Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Reader's revirw - Dean Koontz (Twilight Eyes)

Click to buy the book
Dean Koontz was one of the first writers I became acquainted with. It has been a happy acquaintance with only a few disappointments. I have read dozens of his books - both in Danish and English - and I still have a pile of books just waiting to be read.

I do not know if you can truly classify Koontz as a horror writer. Most of the time, his novels belongs to the suspense / fantasy genre. But if I have to pick just one novel that are closest to the horror style, it must definitely be 'Twilight Eyes'.

Slim MacKenzie is a gifted person. He can do something most people can not. He can see THEM. Behind their human image, lives an unnatural and profane existence that Slim are committed to fight alone. The story takes us to a marketplace that is closed for the night. Closed? Yes indeed. Deserted? Absolutely not.

I do not know about you, but I have a weakness for closed or abandoned amusement parks and hotels. Just the thought of being located in a place which is normally filled with people, but
now are deserted and silent, seems scary to me. I once worked at a hotel which was closed between Christmas and New Year's Eve, and believe me, as soon as the last guest had left the building, a creepy feeling starts sneaking in on you.

Because of that, 'Twilight Eyes' just pushed all the right buttons in my mind. It feels like the sun never really shines brightly in this book. It is a dark and sinister story. Send the family on a trip to the countryside, lock all windows and doors, and read the book after dark. Quit the background music. S
ooner or later you will turn down the music anyway, and you will sit there - just listen for sounds in the house which probably has a natural explanation. Probably. But the thought might occur to you, that the noise you could hear probably is THEM. THEY have entered your house. Now YOU are the prey - and you are all alone...