Koontz List

So. I made the goal a while back to read all of Dean "Go Word Count!" Koontz's novels, even those that suck. And even those that were written under a different name (and the guy has used several. Split personality much?). I've read several of them before, so I won't have to reread those, which is good, because life is short.
Thanks to wikipedia, I've got a list of all of his novels - along with the years that they were prublished. Or published, even.
I'll embolden (heh) the ones I've read (that I can remember reading. Some I may have read and just don't recall. Stupid generic exchangeable titles.[/mutter]) and then after the list, I'll put any little comments about the books I've read. Go word count!

1. Dean Koontz's Frankenstien, Book Three (Summer 2006)
2. The Husband (May 30, 2006)
3. Forever Odd (November 29, 2005)
4. Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, Book Two: City of Night w/ Ed Gorman (July 26, 2005)
5. Velocity (May 24, 2005)
6. Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son w/ Kevin J. Anderson (January 25, 2005)
7. Life Expectancy (December 7, 2004)
8. The Taking (May 25, 2004)
9. Odd Thomas (December 9, 2003)
10. The Face (May 27, 2003)
11. The Book of Counted Sorrows (2003)
12. By the Light of the Moon (December 24, 2002)
13. One Door Away from Heaven (US December 26, 2001)
14. From the Corner of His Eye (December 26, 2000)
15. False Memory (December 28, 1999)
16. Seize the Night (December 29, 1998)
17. Fear Nothing (January 14, 1998)
18. Sole Survivor (January 29, 1997)
19. Demon Seed (revised edition) (July, 1997)
20. Tick-Tock (October 1, 1996)
21. Intensity (1996)
22. Dark Rivers of the Heart (1994)
23. The Door to December (1994)
24. Dragon Tears (1993)
25. Mr. Murder (1993)
26. Trapped (1993, Graphic Novel)
27. The Funhouse (1992)
28. Hideaway (1992)
29. Cold Fire (1991)
30. The Bad Place (1990)
31. Shadowfires (1990)
32. The Eyes of Darkness (1989)
33. Midnight (1989)
34. Lightning (1988)
35. The Servants of Twilight (1988, as Leigh Nichols)
36. The Voice of the Night (1988)
37. Shadowfires (1987, as Leigh Nichols)
38. Watchers (1987)
39. Strangers (1986)
40. The Door to December (1985, as Richard Paige)
41. Twilight Eyes (1985)
42. Darkfall (1984)
43. Twilight (1984, as Leigh Nichols)
44. Phantoms (1983)
45. The House of Thunder (1982, as Leigh Nichols)
46. The Eyes of Darkness (1981, as Leigh Nichols)
47. The Mask (1981, as Owen West)
48. The Funhouse (1980, as Owen West)
49. The Voice of Night (1980, as Brian Coffey)
50. Whispers (1980)
51. The Key to Midnight (1979, as Leigh Nichols)
52. The Face of Fear (1977, as Brian Coffey)
53. The Vision (1977)
54. Night Chills (1976)
55. Prison of Ice (1976, as David Axton), reissued as Icebound (1995)
56. Dragonfly (1975, as K. R. Dwyer)
57. Invasion (1975, as Aaron Wolfe), reissued as Winter Moon (1994)
58. The Long Sleep (1975, as John Hill)
59. Nightmare Journey (1975)
60. Wall of Masks (1975, as Brian Coffey)
61. After the Last Race (1974)
62. Surrounded (1974, as Brian Coffey)
63. Blood Risk (1973, as Brian Coffey)
64. Dance with the Devil (1973, as Deanna Dwyer)
65. Demon Seed (1973)
66. Hanging On (1973)
67. The Haunted Earth (1973)
68. Shattered (1973, as K. R. Dwyer)
69. A Werewolf Among Us (1973)
70. Chase (1972, as K. R. Dwyer)
71. Children of the Storm (1972, as Deanna Dwyer)
72. The Dark of Summer (1972, as Deanna Dwyer)
73. A Darkness in My Soul (1972)
74. Demon Child (1972, as Deanna Dwyer)
75. The Flesh in the Furnace (1972)
76. Starblood (1972)
77. Time Thieves (1972)
78. Warlock! (1972)
79. The Crimson Witch (1971)
80. Legacy of Terror (1971, as Deanna Dwyer)
81. Anti-Man (1970)
82. Beastchild (1970)
83. Dark of the Woods (1970)
84. Dark Symphony (1970)
85. Hell's Gate (1970)
86. The Fall of the Dream Machine (1969)
87. Fear That Man (1969)
88. Star Quest (1968)

