lately), and the previous mentioned deus ex machina. I would only recommend this book for the reason of seeing the origins of writing by this author. If you are interesting in reading this book for the story I would recommend later books by this author.
When I read one of these early works by Koontz I classify them as a "novelty read". I am not expecting to be blown away by the book. It fills my curiosity itch as I get a peek in on the early stages of writing by my favorite author. This one met my expectations in that regard. This story is streamlined from the get go as we immediately open up with the main character performing his mission. There is no build up to it at all. Then this story delves deeply into the science fiction genre as we deal with multi universes and aliens. I was interested in the plot of the book. I was surprised in the direction of the book as I was not expecting it to go that way. I did think the ending was a little abrupt and it was classic Koontz as we get a deus ex machina to resolve the situation for the protagonist.
For me the most interesting part of this particular "novelty read" was the hallmarks of Koontz that I have grown accustomed to over the years. We have a dog that plays an integral part (if you have read Koontz you know it cannot be a Koontz book without a dog), multi universes (it seems like Koontz has been writing about these a lot lately), and the previous mentioned deus ex machina. I would only recommend this book for the reason of seeing the origins of writing by this author. If you are interesting in reading this book for the story I would recommend later books by this author.
March 7, 2021
ocr:
p7: There was a curious feeling of déjŕ vu, of having been to this place before, but he could not place it.
p43: Each item gave him a sharp bitter-sweet feeling of déjŕ vu.
p53: Salsbury laughed; his throat was so dry that the laugh hurt, made] him cough.
Plus a lot of instances of missing periods and spaces. The quotation marks have been replaced by ± and ≤, which made it a little weird.
A Terminator-y story that ended quite abruptly.
p7: There was a curious feeling of déjŕ vu, of having been to this place before, but he could not place it.
p43: Each item gave him a sharp bitter-sweet feeling of déjŕ vu.
p53: Salsbury laughed; his throat was so dry that the laugh hurt, made] him cough.
Plus a lot of instances of missing periods and spaces. The quotation marks have been replaced by ± and ≤, which made it a little weird.
A Terminator-y story that ended quite abruptly.
January 25, 2021
"Das Höllentor" ist schon ein etwas älterer Roman von Dean Koontz. Die Geschichte ist jetzt nicht durchgehend spannend, schlecht geschrieben ist sie aber auch nicht. Im Gegenteil, man muss auch ein wenig bedenken, wie alt das Buch schon ist.
Ich bin kein großer Freund von Science-Fiction-Romanen ohne dystopischen Anteil, aber ein riesiger Dean Koontz Fan. Deswegen möchte ich auch unbedingt alle seine Bücher lesen, die man noch irgendwo kaufen kann.
Teilweise hat mich die Geschichte ein wenig an "Planet der Affen" erinnert. Von mir gibt es auf jeden Fall 3,5 Sterne und eine Leseempfehlung an alle, die altmodische Sci-Fi-Romane mögen.
Ich bin kein großer Freund von Science-Fiction-Romanen ohne dystopischen Anteil, aber ein riesiger Dean Koontz Fan. Deswegen möchte ich auch unbedingt alle seine Bücher lesen, die man noch irgendwo kaufen kann.
Teilweise hat mich die Geschichte ein wenig an "Planet der Affen" erinnert. Von mir gibt es auf jeden Fall 3,5 Sterne und eine Leseempfehlung an alle, die altmodische Sci-Fi-Romane mögen.
April 20, 2013
Really not good.
February 1, 2021
Another of Konnts’ early sci-fi works and another little cracker. Koonts’ writers’ skill is certainly to the fore as takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster. The reader is thrown straight into the action on the first page with a curious appearance of assassin who attacks a seemingly innocent man in a remote cottage. As the story develops the readers’ view of Victor changes slowly, it starts off not liking the cold blooded killer who display very little in the way of emotions. By the end of the story ones view has changed and you find yourself rooting for him to succeed.
The crux of the story lines in the theory of parallel words created when multiple probable courses of action are possible and so a world exists wherein each possible action has taken place. An alien races the Racii who have a find a way to travel between the probabilities and are set on conquering all of the alternative realities.
A really interesting premise that is well written and keeps the reader turning the pages in order to discover what happens next.
The crux of the story lines in the theory of parallel words created when multiple probable courses of action are possible and so a world exists wherein each possible action has taken place. An alien races the Racii who have a find a way to travel between the probabilities and are set on conquering all of the alternative realities.
A really interesting premise that is well written and keeps the reader turning the pages in order to discover what happens next.
January 13, 2013
Classic science fiction suspense novel from one of the masters. This was published 43 years ago and it doesn't lose very much at all despite that. If that's not a sign of a master, that you can write something and work the wording, the phrasing if you will, in such a way that 43 years later a reader will have a hard time telling how old it is and pointing out differences with the present then you are truly a master of your craft.
