Strange Highways: The Chase [Audio Cassette]

Dean R. Koontz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1995 | Series: No Shit, There I Was-- Series

Back by popular demand-master of suspense Dean Koontz's classic collection of stories-now available on CD! One of the most popular and prolific storytellers of our time, Dean Koontz has many classic New York Times bestsellers to his name, but none quite like this. STRANGE HIGHWAYS: THECHASE is part of Koontz's spellbinding collection of tales interconnected by the strange highways of human experience-the adventures, terrors, failures, and triumphs encountered on the roads that are chosen, and on those detoured by fate. As profound as it is mesmerizing, STRANGE HIGHWAYS:THECHASE is a remarkable achievement.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Time Warner AudioBooks; Unabridged edition (August 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570422990
• ISBN-13: 978-1570422997
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,548,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania where I graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University). When I was a senior in college, I won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and have been writing ever since. My first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where I was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. During my first day on the job, I discovered that the previous occupier of my 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 I was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. I wrote nights and weekends, which I 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, my wife, Gerda, made me an offer I 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 my writing career. Gerda and I, along with our dog, Trixie, live in southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Chase' is a good read, but short story is riveting!!, December 14, 2000

By 

A. Marsh (Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Strange Highways: The Chase (Audio Cassette)

I liked 'Chase.' It was read quite well by the narrator and you do start to feel much empathy for Ben Chase, who is a young, struggling Vietnam hero who is feeling anything but heroic. As Ben drinks whiskey and eats apples in the solitary of his apartment day by day, the reader is right there with him, sipping along, staring at the bare, white walls of his drab one-room studio apartment. He is miserably content in his solitude, only venturing out to see his psychiatrist. But then he witnesses the murder of a young man, and his protective shell begins to be chipped away -- and not always by the right people and circumstances. The true identity of the stalker/murderer is hidden well throughout the book; I did not begin to figure it out until toward the end. Another plus to this book is that Ben Chase is a modern, Shakespearan tragic hero with an evolving tragic flaw that the reader discovers as the book goes along.

On a negative note for 'Chase,' I felt Ben's love interest needed more character development; it's like she's just thrown in there suddenly. The book goes rather slow at times, and I found myself wondering if an abridged version might have been better. Also, this might just be a personal thing, but I had different expectations for what type of person the killer would be, so it was a strange ending and resolution at the end for me. But perhaps that adds to the mystique of the book, and you yourself might like that.

Now, as for the short story, "Down in the Darkness," I loved it so much that I listened to it twice so I, the second time around, could hear those subtley wound clues a virgin listen may have missed. The story from the very beginning grabs your attention and holds on tight until the end. Just what is the story behind the disappearing cellar in this new house? And what is down there? These are the questions you'll be urgently asking yourself as you explore the cellar with 'Jes.' The sights, smells and anxious but curious horror that Jes feels truly come to life. And the end will lead you on a path of self-introspection that makes you question your own motives and feelings at times. This short story is a concise work of art -- not too long, not too short -- your daily dose of Koontz at his best. Needless to say, I highly recommend it, and while I give 'Chase' a 4, I give this short story a 5++!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping rendition of an earlier work, well revised., October 28, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Strange Highways: The Chase (Audio Cassette)

The audio version of Chase is done in a gripping and mysterious style fitting with the content. The story is one to sympathize with as the listener feels he is living out the adventure with the main character, a misunderstood Vietnam vet who wants only to be left alone in his misery. His struggle towards heroism in the context of Koontz's expert thriller content is an enchanting mix. The extra content added to this book only adds to its value in the same vein. The "Down in the Darkness" story is similarly a story of struggle of a man against his baser instincts and against his more natural and unnatural inclinations.
Highly recommended.

3.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Simple Read but Not Quality Koontz, September 17, 2003

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Strange Highways: The Chase (Audio CD)

An ex Vietnam war hero Ben Chase has retreated into a world of seclusion. While checking out young couples at a hilltop make out place, he observes a lone man acting strangely. The man stabs a young male in a car and Chase intervenes before the girlfriend is murdered as well. Slipping on wet grass, Chase isn't successful in stopping the killer from escaping.

Chase starts to get phone calls from the killer who calls himself The Judge. He tells Chase that he is researching him and his judgement will come soon. Can Chase work out Judge's identity before he is killed himself?

This is a very short and simple to read book. It is not one of the masterpieces Koontz has written but you have to remember this is one of his first books written by him over 30 years ago. It is still an enjoyable read and would be ideal for those who are just moving up from the junior fiction world into novels and do not want thick or complicated novels. His novel Shattered is also like this.