How did you get to know Dean Koontz ?

[Corey]

Lisa wrote: "I found out about Dean Koontz through the library although i had not read him in a long time going back to his early books"

I find his older books better than some of his newer books.

[Lisa]

Corey wrote: "Lisa wrote: "I found out about Dean Koontz through the library although i had not read him in a long time going back to his early books"

I find his older books better than some of his newer books."
yes so do i just finished Odd Apocalypse was not one of his better reads in the series has not put me off reading more in series

[Ope]

My room-mate gave me False Memory to read then, i just carried it around in my bag for months. the 1st,2nd and 3rd chapters was a drag but as soon as i really got into i couldn't drop it i was done with it in like 3 days, most thrilling book i ever read. And that was how I got to know Dean Koontz. Its a beautiful thing if you have a room-mate that likes to read books :D

[Julia]

Back in the early 90's a coworker brought a book to me and told me I really needed to read it. I had never even heard of Dean Koontz before. The book was The Servants of Twilight. I read it and couldn't put it down. I loved it! Then for some reason I went years without reading him again and just this year I've started reading his books again and have read 11 more of his books.

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

Glad you are currently on a Koontz Kick, Julia :-) We are currently reading the Frankenstein Series as a group if you are interested.

[Julia]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Glad you are currently on a Koontz Kick, Julia :-) We are currently reading the Frankenstein Series as a group if you are interested."

I just signed up for it. I bought the Kindle version a few weeks ago when it was on sale for $2.99 but haven't read it yet.

[Tera (TheBookishAbyss)]

So, I'm sure this will make you laugh, but in third grade I had just finished up all the 70 something Nancy Drew books in the school library and needed something new to read. I was at my grandmother's house who had a book club addiction and literally had boxes stacked from floor to ceiling in her spare bedroom full of hardcover books. I snuck off with Koontz's Phantoms and became an instant fan. Of all the books, my grandmother knew which one I had taken and realizing I had found my next passion began ordering Koontz books for every Christmas and birthday present for the next 23 years until she passed away. I have an extensive collection that mostly came from her. I also have an extensive Nancy Drew collection ;0)

[Tera (TheBookishAbyss)]

Julia wrote: "Back in the early 90's a coworker brought a book to me and told me I really needed to read it. I had never even heard of Dean Koontz before. The book was The Servants of Twilight. I read it and cou..."

I was a teenager when I read The Servants of Twilight and the book still haunts me...(I am almost 42 now)..

[Jen]

Hmmm... It doesn't look like I ever shared my introduction to Koontz. Back in 2007 or 2008, I checked out Lightning from the library. (I can't now remember why. It was probably/possibly displayed prominently on a shelf and, after reading the jacket description, I decided to give it a go.)

I started Lightning at home, but once a certain character entered the book I refused to read it in my home. I would only read it at work, on my lunch breaks, which I took in a nearby park. So I sat in the sun on a park bench, eating and reading. I really enjoyed that book. The creep-factor was high; it was great! :-)

Fast forward to September 2012 and I discovered Goodreads. I couldn't remember the title of the Koontz book I'd read five years earlier. I found this group and joined and asked somewhere in here if anyone knew which Koontz book had the creepy (pedophile or pedophile-like) janitor at a girls' home/orphanage. Someone, I think it was Dustin, said it was Lightning and I've been here ever since.

I used to participate in the group reads, but in the past couple of years I've been out of the mood for thrillers, much preferring to read urban fantasies. I keep intending to join a group read - I own a few Koontz titles that I bought within my first months of membership in this group - but I just haven't found the will to read his books lately.

Someday I'll join you again for a group read. . .

But for now, I'm simply a lurker. ;-)

[Charissa]

Lurkers have to be welcome Jen, otherwise they'd kick me out. :D If you haven't already, try Jim Butcher's Dresden series. He isn't as sexually implicit as some of the current batch of urban fantasies.

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

Tera Marie wrote: "So, I'm sure this will make you laugh, but in third grade I had just finished up all the 70 something Nancy Drew books in the school library and needed something new to read. I was at my grandmothe..."

You are funny! :-)

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

Y'all stick around & participate in any way you want.

