Fear Nothing (Mass Market Paperback)

by Dean Koontz (Author)
Key Phrases: crematorium window, cold holding room, southern horn, Father Tom, Moonlight Bay, Lewis Stevenson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
If you think you've got it tough, meet Christopher Snow, the hero of Dean Koontz's novel Fear Nothing. Not only did his parents die under mysterious circumstances, but he's also being stalked by shadowy characters who want Snow to stop trying to find out how they died--or else they'll bump off his remaining loved ones (his supersmart, beer-lapping dog Orson; his best surfing buddy Bobby; and his late-night deejay girlfriend Sasha). And as if being on the lam in his own hometown, Moonlight Bay, California, isn't bad enough, Snow has to outrun his pursuers without leaving town. He has XP--xeroderma pigmentosum--a rare genetic affliction that forces him to avoid light. Cumulative exposure to sun, fluorescent lights, and the like will give him cancer eventually, and he doesn't dare leave the place where he's skillfully "done the mambo with melanoma" for all of his 28 years. Koontz makes the night-town of Moonlight Bay come alive in this sometimes pulse-pounding, sometimes funny, but mostly rather lyrical thriller. Fans of Koontz's legendary 1986 novel Watchers will love this book's similar theme: our hero and a loveable super-dog deal with a genetic engineering laboratory run amok. Horror fans will savor the evil mutant rhesus "millennium monkeys" who hunt Snow, the few scenes of eloquent gore, and the plight of certain mutating townsfolk who are, as they put it, "becoming" something very creepy.

Koontz gives Snow and Bobby a lingo that does for surfer talk what Austin Powers did for the Swinging '60s, and his metaphors are almost as madcap as Tom Robbins's: "As the chains of the swinging light fixture torqued, the links twisted against one another with enough friction to cause an eerie ringing, as if lizard-eyed altar boys in blood-soaked cassocks and surplices were ringing the unmelodious bells of a satanic mass." Sometimes Koontz's style goes over the top and wipes out, surfer-style, but for the most part, Fear Nothing will have readers bellowing "Cowabunga!" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YA-Christopher Snow understands the night. He, like the owl, is nocturnal, living on the mysterious darker edge of society. Snow is afflicted with xeroderma pigmentosum, a rare and often-fatal genetic disease that makes ultraviolet rays-even those from lamps and televisions-deadly. His condition makes him a pariah in the isolated small town of Moonlight Bay where the ignorant and insensitive fear what they do not know. As the action begins, Snow's father dies, leaving him with only a handful of offbeat but fiercely loyal friends to turn to for understanding. At the morgue, Snow accidentally witnesses his father's body being replaced with the mutilated corpse of a vagrant. Before he can find out what is behind this scandal, he receives a frantic summons from a friend who is brutally murdered before she can finish explaining a strange story about monkeys and a secret project at the government compound at the edge of town. What begins as a disturbing puzzle quickly becomes a sinister conspiracy as Snow uncovers evidence of uncanny intelligence in many of the local animals and inhumanely vicious tendencies in some of the human residents of the Bay. They are "becoming" he learns, but becoming what? Chilling chase scenes steadily increase the breakneck pace as Snow, assisted by his remarkable dog, is pursued through the night by unseen forces. Despite some clunky and unnecessary surfer slang, fans will go wild for this well-plotted thriller.
Robin Deffendall, Prince William Public Library System, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (December 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553579754
• ISBN-13: 978-0553579758
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (468 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,734 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Scary Book with a Dog to Die for, January 21, 2005

By	V. Irish "Veronica Dream" (Papillion, Nebraska) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Chris Snow suffers from xeroderma pigmentosum, aka XP, a condition which makes him vulnerable to skin cancer and eye problems. He cannot be in the light, especially the sun, cannot go out during the day. You might say he is allergic to the light. He is a night person. His father is dying from cancer and his mother was killed in a auto accident two years ago.

He keeps his house dark, lights with candles. When he goes over to the few friends he has, they dim their lights. It is by candlelight in the hospial that he visits his father just before his death. Later he wants to bury a picture of his mother with his dad and in the morgue he happens on a couple guys switching his dad's body before it was supposed to go to the funeral home.

Thus begins an adventure that is typical Dean Koontz, with Koontzian characters that are sometimes bizarre, sometimes crazy, sometimes shady and always very real. So real that you feel like you are running from the bad guys right along with Chris and his friends. And then there is Chris' highly intelligent dog Orsen and a whole passel (troup actually) of very bad monkees. How does Dean Koontz do it, write books as good as this?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, good characters, January 8, 2003

By	Tammy L. Schilling "tammyl84" (MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a long time Dean Koontz fan, I can attest to the fact that he can be very hit or miss. While I wouldn't necessarily call Fear Nothing a total hit/blockbuster, it was one of the best Koontz that I have read in a while. Those familiar with Koontz, but leery of his irregularity will not be disappointed with this novel.

I won't bother going through the plot again, as so many other reviewers have done quite well. I will just say that the plot was sufficiently suspenseful to keep me turning pages and happily entertained. The characters in this book, though, are really the best parts. Christopher Snow, a man with a serious disease that makes him deathly allergic to light is not only sweet, but funny as well. His friend Bobby, the coolest of all possible surfer dudes, is hysterical and philisophical at the same time. You really won't be able to help liking these characters.

Unlike in some other novels, Koontz maintains his talent for strong description and backstory, without getting into long-winded tangents that put readers to sleep.

Overall, I say Fear Nothing was quite fun, entertaining, and a pleasure to read. I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of Seize the Night, the next book in the Christoper Snow saga. I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy suspenseful reading and likable, funny characters.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fear Nothing -- Enjoyable and Entertaining for Koontz fans, June 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fear Nothing (Hardcover)

Dean Koontz became my favorite author after reading my first book by him book several years ago. I have read most of his books by now, sidestepping some of his very early works, when he was using some other name.

I haven't finished reading Fear Nothing, but so far, about 2/3's of the way through, I am enjoying it very much. The surfer lingo is neat, and the hero is very easy to relate to...no, I dont have XP too. I hesitate reading all the reviews here, at this site, because I would like to see how Fear Nothing is to be resolved myself.

Koontz's previous two books, Intensity and Sole Survivor were less than great,,,which is the yardstick by which I gauge this author's novels: he is so good. Intensity had me wanting to smack Chyna for her procrastination, and Sole Survivor was so bundled up and contrived at the end that it didn't do much for me.

If you have never read Koontz before, you might want to give Fear Nothing a shot,,,then, go back and read some of his best, like Lightning, Watchers, and my favorite, Strangers...of course, there is also Twilight Eyes (a sleeper, but a great one), Phantoms, The Bad Place, Dark Rivers of the Heart, and dont' forget his minor stuff that's good too, like Darkfall and Cold Fire (which, although lacking much action, is very well balanced and contrived),,,All in all, between Koontz, Crieghton, Clancey, Cook and Clark, one could have a prety good time.