Midnight Dean R Koontz Book

Product Description

In picturesque Moonlight Cove, California, inexplicable deaths occur and spine-tingling terror descends to this "edge of paradise." Growing numbers of residents harbor a secret so dark it is sure to cost even more lives. Tessa Lockland comes to town to probe her sister's seemingly unprompted suicide. Independent and clever, she meets up with Sam Booker, an undercover FBI agent sent to Moonlight Cove to discover the truth behind the mysterious deaths. They meet Harry Talbot, a wheelchair-bound veteran, who has seen things from his window that he was not meant to see. Together they begin to understand the depth of evil in Moonlight Cove. Chrissie Foster, a resourceful eleven-year-old, running from her parents who have suddenly changed and in whom darkness dwells, joins them. Together they make a stand against darkness and terror.

From Publishers Weekly

The latest tersely titled thriller by Koontz ( Strangers ; Lightning , etc.) displays the author's abilities at full throttle. A horror story with science fiction underpinnings, it concerns a brilliant, insane inventor, Theodore Shaddack, who uses the sleepy California town of Moonlight Cove as an outsize lab for a bizarre experiment that ultimately turns the community into a charnel house. He has devised a solution of microchips which, when injected into the (usually unwilling) subject, endows them with immense mental powers over their own bodies, leaving them, however, emotionally lobotomized. As a result, almost all the "New People" regress to animal form, to experience again primal sensationsand in animal form, they kill. The story is told from the points of view of four people who perceive that something horrible is happening in Moonlight Cove, and that if they do not act fast, it will happen to them. It is also related from the point of view of Sheriff Loman Watkins, himself a "New Person," but who retains enough moral sense to be disturbed by what is happening around him and in him. Despite some paper-thin characterizations and a predilection for the maudlin, Koontz's sense of pace and the dramatic are sure, and there are a number of memorable moments. This one should hit the bestseller list at a run. 200,000 first printing, $150,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild selection. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile

In this morality tale for our time, Dean Koontz tells a story of mindlessness run amok. Sam Booker, undercover FBI agent, comes to peaceful Moonlight Cove, California, to investigate a sudden increase in the "accidental" death rate. A messianic genius has effected chemically induced changes in the DNA of the townsfolk. The absence of human emotions frees the locals from thought and responsibility, but burdens them with murderous, uncontrollable altered states. Narrator J. Charles's high energy keeps things from becoming a gratuitous bloodbath. Although Charles plays against the gloom and doom, infusing humor whenever possible, Koontz spends too much time defining terminology, interrupting rather than advancing the excitement. It is Charles's performance that keeps this ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU clone from bogging down. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About the Author

The books of Dean Koontz are published in 38 languages, and worldwide sales top 400 million copies. Eleven of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, and several have been adapted into feature films and TV miniseries. Dean and Gerda Koontz live in southern California with their golden retriever, Anna, grand-niece of the famous and beloved Trixie.

From Library Journal

Four people are the last hope of Moonlight Cove, because one by one the rest of the citizens are changinginto boogymen, werewolves, mythical creatures, or something entirely new. They are the New People, willing victims of a seductive experiment in chemically induced evolution. They can transfo