Customer Reviews

Winter Moon

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Jack McGarvey, one of L.A.'s finest, is wounded in a violent and spectacular gunfight. In Montana, Eduardo Fernandez encounters something in the woods...something which means him harm.

When Eduardo dies, and McGarvey inherits the man's cabin, it seems like a dream: a chance to get away from the city and really LIVE. But living may turn to dying, and the McGarvey family is about to find out. There is still something in the woods, and it wasn't satisfied with Eduardo. It want's McGarvey's young son...and is ready to do anything to get him...

This isn't Koontz's best, but as a sci-fi thriller, it's pretty darn good. A "creature feature", yes, but it's more than that, as any Koontz novel is: it's a novel of a man defending his family against an unknown evil, and coming to grips with himself. A reworked version of an earlier Koontz story, this novel is, like most of Koontz's work, a nearly-flawless thrill ride of chills and suspense. Dean Koontz is a masterful writer; "Winter Moon" is an incredible novel. Get the picture?

I've read every novel by Dean Koontz, and I would put WINTER MOON in the bottom third. This is not a terrible novel, but it's very slow paced in the middle and the ending is not particularly satisfying. This is supposed to be an alien invasion story, but the alien is essentially little more than a two-dimensional monster. Little explanation is provided for why the alien behaves as it does, and I found this story made very little sense as a result. Koontz has told this type of monster story much better in other novels, most notably PHANTOMS.

This novel also is very preachy in spots, where Koontz promotes his personal views on gun control, urban crime, the film industry, graffiti artists, heavy metal music, and a variety of other subjects. Although I mostly agree with Koontz's views, I don't read fiction to validate my own political beliefs. In any case, the sermonizing slows down the story.

I'm a big Dean Koontz fan, and my advice is to avoid this novel if you've never read Koontz before. Instead, read some of his stronger novels, such as WATCHERS, ODD THOMAS, PHANTOMS, INTENSITY, LIGHTNING and FEAR NOTHING. Those novels will turn you into a fan.

Well, wow! does this book have punches!!

I have to admit to a particular part of the book when Eduardo encounters one of these "Givers" on his front porch. He hears them walking and aproaching his door, he demands a reaponse, but there is none; and finally when he comes face to face with this entity it kills him!

Another disturbing part of the story is when little Toby and Jack are out in the cemetary where most of the family appeared to have been buried a few yards from the house and when Jacks tries to figure out what his son, Toby meant by when he said: "Where do we go when we die?"
And with that said Toby looked up from the epitaph and looked directly at his father and Jack noticed that it was not his son he was speaking to. His eyes were completly black and it was though you could almost see through to him...

THis was beyond scary!!!! I definatly recommecnt this thriller to anyone who isn't scared easily!

This is a highly entertaining, quick read, that is sure to provide some chills. Here, a heroic, Los Angeles Police Department cop, Jack McGarvey, is shot and almost killed in a wild shoot out which sees several civilians killed, as well as his partner, the second partner Jack has lost inside of a year. After a four month convalescence, Jack, his wife Heather, and their son Toby receive an unexpected gift, seemingly from the Gods. Eduardo Hernandez, the father of his former partner of eleven years, died and left Jack a six hundred acre ranch in Montana, as well as a substantial sum of cash. Having decided that enough is enough, Jack and Heather agree to relocate to Montana.

Unbeknownst to Jack, before seventy year old Eduardo Hernandez died, he had been experiencing some mighty strange goings on at the ranch. One night, a bizarre, electronic oscillation pulsed through the bone deep quiet of the Montana air, coming in disturbing waves, accompanied by the sense of an alien presence. An amber radiance resonated through the pine woods surrounding the ranch. Lasting only seven minutes, the phenomena disappeared, only to return a month later in an even more disquieting fashion. Louder, with more rhythmic pounding, it caused the house to vibrate. An undulation of sound lured Eduardo out of his home, where a luminescent amber radiance once again emanated from the woods, calling out to him, the sense of an alien presence overwhelming. It then disappeared, as quickly as it began. A month later, the same thing occured, only this time a two dimensional doorway into infinite blackness appeared, a portal into the unknown. Soon after this portal appeared, the surrounding wildlife began to act strangely. Just what was going on?

