Your heart belongs to me [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Dean Koontz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2008

LARGE PRINT Edition Hardcover Dean KoontZ

Product Details

• Hardcover: 509 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books; Book Club edition (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607510979
• ISBN-13: 978-1607510970
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 3.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (242 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,174,835 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

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip this one, January 3, 2009

By 

10Ker (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Your Heart Belongs to Me (Hardcover)

I'm a big Dean Koontz fan but this one just doesn't work. The premise was a great one and I looked forward to reading the story. But it drags from the start (this is the first time I've actually skimmed over paragraphs in a Koontz novel) and the intertwining of supernatural with reality just doesn't fit together this time. The story picked up a bit post-transplant (more than half-way through the book though) but the ending is a major disappointment. No spoilers here - but there are certain events that just don't make sense, the supernatural seemed out of place and the ending itself is extremely unrealistic and unfulfilling. Koontz can do much better and hopefully next time he will.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I guess I'm weird...I loved it!, January 8, 2009

By 

Jake Chism (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Your Heart Belongs to Me (Hardcover)

Ryan Perry made a fortune after he created the internet's largest social networking website. Only thirty-four years old, Ryan is one of the wealthiest men in the country and has everything a man could want. Even his love life is better than he could have hoped, and he has no doubt Samantha is the one he will spend the rest of his life with.

One fateful day while Ryan is surfing he feels an intense pain in his chest, scaring him enough to visit the doctor. His worst fears are confirmed when he discovers he needs a heart transplant to live. As Ryan waits for a donor his world is torn apart by strange events and suspicions that he has no answer for. He begins to believe that those who are closest to him may be responsible for his medical condition. His search for the truth will lead him down a dark road that could destroy him in ways he never imagined.

Your Heart Belongs to Me might be one of the most unique novels of Koontz's career. Depending on your perspective, that can be good or bad. It's hard to fit this story into one clear cut genre. While there are terrifying moments, this is not a horror novel. Much of the story is full of drama, emotion, and romance, yet this is not a typical love story. This novel is very suspenseful, but driven at a much slower pace than Koontz's previous works.

Much of Koontz's early career was highlighted by suspenseful stories with both supernatural and horror elements. Many of his die hard fans still want that from him, and subsequently are quick to turn on his later works that are full of powerful explorations of light overcoming the darkness. While I enjoy many of the vintage Koontz novels, I have also thoroughly enjoyed his more recent approach to storytelling. This latest offering is certainly no exception.

In my book, no one equals Koontz when it comes to prose and dialogue. Those strengths shine here, but what carries this story is the character of Ryan Perry. His journey is full of struggle, hope, torment, and redemption. Koontz gives us a rich guy that has everything, and he still makes us care for and hurt alongside him at every turn. We're able to see through the riches and security Ryan has built up around him and look into the heart of a person who is frightened by the realities of life and death. As we're drawn deeper into the story, we are effectively drawn deeper into Ryan's life, making this a more profound, heartfelt tale.

While the pacing of this story is slower than we've come to expect from Koontz, in no way does it take away from the suspense. Ryan's paranoia about his situation and his search for truth amidst a world of confusion makes for a very addictive read. This is also one of the most spiritual themed novels Koontz has written and maybe one of the most poignant. In the end, Koontz delivers a great little twist that is both powerful and sobering. Even if you are aching for some classic Koontz give this one a chance and enjoy yet another wondrously crafted tale from the master.

59 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great read, for me at least., November 25, 2008

By 

Robert Busko (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Your Heart Belongs to Me (Hardcover)

I look forward every spring and fall to the two Koontz books that I know will come as surely as the seasons change. I have yet to be disappointed in any of his books and I can also say that for Your Heart Belongs to Me. I know that some Dean Koontz fans are disappointed when a new book doesn't resemble each and every book he has already written. It is a matter of perspective. I enjoy the variety that Koontz serves up.

Your Heart Belongs to Me fits nicely with books such as The Husband and The Good Guy; stories that deal with psychological stress on the protagonist and by extension the reader.

The story here is strong and certainly plausible. Ryan Perry, a self made millionaire is living the life most of us would do anything to have. Bright, rich, popular, Perry is living the American dream though he is just a little paranoid in my opinion. Then, like so many of us have experienced, that charmed life is threatened by a medical crisis, in this case, cardiomyopathy, a condition that can't be corrected without a heart transplant. Short of that, the condition is a death sentence. Since Ryan is young and vibrant, and has the money, a viable heart is found and life is once again becomes good. Well, maybe. In no time Ryan's life turns creepy; perhaps the transplant won't work out. This is where Koontz excels, finding the weird in the normal everyday things we all take for granted. Then, of course, who is really behind it all?

Dean Koontz does a wonderful job developing the story though some may feel it is just a bit contrived. I don't! The characters are certainly believable, the story is well developed, and in classic Koontz style, wastes no time in grabbing your attention and moving you along.

I highly recommend.

Peace to all.