I wish it had been a little bit longer. It was shorter than I like and perhaps lacking a little bit of detail at times but other than that, this is well worth the read. Considering its age, you ought to be able to find cheap or free copies around. Mine was free . . .
I wish it had been a little bit longer. It was shorter than I like and perhaps lacking a little bit of detail at times but other than that, this is well worth the read. Considering its age, you ought to be able to find cheap or free copies around. Mine was free . . .
July 10, 2015
1985 grade A
2015 grade B+/A-
Time travel, multiple universes, alien invasions, robots, androids, romance, action - this book has it all. It starts with a bang, slows down to a normal pace until page 51 where the action starts up again and basically does not stop until the end. It is told from a single point of view, with a small character set, and with very little dialog. But it is still interesting and an easy read. There's not a lot of depth, and the it suffers a small amount from accidental success syndrome, but it is a lot of fun. I will read it again.
Yes this is the same Dean Koontz who is still writing and is famous for the action, police, crime drama type novels.
2015 grade B+/A-
Time travel, multiple universes, alien invasions, robots, androids, romance, action - this book has it all. It starts with a bang, slows down to a normal pace until page 51 where the action starts up again and basically does not stop until the end. It is told from a single point of view, with a small character set, and with very little dialog. But it is still interesting and an easy read. There's not a lot of depth, and the it suffers a small amount from accidental success syndrome, but it is a lot of fun. I will read it again.
Yes this is the same Dean Koontz who is still writing and is famous for the action, police, crime drama type novels.
May 15, 2011
This was an enjoyable short read - filled with Lizard and Hairy Ape People - what's not to like?!
Read
February 7, 2013Earth becomes the battleground for alien creatures and men from the far future
June 26, 2016
Good fun book
July 12, 2021
On the plus side, this book's opening is a great hook and draws you in. It has some really interesting ideas about time travel and how navigating a multiverse would be. The ideas aren't just clones of other popular ideas floating around that I've seen, it's something different and the actors in the story seem to be richly described and thought through a bit.
On the negative side I thought there was too much description of action/adventure which I'm not a huge fan of. There are only so many times I can read about the hero barely dodging laser death or almost perishing before I just don't care anymore and want to advance the story. The hero is a bit of the white guy savior cliche but it's an old story so I give it a little forgiveness.
A solid weird story that went in a totally unexpected direction for me that was somewhere between alright and good. The opening really was the best part though...
On the negative side I thought there was too much description of action/adventure which I'm not a huge fan of. There are only so many times I can read about the hero barely dodging laser death or almost perishing before I just don't care anymore and want to advance the story. The hero is a bit of the white guy savior cliche but it's an old story so I give it a little forgiveness.
A solid weird story that went in a totally unexpected direction for me that was somewhere between alright and good. The opening really was the best part though...
February 27, 2025
Once I started to understand what was happening it got a lot easier to enjoy this book. As I have come to expect from Koontz there is certain 'strangeness' to his writing. So the opening chapters leave you guessing but once the truth is revealed and everything is clear sit back and enjoy the journey.
April 10, 2025
What a wild ride....very big chaotic jumps in the story, sporadic, fun. He threw so much in. Early Koontz is always fun.
Spoilers - This was wild, Starts off as a murder mystery, followed by bit of a haunting element, then lizard men, time travel, parallel worlds, mission impossible theme, and then man apes. What a ride.
Spoilers - This was wild, Starts off as a murder mystery, followed by bit of a haunting element, then lizard men, time travel, parallel worlds, mission impossible theme, and then man apes. What a ride.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2025
His seventh novel. First half shows maturing writing style and story telling, the very beginnings of Koont's capabilities. Second half is protracted, a continual chase, fight, escape, capture, chase sequence that is far too long.
August 21, 2025
I genuinely wanted to like this, it’s rare, it’s a curiosity, what with Koontz being Barry Malzberg’s roommate and friend at the time… but this was awful, extraordinarily hamfisted pulp that would have read as a juvenile waste of time in 1950, let alone 1970.
July 15, 2020
It made me think and i enjoyed that. Good book timeless since it was written so long ago.
August 10, 2020
What a roller coaster of a book. Assassins, aliens, future humans ancient humans all were present. Fun to read, short and precise. A good 4 star for this 50-year-old sci-fi.
February 13, 2023
Hell’s Gate is the worst book I have ever read. The writing is insultingly simplistic and the characters and story lack imagination or adequate forethought. Reading should be a pleasurable act; this felt like punishment.
January 26, 2014
Not bad for one of his first books.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews