The Husband is the absolute pinnacle of suspense, but what’s most impressive about this book is how it takes a fairly basic premise and transforms it into something complex and substantial. Through a series of escalating, elaborate ploys, Mitch believes he’s figured out exactly what to do… until he’s betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. When her captors inform Mitch that Holly will be killed unless he forks over the cash - and left to die if he informs the police - Mitch must figure out how to get the money without letting anyone know what’s really happening. You can get her back for $2 million - cash.” So reads the tagline for this heart-pounding thriller, which follows a man named Mitch Rafferty in his quest to save his kidnapped wife, Holly. evil, you should at least read Odd Thomas for the other amusing “oddities” used to lighten the tension: namely, a rotating cast of famous ghosts who keep our hero company, including the specters of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. Plus, no matter how you feel about paranormal fiction and battles of good vs. However, a much greater evil is about to descend upon the town of Pico Mundo in the form of the 'Fungus Man' - a figure who walks into Odd's diner one day, surrounded by shadowy spiritual harbingers of death and destruction.Īs Odd probes further into these cryptic forces, he begins to understand that his supernatural abilities are no match for what the Fungus Man has in store… but that doesn’t mean he’ll quit trying. For instance, when he’s approached by the ghost of a murdered girl, he’s able to point police toward her killer. Like many of Koontz’s characters, Odd has just emerged from a pretty rough childhood however, despite his general disillusionment, he hasn’t lost his own inherently good nature. Having said that Twilight Eyes and Watchers are the two best books I have ever read and just wish there had been follow up to Twilight Eyes.The first in Koontz’s bestselling series of the same name, Odd Thomas introduces us to the eponymous hero, a twenty-year-old short-order cook who can communicate with the dead. The power of the possibility of an unhappy ending means you can't take the author and story forgranted. I read Plague by Masterton and whilst I dont rate him quite in the same league as Koontz the ending had a bigger impact than most Koontz's happier endings, or Last Rites by Shaun Hutson for example.

Whilst I know some loose main characters during the story, it would be better if occasionally there was an unhappy ending to keep you guessing, as you tend to know that all will end happily.

Whilst I have read some of Deans later Novels, I do think his earlier works were more original and had a harder edge to them. What happened to Night Chills? This was my first Dean Koontz book and I loved it, very hard edged for Koontz.

Red Rain by Dean Koontz