Whispers Review
Koontz-Alert Checklist (Every Dean Koontz book has at least one of the following ten eleven things.)
1. Blond lead/love interest - Yes
2. Dog(s) - Nope
3. Government conspiracy - Nope
4. Aliens - Nope
5. Serial Killer - Yup (Koontz's staple super-handsome, well-built egomaniacal maniac)
6. Bougainvillea plant - Nope
7. Sodium-vapor streetlight - Kinda (Mercury-vapor this time)
8. Precocious child - Nope
9. Town gone crazy - Nope
10. Psychic(s) - Nope (But there was a mention of second sight)
and introducing the newest Koontz Alert...
11. Incest - Yup.
I'd forgotten how prevalent incest is in Koontz books. Whether it be rape or consensual, incestual sex is a theme throughout Koontz's career. I know he had a traumatic childhood (horribly violent mother), but I am unsure if he was molested. It's none of my business either. I wouldn't be surprised if he was an incest survivor, though.
As for the book itself, I did not hate it. It's not one of my favorites, though, due to all the sex. This one is quite porny, with our MCs clocking in at two and a half sex scenes. And the murders are boring in the sense that I've seen it all before. But it's not a bad book. Classic silly-ass Koontz dialogue made for a cringeworthy conversation or two. But the plot kept me guessing all the way to the end, which contained some truly flesh-crawling scenes. Yuck. Ew. I need fourteen showers.
Of course, this is a Black/Neon era Koontz book, so it was bound to be, at the very least, readable. But I enjoyed it more than I thought possible, considering the concept.
In summation: One of the better early Koontz novels, but you can't really go wrong with the Koontz books with Black/Neon covers, so I don't know why I expected to dislike it. I'll blame Delee, who I buddy read this one with. She said she remembered it being bad, so yeah, I'll blame her. :)
Final Judgment: Quaking with disgust.
1
