The House of Thunder

This is one of those mysteries where you have absolutely no idea what is going on until the very end. Is she imagining things because of her brain injury? Is she really seeing ghosts come back from the dead to take their revenge? Or is it all just an elaborate plot to send her crazy? I really enjoyed most this book and I would have loved to give it a higher mark. Sadly, though, it was let down by the ending, which seemed to be rushed and didn't really fit the rest of the story. It is as if the author ran out of inspiration at a certain point and just tacked on a stock ending. I was left with a feeling of dissapointment and anti-climax when I finished this novel. Such a shame.

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.

Susan Thornton watched in terror as her lover died a brutal death in a college hazing. And in the four years that followed, the four young men who participated in that grim fraternity ritual also died violently—or so she thought.
Twelve years later, Susan wakes in a hospital bed. Apparently involved in a fatal accident, she can’t remember who she is or why she is there. All she knows is that her life is unfolding into a menacing nightmare—and that the faces that surround her, are those of the four men involved in that murder years ago.
Have the dead come back to life? Or has Susan plunged into the abyss of madness? With the help of her neuro-surgeon, she desperately clings to her sanity while fighting to uncover who—or show more what—could be coming for her. show less

Tightly written. Not as character driven as some of his other work, but a really tight plot. Susan Thornton is caught in the middle of a Cold War plot and has no idea what is going on or who to trust. The.web she is caught in is very tightly woven… Very good stand alone novel.

The House of Thunder started off strong. For a while, I thought it was going to be a great early Dean Koontz novel, back when he was an amazing writer. Unfortunately, it didn’t end so well. Susan Thornton finds herself in a hospital after an auto accident. She can remember very little of her life, including where she worked and what she did. The one thing that she can remember well is a horrifying incident that happened to her earlier in her life—when her boyfriend was murdered as a result of a fraternity hazing incident. Things go haywire for her when she starts to see the men who killed her boyfriend at the hospital, and they attempt to terrorize her.

The writing and suspense started off great. I found myself quickly getting show more enwrapped in the story and was eagerly awaiting seeing where it would go. It was about at the two thirds mark that it started going off the rails. First, it was because at that point it starting getting repetitive. It became a cycle of Susan seeing crazy things, doubting her sanity and reality, and the staff trying to convince her that none of those things were real. In the end, when Koontz finally gave the big reveal, it was so ridiculous and far-fetched that it was groan inducing. Perhaps, if I read it in the eighties, I might have felt differently. As it is, it really brought the novel down.

Carl Alves – author of Conjesero show less

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.

A real shocker of a read, especially considering it is one of the authors older, less known novels. It starts off a little slow in the first 50-100 pages or so, and its definitly not the kind of novel with lots of action, at least not until part 3, which leaves you with a little over 100 pages left to read. However the mystery keeps you going until the end, you will NEVER see this ending coming, you will guess and guess and still never even scratch the surface of the plot twist, at least thats how it was for me and i usually predict twists in most of the books i read. Some consider it farfetched, but considering the time period, and things we all wonder about our governments and how little we know of what goes on behind closed doors, i show more dont think its too far of a stretch. However, the ending will make or break the book for you, i personally loved it, easily the best plot twist/ending in a Koontz novel to date for me, which includes 15 of his novels. Either way, it is a must read for any Koontz fan! show less