Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Intensity by Dean Koontz

9 reviews

alyceea's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

dezaraemd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape and Police brutality

sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition

4.0

If I hadn't read Koontz before, I don't think that I could have made it through this book. The title describes it quite well. But this is also the most disturbing villain in a Koontz novel I've encountered yet. The absolute evil that exudes from him is horrifying and I found I could only read in small bursts until the last section. Then I was speeding through it, heart racing, needing to know how it ends. It is graphically not graphic - it describes a lot of horrifying things including murder, sexual assault, rape, mutilation, torture - but Vess approaches things in such a removed almost clinical fashion that it isn't graphic yet somehow worse? Definitely a lot of triggers for people from Chyna's childhood and history to the things that take place in the novel to the things that Vess talks about in his past.
The thing that I continue to feel that sets Koontz's books apart is that even in the midst of these horrific situations, there is always a thread of hope and the power in human connection and community. It gets pretty thin in this book but it is there. I would not read this book again and I'm not even 100% sure I'm glad I read it but I'm not mad I read it either. It's very intense and not something to be read lightly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

cryptofauna's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this review keeps deleting on me randomly so they’re getting shorter and shorter every time i rewrite it
i did not expect to like this one as much as i did but it was a really good time! super well written with very interesting characters and it was viscerally freaky and tense. 
can definitely tell that preston and child were koontz fans and i’m fs not mad about it
having the split perspectives of the antagonist and the mc was super interesting and really helped build the tension
CHECK TWS FIRST

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Addiction and Alcohol

cass_booklover's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Murder

carladay83's review against another edition

dark hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The action bits are good but the book drags a lot with the characters internal musing. The killer's musing are especially drawn out and boring until

about a third of the way through when the characters actually "meet".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

judassilver's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

katvc's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Grief