Shadowfires (Group Read - May 2013)

[Jaice]

I enjoyed this Koontz novel more than I thought I would, largely because of the heavy dose of unexpected scifi, which is my favorite genre. It reminded me somewhat of Midnight, with its Regressives, except there was only one and the evil scientist who created it was itself. The lead protagonists were somewhat "cardboardy," as Maciek would say, thought that didn't bother me all that much. The creature's rampages had its moments of inducing tension in me, but I didn't find the book all that horrifying, despite its reputation as one of Koontz's scarier novels. If you want a good scare, I'd recommend reading Phantoms, The Taking, and/or Winter Moon instead. The science in this is on pretty shaky ground, but not as bad as that in By the Light of the Moon, for example. The creature reminded me of the last few moments of Alphie from Mr. Murder, and I'm assuming the former was the inspiration for that latter. I would rate this one around a 3.5 out of 5, rounding up to a goodreads 4.

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

I'll give this another try sometime - probably when it's chosen as a group read.

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

Shadowfires has been selected as our May 2013 Group Read :-)

Who is ready to read or re-read this book?

Who Who - I am!

Anybody else?

Me, Myself and I!

Ok. Great. Anybody else?

[Andreas]

Right here!

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

Andreas wrote: "Right here!"

Excellent.

[Jen]

I'm in! I placed my hold for it at the library a bit earlier today when I saw Jason's e-mail that it had been chosen as the May group read. I should get it in plenty of time to participate in the May read! :-)

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

Jen wrote: "I'm in! I placed my hold for it at the library a bit earlier today when I saw Jason's e-mail that it had been chosen as the May group read. I should get it in plenty of time to participate in the M..."

Excellent. :-) All the cool kids will be reading Shadowfires in May!

[Paul]

All ready to start this tomorrow

I don't know why, but all these monthly reads I have read previously at some time (I have the paperback version), but when I re read them I can't remember the story at all

It's like a brand new book to me :)

[Karen B.]

I still have to finish Shadowfires but so far I am slightly disappointed. It seems very predictable.

But now I am confused again. I thought we were supposed to read Shadowfires in April so that we could discuss it in May. So when we vote for the June monthly read will it be a book we read in June and discuss in May or we read in May and discuss in June?

[Jen]

Karen, Shadow Fires is the May monthly read, so the group is theoretically going to both read and discuss it in May. Once a June monthly read is decided on, we'll read and discuss that book in June.

I say "theoretically" because my understanding is you can read and discuss any Koontz book at any time. And if there's not a discussion thread created for a certain book, perhaps Dustin or Jason would create one for us if we asked. :-)

[Karen B.]

oh thanks Jen. Dustin also cleared it up for me.

Jason, I eagerly read your was curious about your comment for Shadowfires. I was wondering how accurate some of the scientific explanations were.

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

Jen wrote: "And if there's not a discussion thread created for a certain book, perhaps Dustin or Jason would create one for us if we asked. :-)
"

Is there any "certain book" you couldn't find a thread for? :-) Many of our discussion threads do not show up on the group homepage because only the 5 most active topics in each folder are featured and if a folder isn't active enough it will not show up. Many of the topics are hiding out in the Koontz's Many Stand-Alone Novels Folder (almost 50):

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Here is also a list of the different folders and topics:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/list_g...

Any group member is allowed to create a new discussion thread. We just try to keep things organized and avoid duplicates :-) We ask that members double check to make sure the topic is already covered and categorize it in the best folder. Moderators can edit the topic or put in in a different folder easily if needed. You'll notice for example that I move the Group Read titles around each month to different folders and edit the thread with the Month and Year the title was featured as a group read.

Of course, if you need a new topic created we will be happy to do it for you. The fun part of creating a new discussion is that your name will be attached to that thread. Jason & I have many of the topics with our names attached so it's nice to have a little variety on the homepage. If you need any help creating a new topic and are not sure how to do it, you can always send me a private goodreads message too.

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

FYI: Here is also the link to the Suggestion Box topic where you can ask questions or suggest improvements:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

[Jen]

Oh yeah, I forgot. *blush* For some reason, things I do in other groups fail to come to mind as being possible to do in all groups. Perhaps because Koontzland was my first group and I didn't know about such things when I joined? Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;-)

One more thing...I didn't look to see if all titles have discussion topics or not. Don't tell anyone, but DK is not a favorite author of mine so I really only read the titles for the monthly and mini-group reads. This group is good for me, since it makes me read books outside the genres I usually read from. :-)

[Paul]

6 chapters into it, surprised there is no

(view spoiler)[ mention of a Labrador (hide spoiler)]

:)

[Karen B.]

Paul, if you didn't finish yet maybe it's still coming. That happened in one of the last books of his I read.

[Karen B.]

And Paul can you explain How to do the view spoiler thing?

[Paul]

hopefully it's coming soon

for spoiler
(spoiler) enter your spoiler here (/spoiler)

replace the ( ) brackets with < > (had to do this or it would just show as a spoiler

[Andreas]

Started reading the German translation of Shadowfires today.
About one quarter in and all I can think for the past 80 or so pages is (view spoiler)["OMG, tell him already! You are driving me crazy, woman!" (hide spoiler)]

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

Paul wrote: "6 chapters into it, surprised there is no

[spoilers removed]

:)"

Is there a Golden Retriever in this book?

[Paul]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Paul wrote: "6 chapters into it, surprised there is no

[spoilers removed]

:)"

Is there a Golden Retriever in this book?"

Did I get my breeds mixed up, oops

See my post #8, it's an age/memory thing lol

[Karen B.]

Well in one of the other books I read but can't say title near the end there was a black lab.

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

Midnight has a black lab as do some other novels :-) but the most prominently featured Koontz dog is a Golden Retriever.

