Objects, Places or Characters Koontz carries through several novels

[Tracy]

Lisa wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "I loved how Mystery Train had a cameo in both the Christopher Snow series (a ball cap he found with the words mystery train stitched to the front) as well as the Odd Thomas series..."

For some reason I think that may happen

[Karen B.]

Charlotte, if you've read all of the Chris Snow books you might have noticed that the Mystery Train has more than a "cameo" appearance. I so want this to tie in with Odd Thomas. Without giving away a spoiler I can see a thread where the two could meet. I don't know if Koontz intended that or what but
(view spoiler)[ The mystery train has to do with Time Travel and in Odd Apocalypse we find Odd becoming involved in something to do with Time travel. (hide spoiler)]

[Lisa]

Has anyone else also see the tie in from 77 shadow Street what the world became is a lot of similarities/ descriptions between going sideways into another place in the Chris Snow books. Also the descriptions in Odd Apocalyse via the world again and then the egg. I believe that 77 Shadow Street, Chris Snow and Odd are going to converge to at least know in better detail this other world/dimension. Can't wait to see where it goes...

[Karen B.]

Oh wow I never made the connection with 77 Shadow Street, but all three include Time Travel or Travel into an alternate universe. I am so into time travel especially at the present time, looking forward to Doctor Who's "The Day of the Doctor".

[Ky]

J.S. wrote: "Oh, another thing that appears a lot in his novels is the name "Bartholomew.""

It's also the name of the church in Odd Thomas and the monastery in Brother Odd!

[Lisa]

Isn't the Monastery in Louisville KY mentioned in, Your Heart Belongs To Me, St. Bartholomew's? It's been a while since I read it but it seems like it was. Feel free to correct me. God knows after 25+ years of reading his novels I don't remember a lot. I am just now trying to reread his books. I will give you a spoiler though Innocence the new Novel is mind blowing I am still letting it sink in.

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

Lisa wrote: "Has anyone else also see the tie in from 77 shadow Street what the world became is a lot of similarities/ descriptions between going sideways into another place in the Chris Snow books. Also the de..."

I love that kind of thinking :-)

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

Karen B wrote: "Oh wow I never made the connection with 77 Shadow Street, but all three include Time Travel or Travel into an alternate universe. I am so into time travel especially at the present time, looking fo..."

I love time travel and alternate realities also!!!! Koontz fans unite!!!

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

Lisa wrote: "Isn't the Monastery in Louisville KY mentioned in, Your Heart Belongs To Me, St. Bartholomew's? It's been a while since I read it but it seems like it was. Feel free to correct me. God knows after ..."

The place in Kentucky is called St. Christopher's Ranch and is located just outside of Lexington. (see the last Chapter, Chapter 57 in Your Heart Belongs to Me)

The church in Denver was called St. Gemma's (Chapter 20)

[Danny]

Hi guys,

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this as i haven't looked through this whole thread.

I have been reading Fear Nothing at the moment and have came across what i believe to be an Odd Thomas reference on page 238 (paperback that I have).

"Bobby said,'She doesn't live her life in a beauty shop,doing someone's hair - or in her house, vacuuming the carpet. She lives her life between her ears. There's a world inside her skull, and probably way stranger and more bitchin' than you or I, with our shallow brain pans, can imagine. Six billion of us walking this planet,six billion smaller worlds on the bigger one. Shoe salesman and short-order cooks who look boring from the outside - some have weirder lives than you.'

the last line of this quote is what I'm thinking is an Odd reference as he is a short order cook who, as he always says, "could be a tyre salesman or a shoe salesman". Seems a bit too coincidental that Koontz would choose these two professions out of all of the possible options, that the "six billion" people could do, to describe an ordinary person with a weirder life than Christopher Snow.

What do you guys think? I'd like to hear your takes on this :)

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

Danny wrote: "What do you guys think?"

Good catch :-) I think you are right on!

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

Tere wrote: "Another "thing" of all of his "good characters" -- they found the love of their lives early and are still with them. They love their families with each breath they take. They are happy in their own little worlds until Mr. Koontz decides to mess with them. LOL "

Thanks Tere :-)

[E.]