Read this book and find out. Just remember...leave the lights on!

I have read many of Koontz's books, and honestly there wasn't one that I didn't like. He is pretty consistent with his writing.

That aside, this was a good book. I am not sure why it's titled as such, but I liked how the stories of the family in Los Angeles and of Eduardo on Quatermass ranch, got brought together in the middle, only to finish in an explosive end. Without giving the plot away, and writing yet another summary, I liked this book for a few simple reasons;

- The main characters, Jack and his family are really likable. They are storing people, and I found myself reading thoughts they expressed, and feeling that I feel the same way about things in life.
- Eduardo is an older man, living alone on Quatermass ranch, far away from any cities or people, and he discovers creepy things. Animals around him acting weird, dirt and stench in his house, scary pulsating and noises that grows stronger and stronger.

It was hard to read it at night, because the old man was alone, and I literally had to remember to breather when he kept discovering things. Good read after all, another nice book form Koontz.

I only with the ending was longer, in so many Koontz books, the fight up the hill gets to a dramatic climax only to let go and end very quickly on a page or two.
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Winter Moon was an okay, but by no means fantastic, read. The story goes like this: Jack McGarvey is a cop who gets shot up on the job in LA and decides that he just can't take the mean streets anymore. He moves his family out to a Montana ranch inherited from Eduardo Fernandez (his dead partner's father). Before his death, Fernandez discovers a strange 'alien' being of some kind that has no purpose or motivation other than to 'become' and 'hate'. A face to face confrontation with this being is what causes Fernandez'a ultimate demise, from a heart attack. When the McGarveys move to the ranch, they soon discover this being. Before long they find themselves in battle for their very survival.

This story would have been much better, except for a couple of problems. 1.Way too much backstory. The whole first half of the book is literally split in two. You go back and forth between Jack's recovery from the shooting in an LA hospital and Fernandez's various encounters with the alien. Because it takes literally half the book for the main plot to get going, you feel like you are reading two different books, and end up unable to fully get involved with the plot of either. Really, DK could have split this up into two books that could have stood on their own. 2.The alien's lack of any motivation that the reader would be able to understand was just unsatisfying. While it might be true that we could never understand something that is truely alien, because of it's very 'alien-ness', it doesn't make for very satisfying story telling.

This isn't the worst book I've ever read, but DK can (and has) done a lot better. As long-time fans know, he is a little hit or miss. Newcomers to DK novels should not let this novel put them off of future readings.

When ever you read a story wherein the evil the emotes throughout remains mostly of unknown origins, I find it chilling. In a remote ranch in Montana, things get rather frightening and frecky scary. The winter moon brings out more than the solstice.

This was my first book by Dean Koontz that I had read, and I loved it, it is my favorite book that I have ever read. The storyline was just great, the way he set up the characters, perfect! This is a good page-turner, and it is a VERY suspenseful and creepy book! The action in the novel was great, it could not have been better, 5 stars all the way, I loved it from page one! I am defiantly going to read this book again. If your looking for a good read, then pick up Winter Moon.

Being an avid fan of Dean Koontz, I've read my share of his novels. But Winter Moon takes the cake. Koontz's writing in the book is superb. There are a few flaws (Anson Oliver's shooting spree and the events at Quartermass Ranch aren't linked together too well), but everything else makes up for it. Two more notes: I finished reading the book in about two days. You'll hopefully like it as much. Also, the part where Ed finds evidence (dirt, fabric) of the "intruder" is trully creepy. I couldn't sleep!

I have read a few Dean Koontz books & I have read a number of books in the 'Horror' genre but the last time I was this frightened by a story I was 17 & reading the Shining by Stephen King.

Can't quite put my finger on what it was that frightened me so, but i rememeber reading on my way home & experiencing terror at what i was reading. Koontz delivered the characters fear so expertly that i was locked into the story & couldn't put it down.