[Paul]

About quarter of the way through now, starting to get really good

(view spoiler)[ just been in the car chase and I want to know what the secret is that Rachel has (hide spoiler)]

Will get back to it shortly, hopefully get the answer to the second part of the spoiler above

[Karen B.]

About thirty percent of the way through and it's getting a bit better because it's showing the point of view of the antagonist in more detail. Up until this point it seemed rather predictable.

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

Will start once I finish with False Memory :-)

[Karen B.]

Oh I am past 55% now and it is starting to feel and read like a Koontz book. *S* I am hoping I can get it finished tonight but I have a Kindle routine where I have to add 5 books to a collection or delete them so that my Kindle doesn't slow down.

[Jen]

I was able to pick up my copy of Shadowfires at the library today. :-) I'll start it as soon as I either finish False Memory or give up reading it for the sake of my mental health. :-)

[Paul]

I am about 60% in now, unfortunately due to the long holiday weekend won't get much read in next couple of days

it's currently reminding me of another book I read recently, but can't remember which, or might be this one from years ago

(view spoiler)[ Eric is in the house and Rachael and Ben are creeping up to it (hide spoiler)]

That scene is very familiar

[Karen B.]

I just finished Shadowfires and I loved it! For me it got really good when we got to know what Eric was going through. To me, he was not the real bad guy. At least Eric, in spite of things, showed some traces of humanity but this guy... Well I loved it near the end

(view spoiler)[ when both Ben and Jerry (hehe no ice cream here)see the similaries between Anson Sharp and Eric Leben (hide spoiler)]

[Shastina , Koontzland Social Media Moderator]

Sadly, I will not be able to participate. I'm already in the middle of reading 4 books right now! I will try to finish them quickly so I can join :D

[Paul]

Just finished it, really enjoyed this

Not sure about the end though

(view spoiler)[ which book is part 2 (hide spoiler)]

[Karen B.]

Paul not sure what you are asking. Send me a message and I'll see if I can answer it.

[Holly]

Decided to join everyone in this one after all.

Just started it yesterday. Wow, what a first chapter!!

[Holly]

I really love how Koontz writes female characters. :-)

[Karen B.]

Yes, I really liked Rachel's attitude, especially at the beginning of the book.

[Holly]

Yes, she's an awesome character. Very strong.

[Michelle]

I've just realised that this is one of the very few Koontz books that I don't own. I literally searched my bookcases from top to bottom thinking it just couldn't be but apparently I've never bought this one.
I must rectify this at once!

[Karen B.]

Michelle, I think you will be glad you did.

[Holly]

Yeah, I think you will too.

[Jen]

I need a Koontz break after finishing False Memory, so I've decided to not start Shadow Fires right away. I'll probably get to it either over the weekend or next week sometime. :-)

[Holly]

No rush Jen! :-)

[Holly]

This one was awesome! A very good read.

[Andreas]

I just finished reading "Shadowfires". Here are my impressions:

Being one of Koontz's earlier books (I think he originally wrote it under the pen name Leigh Nichols) I didn't have the highest expectations. Still, it was a solid, if somewhat uninspired read.
Story and characters were fairly standard, but it was mostly fast paced and entertaining.

Likes and dislikes may contain spoilers.

(view spoiler)[
What I most liked about the book:
- good chemistry between the protagonists
- convincing cops. This was a highlight for me, as the policemen in suspense novels often tend to be very superficial
- great buildup to the first reveal of the monster

A few problems I had with this book:
- the monster was revealed far too soon
- the character Peake was unconvincing
- the revelation of what the shadowfires really are was disappointing, considering the buildup
- there is an entire chase scene that seems completely useless (you'll know which one I mean when you've read it) (hide spoiler)]

In any case, it is interesting to see how Dean Koontz's later books are superior to this one and which aspects he has shown particular improvement in. Overall: 3 of 5 stars.

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

finished the book earlier this week. I would rate it somewhere in the 3-4 star range.

[Jen]

Well, I obviously didn't get Shadowfires read in May for the group read. :-( I guess False Memory took more out of me than I realized, since I pretty much avoided Koontz after finishing it, even though I have four (4!) of his books checked out from the library, including Shadowfires and Strangers, which I got via interlibrary loan and have to return today, as I've had it for three weeks already.

I'll try and get to Shadowfires this month. I have Whispers out as an ILL, too, and it's due next Saturday, so I'm going to try very hard to get back into Koontz sometime this week. :-)

[Karen B.]

I noticed that I have been heavy on the Koontz lately and sometimes I just need a break from his books. I enjoy them more that way. I've read a couple of cozies which make a nice break between Koontz books. And I keep telling myself I "should" read some non-fiction too but I keep putting that off.

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

Karen B wrote: "I noticed that I have been heavy on the Koontz lately and sometimes I just need a break from his books. I enjoy them more that way. I've read a couple of cozies which make a nice break between Ko..."

I fully understand how you feel :-) I have to take a break from Koontz once in while too because I have been known to overdose.

[Karen B.]

Jen talks about her library books that she is returning without having been read...I keep getting free Kindle books that pile up on me. I see something and think "Oh that sounds good" pick it up, put it in a collection. I think sometimes I spend more time putting my books into collections than I do reading them.

[Jen]

Karen B wrote: "Jen talks about her library books that she is returning without having been read...I keep getting free Kindle books that pile up on me. I see something and think "Oh that sounds good" pick it up, ..."

I do that, too, Karen! I'm always downloading free books that look interesting, but then I have so many library books to read, I never read them. And I have so many library books out, I never read all of them before they have to go back. :-( But then I just check them out again later, and the books on the Kindle will be there when one day I have time for them, so I figure it will all work out in the end. :-)