#6 - Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Book One: Prodigal Son with Kevin J. Anderson was pretty good, actually. Much as I might complain about Dean Koontz (and rightfully so in a lot of cases), reading this was what prompted me to start my Dean Koontz campaign. The drawbacks - the story was originally written (as Koontz explains in the forward) as a Made For TV movie script. When that fell through, he opted to write it as a trilogy. A lot of the action in the book (not to mention the dialouge) reads like a made-for-tv movie. And the "humor" that the cop Michael uses was just completely unfunny. But then, Koontz's characters have never been ones that spoke ...normally.

#7 - Life Expectancy another decent book. The humor actually worked in this one, and I enjoyed the villain(s). Although I gotta wonder, if someone predicted that your newborn child would have five dates of misery and strife (and told you exactly what dates they would be) ...would you tell your child? Yeah, there's the idea of being prepared for something bad that is going to come, but on the other hand, maybe not knowing at all would be better. I Don't know. Just seemed odd that Jimmy Tock's parents would tell him about his dates with destiny at all. Of course, if they hadn't we wouldn't have the story...or maybe we'd have a very different one. [shrug]

#8 - The Taking - This one started out pretty good. Very quick, very actiony, very apocalypse. About 60 or 70% through the book I said to Steph, "I just don't see how he's going to get them out of it." because the situation was just so freaking dire. And then the ending came and it sucked ass. Plus, there was a "super dog" in this one (Dean Koontz has a tendency to include dogs that exhibit greater intelligence, kindness, and humanity than any normal person you'd meet in the world). If Dean Koontz (or someone) were to rewrite this book with a MUCH different ending, it would be top notch.

#13 - One Door Away From Heaven - currently reading. There are three narratives going on in this story, and I am most intrigued by the one about the boy on the run. Even if he does have a dog with him. I'm barely 100 pages in, so the verdict is still out right now.

#15 - False Memory - UGH! Horrid. He's used the same plot in at least two of his books, plus there was a super dog. And a completely unneccesary disturbing sex/incest scene. This type of crap is what gives Koontz a bad name.

#18 - Sole Survivor - Um. I read it, but don't have much memory of it. Something about people surviving plane crashes? The ending, if I recall, was totally unexpected... but I don't know if that was a good thing or not.

#21- Intensity - I hated this book, even though it is supposedly one of his best. I don't recall much about it, except that the villain was laughably stupid. (Not that the villain was unintelligent, just unbelievable as a person.) And the protagonist was much the same.

#22 - Dark Rivers of the Heart - I know I liked this one, but I can't recall for the life of me what it was about. Doh.

#24 - Dragon Tears - This was one of my favorite Koontz books, and I know I recommended it to the Steph, but she hated it. This had a super dog in it, but I didn't care. I liked the story of a person becoming a god. The scene where time was frozen except for the two cops was awesome.

#35 - The Servants of Twilight - Another really great story that fell apart at the end. I came up with a much better ending, but meh.

#38 - Watchers - The book that got Koontz noticed. And that features a super dog as the main plot point. Not a bad story, but I have no idea what happened in it. I've not watched any of the movies based on this, and have no desire to.

#39 - Strangers - This was Koontz's The Stand. Totally epic, covering multiple characters from all walks of life who slowly come to realize that even though they don't know each other - at first - that they have something really big in common. No idea how it ended, though. Heh.

#44 - Phantoms - Yay for the premise! Boo to the fact that I can't remember a single thing about the story!

#54 - Night Chills - Er. I know it was about a government group using subliminal messages to control people, and I know that it had some very explicit sex scenes. Other than that, I have no idea.

Huh. So, I guess in conclusion what I've learned is that most of Dean Koontz's books suck at the end, and/or are completely forgettable. Yay!