Stand Alone Novels 2008-2020: Innocence and Wilderness (Group Read - December 2013)

[Scott]

I finished innocence a few days ago. I found it to be well-written, but lacking in sufficient depth. I was also extremely annoyed by the inclusion of dogs in the book. It just didn't fit in well at all. The pace of the book was extremely different from most Koontz books. The spiritual/religious overtones were thought provoking, but did kinda come out of left field. Still a worthwhile read.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

There weren't any dogs playing a significant role in the story and then (view spoiler)[ FIFTY DOGS!!!!! (hide spoiler)]

[Meran]

Okay, I'm done. NOT what I expected, will be giving it 5 stars... Didnt really find it "religious" unless you consider being pure of heart, or good, religious. (Those concepts were around LONG before Christianity... He just used that vehicle. )
The only part I found unnecessary was getting married, officially. Adam and Eve weren't ever married, after all. It's the Commitment :)
More discussion later, when everyone's done.

PS. This book had the flavor of one of my favorite books, Davy, by Pangborn.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Meran wrote: "Didnt really find it "religious" unless you consider being pure of heart, or good, religious. (Those concepts were around LONG befo..."

I do not consider being pure of heart or good to equal religious :-)
(view spoiler)[ The concepts of going back to the Garden of Eden and being free from original sin are very religious - specific to Christianity. (hide spoiler)]

[Kimberly]

That was my question to Dusty originally, particularly as (view spoiler)[ the priest made a point of saying what he did about them being in need of no church. It was clearly what the two wanted. Besides, in Catholic theology, the two administer the sacrament to each other, the priest is an 'official' witness only. (hide spoiler)]

[Kimberly]

Oddly, I have noticed that I can read no spoilers on my phone, but only on my computer, nor can I edit a post on my phone. I did want to add however, that (view spoiler)[the idea of an original garden and original purity occurs not only in Christianity, but in some forms of Judaism, and in Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Islam and some other esoteric religions (hide spoiler)]

[Stacy]

Masha wrote: "Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Holly wrote: "Yes, certainly. I don't know, I've liked all the ones I've read."

Have you read Your Heart Belongs to Me and/or Breathless?"

Breathless wasn't ..."

I agree, I was very disappointed with Your Heart Belongs to Me. It was SO SLOW!!! I read it when it first came out so I can't remember many other specifics other than it wasn't an "ok" story until the last 100 pages.

[Stacy]

I am on chapter 58 and reluctant to read to far into this thread (I'm at the bottom of page 3) because I don't want to come across any possible spoilers that haven't been hidden.

Anyway, I'm having a really hard time with this book, and I'm pretty disappointed. That said though, I do know that I'm not going to like every single one of his books. I didn't like Your Heart Belongs to Me or Icebound, and I thought the Frankenstein series went on a bit long....anyway, back to Innocence.

It's just so boring, for the most part. Usually Dean's books draw me right in, but this one....I'm having such a hard time reading it. If reading a book seems like a chore to me, I usually don't give it more than 100 pages, but since this is Dean Koontz, I feel I have to finish it.

I like Addison and Gwyn's characters, but there's just not a whole lot going on in my opinion. I've gotten to the point where I'm almost just reading the dialog. Hopefully it gets better....

[Marina]

It's a very slow book. It reminds me of One Door Away From Heaven, with the boy and the dog just wandering around forever and not much going on, and then it gets amazing. This one is not as good IMO, but the ending is worth the slow buildup.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Stacy wrote: "I agree, I was very disappointed with Your Heart Belongs to Me. It was SO SLOW!!! I read it when it first came out so I can't remember many other specifics other than it wasn't an "ok" story until the last 100 pages. "

You are one smart cookie!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Stacy wrote: "Anyway, I'm having a really hard time with this book, and I'm pretty disappointed. That said though, I do know that I'm not going to like every single one of his books. I didn't like Your Heart Belongs to Me or Icebound, and I thought the Frankenstein series went on a bit long....anyway, back to Innocence."

Wow! we must think on the same wave length. We should be friends. You are clearly very intelligent :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Kimberly wrote: "That was my question to Dusty originally"

As you've noticed, I really don't like to get into any religious discussions, but since I was raised Mormon, I would just like to clarify (view spoiler)[ Mormons consider themselves Christians and they believe that Adam and Eve were married in the Garden of Eden. According to Mormon (officially, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) Marriage is considered an essential ordinance in order to return to the presence of God :-) (hide spoiler)]

[Diane Lynch]

Scott wrote: "I finished innocence a few days ago. I found it to be well-written, but lacking in sufficient depth. I was also extremely annoyed by the inclusion of dogs in the book. It just didn't fit in well at..."

