A mystery that cycles through the same handful of scene setups until their treads wear thin. In its final pages it ramps up suddenly to an unsatisfying conclusion. ( )

A strange story of a woman caught in the possible grip of madness, trapped in a real or personal Hell. A reread for me and I’d completely forgotten this story so didn’t know the outcome, although I partially guessed the direction in which it was heading. This is one to read for the buildup, especially if you love creepy tales, which, in this instance, Koontz weaves well. Though I found the horror a little cheesy in one spot, I sped through this book in two days. An easy, absorbing ‘fun’ read. ( )

I have never been disappointed with A Dean Koontz novel...until this one. In all fairness to the author, it wasn't all his fault. I listened to the audio book and the reader was horrible and that's putting it graciously. Somehow the story just didn't seem to be in the usual "Koontz" style. It started out okay but then developed into an unbelievable middle and didn't seem to really have an end. A really bad first book for a new Dean Koontz reader. Long time readers will be a bit more forgiving because we know how really good this author can be. ( )

The House of Thunder, by Dean Koontz
While vacationing, Susan Thorton suffers a serious car wreck where she is told her brakes failed. She awakes in a tiny hospital in rural Oregon. As she becomes somewhat lucid, Susan learns she has been in a three-week coma and now has amnesia. The staff at Willawauk County Hospital take very good care of her and are nurturing bunch, for the most part. Gradually she begins regaining her memories and her strength, but curiously enough, nothing about the company she works for, (Milestone Corporation) and what she does for them. In fact when her boss calls to wish her well, she gets a scary foreboding feeling. Then, on top if it all, she begins hallucinating. At the hospital she sees the men who murdered her boyfriend thirteen years ago in a severe hazing incident. The crime happened in a cavern known as The House of Thunder due to the thunderous sound of water. They men harass and threaten her and she is justly terrified. . She also sees the decaying corpse of her dead boyfriend. No one believes her, but are sympathetic with her plight. They tell her it's all in her mind and she must talk herself out it by saying to herself, it's not real, it's not real. This she does all the time knowing they are going to brutally rape and kill her.

Dr. Jeffrey McGee and all the staff try to help Susan with her paranoid delusions. As a brilliant physicist previously almost obsessed with order, Susan comes to feel that she truly is losing her mind. To complicate matters thoroughly, she is falling in love with her doctor.
The novel is fast paced concludes wildly unexpected. Near the end, the book takes an unexpected and sudden twist. The reader will be surprised and probably be unable predict the ending. ( )

Ending was a bit of a let down ( )