Among all of the repeated words and descriptions (I enjoyed reading many of them here in previous posts!) is
"Hidey-hole" -a small place where someone can get out of sight, usually to gather thoughts and consider options.
It's a phrase I've used my whole life but never heard anyone else say it. I recently began re- reading Koontz novels and it jumped out at me. "So that's where I got that from...hmmmm"

[E.]

Also "this momentous day/night" is used quite a bit. And people seeing spooky things in mirrors happens often.
The weather (while rarely sunny and clear) is always, always another character in every story.

[Karl]

Threshold instead of doorway.

[J.S.]

Danny wrote: "Hi guys,

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this as i haven't looked through this whole thread.

I have been reading Fear Nothing at the moment and have came across what i believe to be an Odd..."

Fear Nothing came out several years before Odd Thomas did. Maybe Dean's subconscious mind was already "cooking up" Odd's character when writing Fear Nothing. :)

[Diane Lynch]

J.S. wrote: "Danny wrote: "Hi guys,

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this as i haven't looked through this whole thread.

I have been reading Fear Nothing at the moment and have came across what i believ..."

Haven't read it but now I have to add it to must read

[Barbara]

Fear Nothing and Seize the Night are 2 of his best books.....I love Christopher Snow!!

[Laura]

I have a question for the group and this seems like the place to ask! I can remember several characters, especially villains, that D.K. has used that were obsessed with perfection. Like Roy Pribeaux in Frankenstein I, Junior Cain in Corner of His Eye, etc. I'm writing an English paper on this theme of villainy and perfectionism. Can anyone tell me who some of these other villains were?

For example, I remember one guy who drove around in a van, pursuing a recent divorcee'. He was obsessed with 'becoming,' a process to make him god-like. I think he even summoned a golem at one point? Anyone know what novel (or novels, if I'm mixing plots) this is?

I know there are more perfectionist villains in D.K.'s work, toss out any you can remember!

Thanks all!

PS Hubby says he remembers one where the villain is chasing a woman and her boyfriend through the desert and the baddie is turning lizard-like. I think this may be the same one I'm thinking of... Dragon Tears maybe?

[Misty]

What about Victor from Koontz's Frankenstein series? He's obsessed with perfection in himself, his wives, and in his creations.

[E.]

Laura asked about villains obsessed with perfecting themselves.
------
In Mr. Murder, Alfie was obsessed with "the need to be someone"
in Watchers, Vince believed that he could absorb the souls of his kills and that would make him invincible
In False Memory, Dr. Ahriman the haiku guy wasn't really trying to perfect himself but he was quite the control freak
.
Koontz has some really great villains....Junior, Corky, Vess... layered crazy upon evil upon quirky

[Laura]

E. wrote: "in Watchers, Vince believed that he could absorb the souls of his kills and that would make him invincible..."

I think Watchers may be the one closest to what I'm looking for... still can't remember the one where the villain is the divorcee'. In practically the first five minutes of the book, she sees her ex-husband get run down by a car (van)?

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

Laura - that is Shadowfires :-) I read it last year for the first time.

[E.]

In response to a question from Laura back in September which bad guy was "becoming"...
I'm currently reading Red Dragon
I'm right in the middle of it and as he reveals his dragon tattoo and talks about his "becoming" and your question popped into my head, so I thought I'd throw that out there
I know you were writing a paper and the necessity of the answer was timely but I still felt compelled.

[Betsy]

E. I think that you nailed it about Francis Dolarhyde in RED DRAGON being the character who is "becoming". I believe that it was in his toilet tissue note to Lecter when he says, " The important thing is what I am Becoming." And later, when he had abducted Lounds, he told him, " I AM the Dragon; you owe me awe." So, he is working toward that transformation. What an interesting book!

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

Sodium Vapor Street Lamps

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

More sodium vapor street lamps :-)

[Mary]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "More sodium vapor street lamps :-)"

HA HA! Like that Dustin...

[Jacki]

I was re-reading Night Chills and the primer drug seems to be an awful lot like Santa Fe #46 in False Memory.

I also noticed that many of his villains have an incredible appetite, yet usually remain muscular due to a really fast metabolism. In fact, they tend to have one hell of a sweet tooth. I wonder if this is supposed to be a message about gluttony?