Dogs are naturals at judging character. Having owned a couple of golden retrievers it really shows. Goldens love everyone. Once in awhile they suddenly will not let someone near the people that own them. Visually there is nothing to be afraid of but they know when something isn't right about someone. The dogs knew there was nothing wrong with Addison. It's kind of symbolic-dogs sense character, people see what they see. We learned some things about 1 of these people after the fact that proved it.

[Diane Lynch]

Maerhys wrote: "Diane, the use of the NYC tunnels was excellent and I wish Koontz had delved into Addison's home. Now that I think about it Addison's character, especially with his use of "Father" and penchant for..."

Initially I thought a better title was "Beast and the Beauty" but it turns out the name does suit the book.

[Diane Lynch]

"Innocence." Amazing book. Wrote review but hid it since it has spoilers. Don't know how this is all handled. My first book with group (2 books. Wilderness). See my review for details. Spoiler alert for review.

[Diane Lynch]

"Wilderness" left me with too many questions. Yes it is the prequel to "Innocence" but within the story itself I have suspsions about motives. I also did a hidden review of this since it has spoilers and I have no idea how to do this since I haven't done it before. Good quick read left me frustrated. See my review.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Diane wrote: ""Innocence." Amazing book. Wrote review but hid it since it has spoilers. Don't know how this is all handled. My first book with group (2 books. Wilderness). Is Stephen Kings book the Feb. read?"

You can post spoiler alerts if you want see (some html is ok) instructions in upper right corner of comment box.
you will need to use the pointy brackets <> the word spoiler inside pointy brackets and a / slash line to end the spoiler :-) Good Luck.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Diane wrote: "Is Stephen Kings book the Feb. read?"

Stephen King's 11/22/63 is a current group read Jan-March (3 Months) Icebound and Twilight Eyes are current group reads for the month of January.

The February Group Read will be The Eyes of Darkness.

[Diane Lynch]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Diane wrote: "Is Stephen Kings book the Feb. read?"

Stephen King's 11/22/63 is a current group read Jan-March (3 Months) Icebound and Twilight Eyes are current group reads for the month of January..."

Thank u

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

You're Welcome :-)

[Diane Lynch]

Diane wrote: "Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Diane wrote: "Is Stephen Kings book the Feb. read?"

Stephen King's 11/22/63 is a current group read Jan-March (3 Months) Icebound and Twilight Eyes are curren..."
How do I refer to my review if people want to click and go to it rather than putting anything on here? I saw someone else did that.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

copy and and paste a link

My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Stacy]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Wow! we must think on the same wave length. We should be friends. You are clearly very intelligent :-)"


Ha! I'd like to think so, but I'm not the only judge of that. :)

I did force myself to finish the book, and I was surprised with the slight twist in the end as to who a certain person turned out to be. As far as what happened to the world population? I think that should've been a major focus of the story, not Gwyn and Addison's pasts. Would've made for a much more interesting story in my opinion.

I'm not a fan of religious or political discussions as I have no involvement with either other than saying to each their own. That said, I felt there was too much focus on the religion aspect in this book and I didn't really care for that.

I've said in another thread that The Taking is my favorite Koontz book, and I realize that the whole premise of the book ends up being about religion, but you don't know it until the end. And even then, it doesn't feel like it's being pushed on you....more like it made me go, "Huh. Interesting...."

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Hell Yeah! We are definitely friends now! :-)

[Angel]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Holly wrote: "Yes, certainly. I don't know, I've liked all the ones I've read."

Have you read Your Heart Belongs to Me and/or Breathless?"
I hated "Breathless" unfortunately. I read "Wilderness", enjoyed it and I am now reading "Innocence" and liking it.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Breathless was rather disappointing :-(

[Kimberly]

Holly, why did you hate Breathless?

[Paul]

Just finished this, it was an enjoyable read but for me something was missing in it, cant quite put my finger on what it was

Think a re read is due sometime in the near future, I think I got a bit lost in it towards the end

[Åsa]

For me Innocence was the worst Koontz since Demon Seed.

It took me forever to finish it... If I gave up on books this might have been one of the very few ones I just wouldn't bother reading to the last page.

It did nothing for me.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Åsa wrote: "For me Innocence was the worst Koontz since Demon Seed.

I actually loved Demon Seed :-) I laughed so much & had a lot of fun!