FROM AMAZON: Past midnight, Chyna Shepard, twenty-six, gazes out a moonlit window, unable to sleep on her first night in the Napa Valley home of her best friend’s family. Instinct proves reliable. A murderous sociopath, Edgler Foreman Vess, has entered the house, intent on killing everyone inside. A self-proclaimed “homicidal adventurer,” Vess lives only to satisfy all appetites as they arise, to immerse himself in sensation, to live without fear, remorse, or limits, to live with intensity. Chyna is trapped in his deadly orbit.

Chyna is a survivor, toughened by a lifelong struggle for safety and self-respect. Now she will be tested as never before. At first her sole aim is to get out alive - until, by chance, she learns the identity of Vess’s next intended victim, a faraway innocent only she can save. Driven by a newly discovered thirst for meaning beyond mere self-preservation, Chyna musters every inner resource she has to save an endangered girl...as moment by moment, the terrifying threat of Edgler Foreman Vess intensifies.

I went back and forth between 3.5 and 4 stars for this one and rounded up mostly because the narration was well done.

I spent a good chunk of the first many chapters convinced that this was going to be just like the French movie High Tension. There were so many similarities but it turns out it was very different.

It's hard to describe this book without using the word "intense" so the title definitely fits. Although, that's not where the name comes from. You'll have to read it to find that out.

I definitely enjoyed the story and the two main characters. We get a pretty good look into the killer's head and I liked what Koontz did with him. He's not what I'm used to when it comes to reading about someone who enjoys torturing and killing people. Our heroine is interesting and bad-ass. And her childhood makes mine look like a lovely dream.

There were some places where my attention waned and I kind of wish it had ended sooner than it actually did but I still enjoyed the shit out of this book. ( )

I used to read Koontz a lot in my early 20's but every time I have tried one recently, I have been disappointed. I have been waffling on trying anymore but saw a lot of people recommend this one so I thought I'd give him another chance. And I definitely shouldn't have. I don't think there is one thing I liked about this book. It was preposterous to the extreme and, at the same time, tedious beyond belief. It had so many elements I dislike in a book that I am astounded he could fit that many in. I pushed myself to finish it because I've been in a book slump and keep DNFing books but this just made me realize how important DNFing a bad book is. I can't tell you how much I loved his book Watchers that I read in the late 80's but I guess I was quite a different person then and I won't ever re-read it for fear my memory of it will be ruined but, alas, his books are just not for me anymore. ( )

When Chyna's friend Laura is abducted, Chyna's instinct is to follow her attacker. Not knowing Laura is already dead, Chyna risks her life to save her friend. When Chyna herself becomes trapped, her first instinct is to get out alive, until she learns the identity of the killer's next victim.[return][return]I've successfully avoided Koontz books before, and I dont think I will be rushing out to buy the next one.[return][return]I wasnt in the right mindset for this one, obviously, as I rapidly got bored with it, and found little to reengage me with it.[return][return]The main female character - who has a history of abusive "uncles" - is left alone in a house after the other residents are killed, including her best friend. After hitching a lift on the mobile home the killer is driving, she manages to escape the vehicle, without being seen, and takes refuge in the convenience store, also without being seen. She then *follows him back* into the mobile home, having taken the cashier's gun, without noticing that the gunman has pulled down the cashier's trousers and emptied the gun into his backside. She only finds this out when she tries to fire at him, and naturally all the bullets have been used up. Oh for crying out loud!

I'm a true crime junkie, so I'm used to very gruesome crimes. But this novel chilled me to the bone. I started reading this book a year and a half ago but, I put the book down because I was overwhelmed and picked it up again a few months later. It is a horror-thriller in every sense.

Chyna is such a strong-willed character. I was so afraid for her. The writing was so vivid that I was petrified as if it was all happening to me in real life.

I have gotten up screaming in the middle of the night multiple times this week. ( I couldn't remember why but I think it's because of the book)

Nothing has given me so many chills in my life. I felt very alive reading this. Highly recommend. ( )