We are now selecting the February Group Read, so be sure to check out the group poll in December. The poll winning title will be announced at the beginning of January with one month to get the title & participate in the group read (if you want to).

Link to poll: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

[Stephanie]

I was 6 years old when I read my first Koontz book, and like everyone else, I was hooked instantly! It was "The Face of Fear." The fun story: I had read everything in the trailer (including 10 boxes of comics from the 60s that my dad owned, and all the books I had brought from my mom's house), so I was rummaging around to find something else to read. My step-sister (13 at the time) must have left the book there, so I picked it up and read it in 2 days! Since then (21 years later), I have read at least 25 DK books. My all-time favorite will always be "Intensity," but everything written in the late 80s - mid 90s is fantastic.

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

Thanks Stephanie :-) That is most excellent! 6 years old though and reading The Face of Fear - Wow!

[Jen]

Charissa wrote: "Lurkers have to be welcome Jen, otherwise they'd kick me out. :D If you haven't already, try Jim Butcher's Dresden series. He isn't as sexually implicit as some of the current batch of urban fantas..."

Thanks for the suggestion, Charissa. I've read Dresden #1 and possibly #2, too, but I never continued the series because of other books demanding my attention more. But I'm thinking I need to make that my next series to buy and read, thanks to suggestions from you and others and because I recently read - and loved - a Dresden short story, which made me wish I had the series to read. :-)

[Stephanie]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Thanks Stephanie :-) That is most excellent! 6 years old though and reading The Face of Fear - Wow!"

Thanks, Dustin! I know I was pretty young, but his writing is constructed so well. I think it's part of the reason I was able to finish all the English courses in HS (AP included) before I was a senior. Reading always comes before writing =)

[Matthew]

Greetings, all! I just joined Goodreads less than a month ago so I figured I'd give my Koontz introduction story as a way of saying howdy. Anywho, like Dustin, I read A LOT of John Saul (between the ages of 13 and 17 or so) and was actually at the airport with the family waiting to catch a flight to Florida when I wandered into the bookstore for a paperback. Alas, no Saul titles were available, but I DID see a book with a wicked looking book cover and, being 15 or 16 at the time, I was highly suggestible (heh). That book was The House of Thunder. I liked it so well that I definitely wanted to try another one so I picked up Hideaway and I consider THAT book to be the one that has caused my 20 years long (and counting) Koontz addiction.

[Matthew]

OH, I wrote a book report on House of Thunder and, as it turns out, my teacher had also read the book. He enjoyed my report so much that I got an A. WOO-HOO! ; )

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

That is Awesome Matthew :-)

[Amy B]

I started reading Koontz in high school. I can't remember what my first book was.

I didn't reconnect with Koontz until 2001 when I read Fear Nothing. I've read a few since then and hope to read more of his books now that I've joined this book.

My maiden name was "Koon." Almost the same name--I felt a connection, lol.

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

Lots of Dean Koontz Reading Opportunities!

May Group Reads: Dark Rivers of the Heart & Sole Survivor

June Group Reads: Intensity, The Darkest Evening of the Year, The Silent Corner

[Mike]

I had added him to my list of authors to read when my Grade 12 Creative Writing teacher recommended him, though I never got around to reading him 'til a few years later. I added a few books that looked good (Strangers, Watchers, Odd Thomas) to my Goodreads to-read list. It was when my girlfriend suggested I read Odd Thomas that I actually picked up a book by him and read it.

[Lynn]

One of my good friends and I rode the bus to school and home together, during freshman year in high school. We were both avid readers, mostly of junior high suspense genres (RL Stine (pre-Goosebumps), Christopher Pike and the like), when she recommended Night Chills to me. I read the heck out of that book and have been hooked on anything and everything Dean Koontz writes since!

[Lisa]

I first picked up Deeply Odd in my library & was hooked

[Corey]

Lisa wrote: "I first picked up Deeply Odd in my library & was hooked"

I read the first few Odd Thomas books but then after awhile I feel they just lost their magic, I hope you have better luck than I did, HAHA!

[Matthew]

Mike wrote: "I had added him to my list of authors to read when my Grade 12 Creative Writing teacher recommended him, though I never got around to reading him 'til a few years later. I added a few books that lo..."