They also tend to have this utter contempt and hatred for women. As in, beyond what's necessary. And I've noticed some of it being due to rejection as youths. I mean, it makes the bad guys really easy to hate but it definitely seems to be a trend.

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

Slim Jims

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

Diane, you are replying to yourself :-) Have you been reading Mr. Murder? Do you have an evil twin? I am the evil twin, myself.

[Diane Lynch]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Diane, you are replying to yourself :-) Have you been reading Mr. Murder? Do you have an evil twin? I am the evil twin, myself."

Yes Dustin it appears I do I an evil twin. I have no knowledge of replying to myself. I didn't look at the name in the notification. I don't normally get my pen notifications. We are in Koontzsland!

[Diane Lynch]

Diane wrote: "Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Diane, you are replying to yourself :-) Have you been reading Mr. Murder? Do you have an evil twin? I am the evil twin, myself."

Yes Dustin it appears I do I ..."

Down to 1. Sorry

[Diane Lynch]

Golden Retrievers are Dean Koonts preferred breed. Their presence is in many of his books in some form. Hopefully this doesn't get repeated!

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

You can repeat as much as you want :-) I thought it was funny.

[Diane Lynch]

As long as I'm at least being entertaining Dustin. I like to bring something to the table. I once again can only add a comment. Not reply. I wish I had a clue how to get back to the more user friendly pages. Don't worry, if you miss this post it will appear again shortly. I have no control over mt Goodreads app.

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

I am entertained by people whose first names start with "D" - Dean, Diane, etc. You are in good company.

[Diane Lynch]

Dustin Diane. Dean

[Diane Lynch]

I thought I already posted this but I do not see it.
Instead of myself a de an evil twin it is someone who is partially confused some of the Tim version someone complete confused sometimes. As you have witnessed.

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

An interesting story involving Mr. Murder. I first read the book in 2011 for our group read. I have a goodreads friend named Dustin and we were getting confused about which of us people were referring to in discussions. This is when I became a crazy little brown owl. I said I would be the evil twin. Mr. Murder gave me the idea and that is how I became who I am today :-)

[Diane Lynch]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "An interesting story involving Mr. Murder. I first read the book in 2011 for our group read. I have a goodreads friend named Dustin and we were getting confused about which of us people were referr..."

My story isn't as interesting. In just confused to one degree or another. That would be difficult having duplicate Dustin's. Especially since you run the group. I think theirs 3 Diane's but we all think alike.

[Diane Lynch]

Diane wrote: "Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "An interesting story involving Mr. Murder. I first read the book in 2011 for our group read. I have a goodreads friend named Dustin and we were getting confuse..."

Their is now almost no way you can be confused with another Dustin by the way. Taking it to the extreme!

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

Yes, I have been known to take things to the extreme :-)

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

but the good things is - taking things to the extreme helps me win costume contests. I dressed as an owl last summer and then I won the Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest in December :-) I not only had a sweater with bows, ornaments and a Christmas card attached but I had a knitted hat with stick on bows and glued pinecones on my head too. It was fun.

[Diane Lynch]

Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "but the good things is - taking things to the extreme helps me win costume contests. I dressed as an owl last summer and then I won the Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest in December :-) I not only had..."

Wow. I have to have my son read that one. He does the ugly sweater thing every year. An actual owl costume?

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

It was a Super Hero Party so I dressed up as an Owl :-)

[Diane Lynch]

Super Owl

[Karen B.]

Another Koont-incidence: When I picked up False Memory to read I noticed that one of the quotes he uses at the beginning of the novel is from Martin Stillwell, the main character in Mr. Murder and Dustin wrote that he had quoted some of himself in the beginning of another novel. I am going to be carefully reading these quotes now.

[Diane Lynch]

Karen B. wrote: "Another Koont-incidence: When I picked up False Memory to read I noticed that one of the quotes he uses at the beginning of the novel is from Martin Stillwell, the main character in Mr. Murder ..."

I will have my guard up

[Diane Lynch]

Dean Koontz loves to describe the weather. It more than sets the mood. Sometimes it's almost it's own character. Now that I've realize this I tried to figure out a book where the the weather wasn't a significant part of the writing of the story.