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Dragonfly
The Committee, a group of powerful CIA fanatics, has friends in the Mafia, the Congress, in every important department of the government up to and including the President's Oval Office. They are funded by a reclusive billionaire, and they have always gotten what they wanted. Now they want everything.
Enraged by the Chinese-American détente, the Committe conceives a sinister plot to destroy vital portions of the Chinese population. Their weapon is a Chinese youth (code name: Dragonfly) who has been surgically implanted with a deadly virus. He has no memory of what has been done to him, yet he walks around, a human time bomb, set to explode at the right moment and release the plague within him, killing hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. He must be found.
Enraged by the Chinese-American détente, the Committe conceives a sinister plot to destroy vital portions of the Chinese population. Their weapon is a Chinese youth (code name: Dragonfly) who has been surgically implanted with a deadly virus. He has no memory of what has been done to him, yet he walks around, a human time bomb, set to explode at the right moment and release the plague within him, killing hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. He must be found.
244 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1975
4 people are currently reading
1024 people want to read
About the author
K.R. Dwyer
6 books27 followersDean R. Koontz has also published under the names Leigh Nichols, Brian Coffey, David Axton, and Owen West.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 30, 2016
I really enjoyed this old school Koontz book. It is somewhat Ludlum-esque and that made it fun. It's an action packed book with a lot of nefarious characters. No supernatural and nothing scary like modern Koontz, but very good. Highly recommended to his stalwart fans.
April 3, 2019
Although relatively short, I was surprised that Dean Koontz wrote a pretty good spy thriller. The plot is classic Koontz with corrupt government officials as the bad guys, but with a twist. The good guys are also government officials. It is a very quick read and one of his older books.
May 11, 2013
It was a nice quick read. Originally I thought it was gonna be the basis for the Costner movie. Very unique plot and good view of government in the 70's.
March 23, 2020
This was such a strange time to be reading this book, considering certain circumstances. Very well written and much more like Koontz as I know him, full of twists and intrigue.
April 1, 2023
This outstanding spy novel from 1976 was written by none other than Dean Koontz, who went on to mega-fame as a writer of horror & supernatural bestsellers. Early in his career he used a number of pseudonyms, including K.R. Dwyer.
The premise of this novel is preposterous. While visiting the U.S. on business, a young Chinese man is drugged and unknowingly implanted with a capsule containing a strain of the Bubonic plague. When he returns to China, the capsule is to be punctured, infecting the carrier and creating a devastating plague that will cripple the Chinese government. All of this is being carried out by a secret "deep state" organization within the U.S. government that also plans to assassinate the President and Vice President and seize the White House. It's up to a single CIA agent to save the day.
Like I said, it's preposterous. But even at 31, Dean Koontz had masterful storytelling chops. The writing is excellent and the story flows at a nice pace. I was never bored, and the ending did not disappoint. It was a fun ride.
As a side note, this book has become very collectible. As I write these words, the paperback edition I read is for sale on eBay. There are two copies for sale, one for $75 and another for $80. Signed hardback first editions are going for as much as $200.
The premise of this novel is preposterous. While visiting the U.S. on business, a young Chinese man is drugged and unknowingly implanted with a capsule containing a strain of the Bubonic plague. When he returns to China, the capsule is to be punctured, infecting the carrier and creating a devastating plague that will cripple the Chinese government. All of this is being carried out by a secret "deep state" organization within the U.S. government that also plans to assassinate the President and Vice President and seize the White House. It's up to a single CIA agent to save the day.
Like I said, it's preposterous. But even at 31, Dean Koontz had masterful storytelling chops. The writing is excellent and the story flows at a nice pace. I was never bored, and the ending did not disappoint. It was a fun ride.
As a side note, this book has become very collectible. As I write these words, the paperback edition I read is for sale on eBay. There are two copies for sale, one for $75 and another for $80. Signed hardback first editions are going for as much as $200.
February 26, 2022
This is another fascinating novel by Den Koontz, who wrote under the pseudonym K.R. DWYER this time. It’s a political thriller novel, but with no dogs, no stunningly beautiful blonde women, and no supernatural happenings. It also wasn’t *too* political, and written so that even readers like me, who don’t usually read political thrillers can still easily follow it all. I wasn’t lost, once! 😛
This novel wasn’t quite long enough for the author to flesh out the characters very well, but I still enjoyed it a great deal, because it was so action packed and fast paced. I think it might be one of Koontz’ first novels as well. But Koontz hasn't, for whatever reason, reissued this novel under his own name. I'm not sure why, as every other KR Dwyer book has been and it's not poorly written or dull—far from it. It deals with similar themes to what he's done before, in the '70s and beyond—government conspiracy, mind control, double agents, sex with a beautiful woman, torture, murder, bio-weapons, etc. How weird!
What floored me the most was that this novel, which was published in 1975, still has some very current (and apropos) political issues and themes. It could have been set in present day, except for the technology of today missing. I’d loved seeing how very politically astute and learned Koontz had seemed when writing the Jane Hawk novels, so it’s really cool that this knowledge and learning started so far in the past.
Anyway I had a lot of fun with this novel and I hope you will, too. You can find this novel here, to read for free:
https://readfrom.net/dean-koontz/page...
Happy reading! 4 stars
This novel wasn’t quite long enough for the author to flesh out the characters very well, but I still enjoyed it a great deal, because it was so action packed and fast paced. I think it might be one of Koontz’ first novels as well. But Koontz hasn't, for whatever reason, reissued this novel under his own name. I'm not sure why, as every other KR Dwyer book has been and it's not poorly written or dull—far from it. It deals with similar themes to what he's done before, in the '70s and beyond—government conspiracy, mind control, double agents, sex with a beautiful woman, torture, murder, bio-weapons, etc. How weird!
