One Door Away From Heaven (2001)

This was another solid Dean Koontz book, but it wasn't by any means my favorite. I read Koontz looking for some chills, or at least a little spookiness and this one didn't really deliver. The most frightening part was probably the author's note when he states that there are really people out there who teach that bioethics crap. ( )

"At the mere thought of survival, guilt churns a bitter butter in his blood"

This was 12 pages into the book and I had mixed feelings about the language Koontz had been using. I reached this statment and laughed out loud. There is more of this sort of thing in this book than I see in most books and it is a little much. Having said that, I am still reading and am 220 pages into the almost 600 pages.

At this point the three separate stories being told have not converged. The story of Curtis is, I think, the weakest and I hope it will improve when/if it joins the others. The story of Micky and Leilani and the story of Noah are both strongly written, interesting and enjoyable. The Curtis story is told from the perspective of a young boy and his dog ("Fun. Hey, get his shoe! Shoe, fun, shoe shoe! What could be better than this, except a cat chase...") - perhaps that is why I enjoy it less.

I'm still not convinced that I will finish this... have read another 20 pages and am giving up. This is a little too much like work. ( )

This book is really good, however, one part of the book runs really slow and is a little difficult to get into until the end. It's definitely interesting for the most part, especially if you're into aliens and things of the like. ( )

Rubbish. Total and complete nonsense. Zero stars. Neo-conservative trash. The only reason I finished this lengthy garbage was so I could feel justified posting a review. And I don’t buy that crap that if I disagree with his politics that I can’t enjoy the story. This isn’t a novel. It’s a thinly-veiled political and religious diatribe. And a goddamn boring one at that. Koontz attacks all the stereotypical right-wing bogeymen—the entertainment industry, health-care, dropout druggies, and, of course, intellectuals. Worst of all, it’s one-dimensional and monotonous. The water in my toilet has more depth than Koontz’s writing.

The story revolves around an evil bioethicist who’s hell bent on murdering anyone who is crippled. According to Koontz, this doctor is the product of an educational system dominated by the teachings of Peter Singer. Yes, we’re supposed to believe medical schools are plagued with the idea to kill any patient who isn’t perfect. That doctors just can’t wait to pull the plug. It’s one thing to pretend this is happening in a fantasy world, another to call out Singer by name. That’s when it goes from being a story to being political. If you don’t remember, Catholics got their panties in a bunch when Singer was hired to teach at Princeton, as if some intellectual exercise on making tough choices about life and death was too sacred to discuss like adults. Guess the church didn’t have anything better to worry about back then. Oh wait, I forgot all about that priest diddling children thing. Write about that cover-up, Koontz! I dare you, coward.

Anyhow, this madman doctor cons a drug-addled hippie to tag along with him, just so he can kill her children. She doesn’t seem to mind that this bastard has already murdered one of her kids, under the guise of an alien abduction, since, well, drugs are bad and make one retarded beyond any common sense. Of course, her daughter sees through this ruse, since she’s like really, really smart. Written as though she were Yoda, this child is one of the most unrealistic characters in the book, an accomplishment in itself, since all the others combined have about as much depth as a piece of cardboard. So this girl teams up with an ex-con who’s trying to get her life back together. Sprinkle in some chase sequences, along with an alien who has a fetish for dogs, and presto, you get nonsense. Oh, and don’t forget to add the political attacks on godless Hollywood.

Hey, if you’re tired of watching Fox News and want something more to confirm that liberals just want to kill everyone, while religious warmongers are the true champions of peace, then go right ahead and dive into this preachy and overly lengthy tome. But I’m done with this crap. And I’m done with you Koontz. You’re just another delusional crank who’s joined the list of author’s I no longer give a piddly-shit about. Go preach your nonsense to the anti-gay bigot, Orson Scott Card, or the ‘Obama is going to cause the apocalypse’ dolt, Dan Simmons. Better yet, fly off into outer space and co-write Glenn Beck’s next sci-fi novel. The rest of us down here on planet earth won’t miss you. ( )

I've come to the conclusion that Dean Koontz is a good writer with everything except for endings. This book is no exception.

The ending wasn't "bad" but it wasn't great and was a little lackluster considering the rest of the story.

The main story had me completely enthralled and kept me up a few nights. I really liked the characters and felt that the ever so tidy ending wasn't completely suited to the rest of the atmosphere.

All in all- the story I give 4 stars and the ending I give 2 stars and since it was a long one I balance it out with and average of 3.5 stars.

If you enjoy Koontz this is worth a read but be prepared for his little happy bow-tie endings. ( )