Strangers is terrific and one of my favorite books. How it hasn't been turn
ed into a film or tv series yet is beyond me.

[Barbara]

Matthew I agree that Strangers should be filmed. One of my top 10 favorites!! Phantoms was the first Koontz book I read....then Watchers and I have been hooked since

[Jerry]

Ok I’m aging myself here, 1980 read Whispers while at SDSU. Read about a signing at Book Carnival in OC. Well, it certainly was worth the drive. Such began a wonderful relationship with my favorite bookstore & my favorite booksellers, Ed & Pat Thomas. Referrals for Connelly, a new writer, James Lee Burke, & more new authors at their book signings. And it was nice when I was offered to purchase proofs of Dean’s books. Anyways, I will always place more importance on his 80’s work for the quality as well as where my life was at the time.

[Christopher]

Don't remember if I mentioned it in my previous post years ago, but The Husband was a gift from one of my uncle's friend (I never learned the guy's name). It was the third book I received as a gift from him after he was done reading it. The guy apparently liked Stephen King as much as I did.

But our tastes were never exactly the same. He didn't like Cell, which I did. He really liked Lisey's Story which I didn't. And he liked The Husband.

Going into it, I thought I would like it too. The last "thriller" book I read was some old ass "Wingman" (Hawk Hunter) book. The cover was nice, the dialogue on the back was nice, and the concept was nice.

I read it and it was awful, with flat, uninteresting characters and actually very little action to speak of. At the very least, because I now knew Koontz existed, I would go on to read The Door to December, Prodigal Son, and the amazing Lightning. Silver lining and all that.

[Jen]

I "met" Koontz when I had run out of King over in the Solomon Islands in '91 or '92. My ex gave me a copy of the Bad Place and it was the best thing he ever did for me.
I think I have read everything he has written which is available here. Still waiting on Crooked Staircase being available so avoiding those threads. Love the fact he is a dog person and really enjoyed following Trixie's life.

[David]

My first Koontz book was The Funhouse. I was at the beach in Ocean City with no book to read and i saw it on one of those spinning kiosks in a store. I picked it up, blew through it in a few days, and the rest is history. I've read almost 60 of his books to date and he is my favorite author.

[Sean]

I received By Light of the Moon as a Christmas gift when I was in my twenties from a cousin and was hooked .

[Lisa]

Found him in the lîbrary

[Christine]

I love horror books and movies. Although there has only been one or two movies ever made which "scared" me. The Entity with Barbara Hershey being ONE. My sister introduced me to Stephen King 20 years ago or so and then he lead to Dean's work. Been hooked as a HUGE fan ever since.

[Pål]

A fellow student gave me a copy of Dark Rivers of the Heart back in ‘96. It really revitalized my love for books, which had been more or less vacant since high school, and I’ve kept going ever since :P

[Charissa]

That's a creepy one. Mainly because it's all to easy to come to fruition.

[Angelo]

I first found out about him with "Cold Fire" and that first time was a grind. His description-heavy style, with the more-than-occasional sprinkling of normally unused words, made me read it beside a dictionary. (Take note, I said "beside" because it was one of those huge ones you can substitute your dumbbell with. I use ebook dictionaries nowadays. Lol)

It was a style which I grew to love. He also has an uncanny way of describing emotion, especially terror and fear. When I read "Odd Thomas", I was hooked. I read a lot of his other novels as well.

Odd Thomas is still near the top of my best books of all time list.

[Michelle T.]

I've never meet him, but I would love to

[Marlise]

When I was in junior high in the late 80's I would save my lunch money and go to the bookstore in the mall to buy King and V.C. Andrews novels. I happened to discover Koontz and loved his stuff right off the bat, those old colorful paperback covers caught my attention!

[Michał]

Someone passed away at the blooody end of 2013 - so it happened;

I was on my way to start reading "The Taking" and so I did.

….disappointed a - enchanted as well:)

But there's a book.

...just called "Odd Thomas".

….and there's a movie.

[Allen]

In the early 90's, I was a big Stephen King fan, and a coworker was a big Koontz fan. I had never heard of Koontz, and he had never read King. We started trading our books with each other, and that is how I started reading Koontz. Midnight and Watchers are probably my favorites.