What floored me the most was that this novel, which was published in 1975, still has some very current (and apropos) political issues and themes. It could have been set in present day, except for the technology of today missing. I’d loved seeing how very politically astute and learned Koontz had seemed when writing the Jane Hawk novels, so it’s really cool that this knowledge and learning started so far in the past.
Anyway I had a lot of fun with this novel and I hope you will, too. You can find this novel here, to read for free:
https://readfrom.net/dean-koontz/page...
Happy reading! 4 stars
December 6, 2014
This book is actually by Dean Koontz and it is one of his first novels. In fact if you looked at the book list in his recent novels this book is not listed. This book is a political thriller. A secret group operates within the U.S. government and they have plans to overthrow the government of China. They have placed a capsule that contains a virus in a Chinese citizen and their plan is to release this virus.
Obviously, this is not a typical example of the author's work. If I read this book and I did not know who wrote it I would have said it is more likely to be Tom Clancy than Dean Koontz. I liked the idea even though I had to remind myself this was written when the Cold War was being waged. I wished the author added more depth to the characters. He never fleshed them out and I never connected with them. You can tell this is an early work by an accomplished writer. The book does hold my interest throughout as I wonder if the heroes will be able to stop the impending terrorist action.
This book was a quick read and I enjoyed reading a different type of book from my favorite author. I started reading it more to full my curiosity but I ended up enjoying it like any other typical novel.
Obviously, this is not a typical example of the author's work. If I read this book and I did not know who wrote it I would have said it is more likely to be Tom Clancy than Dean Koontz. I liked the idea even though I had to remind myself this was written when the Cold War was being waged. I wished the author added more depth to the characters. He never fleshed them out and I never connected with them. You can tell this is an early work by an accomplished writer. The book does hold my interest throughout as I wonder if the heroes will be able to stop the impending terrorist action.
This book was a quick read and I enjoyed reading a different type of book from my favorite author. I started reading it more to full my curiosity but I ended up enjoying it like any other typical novel.
August 26, 2024
A fun political-thriller by Dean Koontz.
I'm mainly posting a text review for this in hopes it gets a little more popularity among Koontz fans, as it's currently fairly unknown/unread. Part of this is obviously due to the fact that Koontz hasn't, for whatever reason, reissued it under his own name. I'm not sure why, as every other KR Dwyer book has been and it's not poorly written or dull—far from it. It deals with similar themes to what he's done before, in the '70s and beyond—conspiracy, mind control, all that. All I can see is that the book, surprisingly—for Koontz, that is—features right-wing bad guys and left-wing good guys, whereas it tends to be the other way around for present-day Koontz. Maybe he thinks his readers wouldn't appreciate that? I dunno.
All in all, if you like conspiracies, mind control, political-thrillers and/or Dean Koontz, I recommend you give this book a try, as you'll probably enjoy yourself a hell of a lot.
I'm mainly posting a text review for this in hopes it gets a little more popularity among Koontz fans, as it's currently fairly unknown/unread. Part of this is obviously due to the fact that Koontz hasn't, for whatever reason, reissued it under his own name. I'm not sure why, as every other KR Dwyer book has been and it's not poorly written or dull—far from it. It deals with similar themes to what he's done before, in the '70s and beyond—conspiracy, mind control, all that. All I can see is that the book, surprisingly—for Koontz, that is—features right-wing bad guys and left-wing good guys, whereas it tends to be the other way around for present-day Koontz. Maybe he thinks his readers wouldn't appreciate that? I dunno.
All in all, if you like conspiracies, mind control, political-thrillers and/or Dean Koontz, I recommend you give this book a try, as you'll probably enjoy yourself a hell of a lot.
April 1, 2009
بهترین داستان پلیسی _ سیاسی که خوانده ام.
December 5, 2023
The one that always impresses me about Dean Koontz is that he has managed to write in a number of genres some like this one under a pseudonym. Most well know for his horror stories, this one is a solid espionage thriller, which whilst I enjoyed I've deducted 1 star for the fact that I couldn't quite take the plot seriously.
A rogue group from from powerful business men and CIA operatives is planning what amounts to a world coup. They have implanted in a Chinese citizen a vial of plague that when post hypnotic phrase is used will be broken with the aim of infecting the great and good of the Chinese leadership. In the confusion left by the power vacuum there allies from Taiwan will seize power, whilst at the same time similar operations in Russia and the US will effectively leave this Cabal in charge.
The main body of the story follows the investigation into the group and the identification of the infected Chinese person with the aim of the stopping the plot.
The story reads well enough and moves and a good pace it was just a little too far out there for me for it to be a completely believable plot
A rogue group from from powerful business men and CIA operatives is planning what amounts to a world coup. They have implanted in a Chinese citizen a vial of plague that when post hypnotic phrase is used will be broken with the aim of infecting the great and good of the Chinese leadership. In the confusion left by the power vacuum there allies from Taiwan will seize power, whilst at the same time similar operations in Russia and the US will effectively leave this Cabal in charge.
The main body of the story follows the investigation into the group and the identification of the infected Chinese person with the aim of the stopping the plot.
The story reads well enough and moves and a good pace it was just a little too far out there for me for it to be a completely believable plot
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2020
Hard to follow the conversations at times seemed. When there was conversations going on i lost track of who was saying what. Which at times make it a bit confusing. But over all it was very interesting and a fast read.
May 24, 2023
The incredibly prolific and versatile Dean Koontz brings us a cold war spy thriller.
A quick and fun read.
A quick and fun read.
September 12, 2024
An excellent thriller.
August 4, 2015
Very different to Koontz main body of later work this book stands up quite well.
September 23, 2016
I'm not too interested in political type thrillers, but it was written well & had a pretty good story.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews