The Eyes Of Darkness by Dean Koontz|Review

A mother's greatest wish--or worst nightmare--comes true in this chilling novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz.
Tina Evans has spent a year suffering from incredible heartache since her son Danny's tragic death. But now, with her Vegas show about to premiere, Tina can think of no better time for a fresh start. Maybe she can finally move on and put her grief behind her.
Only there is a message for Tina, scrawled on the chalkboard in Danny's room: NOT DEAD. Two words that send her on a terrifying journey from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the cold shadows of the High Sierras, where she uncovers a terrible secret...

The Eyes of Darkness.  A title that gave me chills as I inhaled this spectacular, genre busting novel.  A government whose role it is meant to be to protect the citizens of their country.  They aren’t meant to cover up a catastrophic accident and keep a grieving mother from finding out the true cause of her sons’ demise.  This novel is the best example at highlighting that the human condition is the real monsters lurking in the dark.  Their penchant for control, devastation and blood thirsty violence is the main theme played throughout. 

Sounds intriguing, right?  The Eyes of Darkness was magnetic.  Every time I put the book down to do chores, I just had to come straight back to it.  The synopsis was brief and vague but gave me the carrot and stick analogy.  The more delved further into the abyss of the plot, the more I knew that it would swallow me whole!  A horror/suspense novel with elements of the supernatural, count me all the way in.  it doesn’t follow the usual scripture of the horror genre…it had a stick of TNT under it and Koontz was going to blow it up when you stood on the precipice. 

Tina Evans has had a terrible year.  First her marriage dissolved and then she found out her only child, Danny had died in a terrible accident whilst hiking with his scout group in the Sierra mountains.  She was never given the closure of viewing Danny’s body because there wasn’t much left of it.  Now, a year on, it doesn’t hurt as much but someone or something has raked all those feeling back into her subconscious.  Someone wants to mess with her.  Someone doesn’t want the past to stay buried. 

Tina, our protagonist in The Eyes of Darkness is everything I love in a character.  No matter how much she has been battered into the ground she just refuses to stay there and succumb to the desolation the situation has put her into.  I wanted her to succeed in her career, kick her mentally abusive ex husband to the curb for good, and most of all I was rooting for her and Elliott to get over past hurts together.  She is the epitome of a bad ass woman – you’ll just have to take my word for it and read the book. 

You really don’t know who you can trust in this novel…the answer is no-one and that’s probably a good life lesson to take forward.  Everyone has their own agenda.  Everyone will most likely stab you in the back if it came to a you or me situation.  One thing was clear, family is and should always be the most important motivator.  Hell have no fury like a mother scorned. 

The Eyes of Darkness was horror novel with an interesting twist.  Another one that kept me up well past my bedtime.  It’s frightening realism is never scarier than it is right now!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When he was a senior in college, Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. His books are published in 38 languages and he has sold over 500 million copies to date.

Fourteen of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list (One Door Away From Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Midnight, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Hideaway, Dragon Tears, Intensity, Sole Survivor, The Husband, Odd Hours, Relentless, What the Night Knows, and 77 Shadow Street), making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved that milestone. Sixteen of his books have risen to the number one position in paperback. His books have also been major bestsellers in countries as diverse as Japan and Sweden.

The New York Times has called his writing “psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying.” The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Koontz is, “at times lyrical without ever being naive or romantic. [He creates] a grotesque world, much like that of Flannery O’Conner or Walker Percy … scary, worthwhile reading.” Rolling Stone has hailed him as “America’s most popular suspense novelist.”

Dean Koontz was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University), and his first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where he was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. His first day on the job, he discovered that the previous occupier of his position had been beaten up by the very kids he had been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and Koontz was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. He wrote nights and weekends, which he continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside Harrisburg. After a year and a half in that position, his wife, Gerda, made him an offer he couldn’t refuse: “I’ll support you for five years,” she said, “and if you can’t make it as a writer in that time, you’ll never make it.” By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of her husband’s writing career.

Dean Koontz lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Dean Koontz Website