Customer Reviews

Shattered

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This book's about Alex who is driving with his wife's 11 year old brother across America from Philadelphia to San Francisco where his wife awaits them in their new house. Unbeknownst to them a mentally deranged man also sets out on a similar journey with the same destination in mind only he has some time to kill on the way. What Alex and Colin first think is a game they've created of the van which seems to be following them becomes deadly real.

This is a fairly short and simple novel which is very predictable in most parts. There's not really any twists in this story and its quality does reflect that Koontz has had thirty years of writing experience since this book. You also wonder why they didn't just contact the police when they first encounter their pursuer in the flesh. Still it's an easy simple read that will only take you a few hours. This would also make an excellent novel for young people who are first moving from Junior Fiction to Adult Fiction.

This rewritten version of the 1973 short novel written under the pen name K.R. Dwyer is pretty similar to the earlier version with subtle changes like "the Russians are our friends now" and things like that in general conversations between the characters.

With a great premise for the story, can Koontz pull it off? Stuck in a car with a young boy traveling across country with a crazed killer following you, closing in...And pull it off Koontz does.

I enjoy reading Koontz for several reasons, the least of all being that he scares the pants off of me! While the plots may not be very realistic, they terrify you, fill you with suspense & dread and they probably keep you up and night either reading or afraid of the dark!

Shattered isn't his best book, that's why I only gave it 4 stars, however, it is a good book. Most of what Koontz touches seems to turn to gold and this book is no different.

typical koontz; pretty slick and effective, not a lot of emotional content (compared to king, for example), fast read. good book for day at the beach or an airline trip.

One of the most interesting things about this book is how it shows how far Dean Koontz has evolved over the years. It's got a copyright from 1973 and has very little resemblence to his more recent novels. Just enough though, that you can tell it's Dean Koontz. A very young Dean Koontz.

The story told has been been recycled over and over in shows like "Tales From The Crypt" and countless "B" movies in one variation or another. Alex Doyle is driving from Philadelphia to San Francisco to move in with his new bride Courtney. He also brought his new brother-in-law Colin along for the ride. He is a very precosious pre-teen. During the trip it is discovered that they are being trailed by a man who is trying to kill them. The villian has a serious mental condition that causes him to hallucinate and become violent(Big surprise huh) From this you can probobly gleen the ending but I've told you nothing you won't know by page 20 anyway. The story is devoid of any surprises and is really a stripped-down bear bones tale. It moves along quickly which makes it an easy to read in a single sitting.

In the end I found that what Dean Koontz tells us in the tale is not nearly as interesting as what the tale tells us about Dean Koontz. He's come a long way!

Shattered is not one of Deans better reads. However, to compare it to his best work would be giving bad props to the story. The plot has its holes that is for sure, but the novel overall is a good old fashioned scary one. Its about a woman and her son who are travelling across the states to go live with her new husband on the West Coast. The whole time there they are being followed by a very bad individual who intends them major harm. The book is an easy read and I got through it in one day. That is not because the story is for 12 year olds though, its one of those that once you start it, you cannot stop...just like the woman and her boy in the car haha. This is one of Koontz's older stories and it has a flair of realism since its set on a road rage huntdown/showdown that takes place before there were cell phones. The characters are believable and they bring out the fear that someone can imagine having when put into a situation like they are in. Good book to read on a quiet, winter day.

I thought this book was interesting. Not the best Koontz book, but worth the read. It took only 2 days to read, even faster if you like reading for extended periods. I would recommend it. I suppose the ending could be better but it wasn't horrible.

This is my third Koontz novel, and I continue to be impressed with his overall writing skills. What I am disappointed by is the way he often wraps things up too quickly and wayyy too abruptly. Ex. in this book he sets up a conflict between two Ohio cops who are trying to find the killer, then fails to ever mention them again. It is almost like he worked like mad on this book, got tired and sleepy towards the end, and just said "[scrap]it," wrote a [poor] ending and went to bed. A few pages of epilogue would have helped this book tremendously. What about the Ohio cops and their argument? What really led to the killer conpletely freaking like he did? How will Colin and Alex and Courtney face the future, given what happened with George? These are plot threads that could and should have been wrapped up more neatly than they were. All in all, a good read that could have been much better with just a little more effort.

I read this from one of his 3-novel collections, and it's one of the weakest Koontz novels I've read. The villain was rather weak, with only a few of his qualities being interesting. His intentions and motives are standard cookie-cutter. Some tension is built with sudden mentions of his van. There is not enough fleshing-out of the "hero", and the ending feels abrupt and not worth the trouble, while also being a little predictable. It's only a hundred pages, so it only took me a couple hours to hammer out. The main cop that was mentioned was a waste, with no conclusion for him written. The "encounters" the hero has with "discrimanatory" people along the way are annoying and cliched. Still, it was fun to follow their cross-country pursuit on my road atlas.

Probably just for Koontz fans, and I firmly count myself as one.

It took me three days to finish this book. I couldn't put it down. I liked how Koontz not only wrote from Doyle's perspective but also through other characters in the book. This book struck a little to close to reality. There are nutcases out there and what if one of them decides to follow you home. I really enjoyed the whole idea of the plot. The ending was also good. He left the ending right where it should have ended. I recommend this book. It was quick and easy to get into.

I must say this is a good book. Though it is pretty short, about 100 pages. This makes for a very short read. That may be good or bad, it depends on what your looking for. The story is not all that original but told well. The characters are also pretty likeable.

The only real complaint I had was that the ending really didn't tie every thing up. I just felt it needed more closure. All in all though it was a good book and Definitely worth the read.