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A review by topdragon
Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz
3.0
Once again, Dean Koontz proves he is a hit or miss writer.
This first book of the so-called "Moonlight Bay" trilogy has an intriguing main character, (Christopher Snow), an interesting premise involving secret experimentation at an abandoned military base using retroviruses to enhance intelligence in animals, and a nice setting on the California coast. Unfortunately, it just never quite lived up to its promise. It seemed like every time my interest started to peak, the main character waltzed off into several pages of introspection on his life and what it all means.
Granted, Christopher Snow's life is unique in that he suffers from a rare genetic disorder that leaves him dangerously vulnerable to light. Consequently he lives by night; even too many candles in a room make him squint. That's a great concept for a character but the plot wandered about quite a bit before settling on the obvious telegraphed path that had to unfold eventually. This one was close to earning only two stars from me except for some nice scenes with Christopher's best friend, Bobby, (a surfer dude), and a pretty cool fight with monkeys at the end. Monkeys, especially monkeys with heightened intelligence and an evil streak always make for great horror fiction.
It seems even Koontz has abandoned this trilogy since the second book was published in 1999 and nothing since. Reportedly, Koontz had said in 2000 that he was half way through book 3 at that time. Hmmm...
This first book of the so-called "Moonlight Bay" trilogy has an intriguing main character, (Christopher Snow), an interesting premise involving secret experimentation at an abandoned military base using retroviruses to enhance intelligence in animals, and a nice setting on the California coast. Unfortunately, it just never quite lived up to its promise. It seemed like every time my interest started to peak, the main character waltzed off into several pages of introspection on his life and what it all means.
Granted, Christopher Snow's life is unique in that he suffers from a rare genetic disorder that leaves him dangerously vulnerable to light. Consequently he lives by night; even too many candles in a room make him squint. That's a great concept for a character but the plot wandered about quite a bit before settling on the obvious telegraphed path that had to unfold eventually. This one was close to earning only two stars from me except for some nice scenes with Christopher's best friend, Bobby, (a surfer dude), and a pretty cool fight with monkeys at the end. Monkeys, especially monkeys with heightened intelligence and an evil streak always make for great horror fiction.
It seems even Koontz has abandoned this trilogy since the second book was published in 1999 and nothing since. Reportedly, Koontz had said in 2000 that he was half way through book 3 at that time. Hmmm...