The Key To Midnight

A re-read for me after many years. The opening mystery drew me in as much this time around as it did before. Though I want to love this book, the sexual violence seems to be a product of its time — I couldn't help feeling the book could have easily been as threatening without it. Still the reveal is big enough and logical and there are enough twists to make this an excellent thriller. I was pleased to discover an early kick-arse heroine, although she has flaws, and, in places, a naivete that's questionable (can't say more without spoilers).

3.5 stars

Alex is a private detective and recognizes Joanna when he walks into her club in Kyoto. He recognizes her as Lisa, who went missing 12 years ago and disappeared without a trace. Joanna insists she is not Lisa, but as they look further into it, they are convinced she is, but she really doesn’t remember being Lisa. She has memories of her life (as Joanna) before Kyoto and before 12 years ago. What happened?

I thought this was pretty good. At first, I thought Alex was not a good person, but that turned out to be wrong (it wasn’t long before we figured this out, so it’s not a spoiler). The nightmares that Joanna had were creepy. This was originally written under a pseudonym, as it was a different genre than Koontz usually show more writes. He rewrote parts of it to update it in 1995 (from the original 1979), though a lot of the subject matter still felt a bit 70s. Overall, though, it was good. show less

I imagine one of the hardest things for an author to achieve is the creation of believable characters. Mr. Koontz's solution to this challenge is to dispense with characters all together. Sure, this novel features "people" named "Alex Hunter" and "Lisa Chelgrin" and such, but these are not characters but vehicles for plot. There is an elegant minimalism to Koontz' work here; he never bothers giving a character two dimensions when one will do.

Which, considering the genre, would be forgivable were the book actually entertaining. It is not until the last 50 - 75 pages that there is enough action to maintain a reader's interest. Up until then, things happen slooowly, with numerous pointless digressions which serve mainly to eat up time/space.

this is one that gets you thinking and i liked it. very different then the other koontz book i read as there is not much crazy super natural in here.

this one has a pretty interesting plot that i really liked and i thought the idea of having your whole identity erased is a creepy idea. i also liked the Japanese setting it mostly took place in and even later on when they traveled to Europe.

the climax towards the end was really thrilling and fun. i also thought the plot twists it had were pretty decent. my only complaint with this book is that the romance stuff was not really my thing it was well written but i got a little bored during those parts but thankfully they dont take too long to get through. overall i enjoyed it and found it got show more really good as it went along. the begging part did not bother me but i can see why it might be slow for some. show less

This is the first book I've read by Dean Koontz and I was not impressed... until the Afterward. The story seemed overly drawn out in the middle and rushed at the end; the characters didn't really resonate with me. I was going to give up on reading another Koontz book, when I read the Afterward.

In these few pages, Koontz came across like a different person than the author of the book (insert pseudonym comment here); his style was crisp, witty and smart. I was so intrigued by the dichotomy between this "chapter" and the rest of the book, that I think I might give Koontz another try.

'The Key to Midnight' foi um de quatro romances que Dean Koontz escreveu sob o pseudónimo Leigh Nichols, dos quais eu li (e não gostei muito) 'The House of Thunder'. Embora lidando com temas semelhantes, gostei mais da abordagem feita neste pois assume logo de início do que se trata. Em 'The House of Thunder' eram avançadas várias hipóteses, sempre (ou quase sempre) no domínio do sobrenatural e do fantástico, quando tudo não passava de-- É melhor não contar mais.

Em 'The Key to Midnight' há surpresas, mas não são surpresas metidas "a martelo". Bom, nem todas. Para os apreciadores de policiais e romances de espionagem, esta foi uma tentativa do autor de experimentar esse universo. Não se safou mal, mas podia ter feito show more melhor. Ou talvez eu esteja a ser exigente demais. show less

An excellently re-written book which holds the interest all the way through. It is thought-provoking and credible. The idea that someone's mind can be altered to eliminate their past life and replace it with a new set of memories is infinately disturbing and in our modern times who knows what is possible or actually happening?