Strangers

Strangers(1986). A Novel By Suspense/Horror Author Dean Koontz. Dean Koontz. His name is synonymous with things that go bump in the night and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, and is often compared to the King of Macabre, Stephen King. While his books usually are easily comprehendible and "to-the-point," with 'Strangers', Dean Koontz has produced his "epic". Almost every author has an "epic," or, in the case of Charles Dickens, sometimes 4 or 5. A novel huge in size and thought, with in-depth characters, profound messages and morals, massive and interweaving plots and sub-plots, it's most easily defined as a novel that "makes you think"! 'Strangers', weighing in at 681 pages, is a tale of government intrigue, with a massive cover-up that included brainwashing the memories of over 30 people who stayed at The Tranquility Motel in rural Nevada to make them forget the horrors of July 6th, 1984. After experiencing disturbing nightmares and odd disorders like sleepwalking and phobias, Ginger Weiss, Dominick Corvaisis, Brendan Cronin, Jack Twist, Sandy and Ned Sarver, and Faye and Ernie Block slowly are drawn back to The Tranquility Motel, where fate and destiny awaits... Did I enjoy 'Strangers' or not? Read on to find out! Plot- As Ginger, Brendan, Dom, Faye, Jack, Ernie, Ned, and Sandy return to The Tranquility Motel, they seem to know each other like friends, even though they've never met. As the character's memory blocks slowly start to disappear, they slowly begin to remember the occurrence on July 6th, yet before they can determine what happen, the government decides to apprehend them and sanction them. Later, Brendan and Dom discover they have supernatural powers, able to lift things at will and heal injured people, and they believe it's related to what happened to them on that night. As miraculous healings and supernatural events begin happening all over the world, the government soon realizes its cover-up is fading, and they must either admit what happened or destroy the evidence and make up something. As the government prepares to wipe out the evidence of the mysterious event, they methodically capture the witnesses to the event and sanction them in a nearby base, Thunder Hill Depository, where the secret lays hundreds of miles underground. As the characters fight for their lives, they will have to learn to band together and help each other, and learn to face the truth of that horrifying night... Opinions/Writing/Etc.- Dean Koontz is a writer, who, unlike a large number of his contemporaries(Grisham, Ludlum), thinks up original, suspenseful, and delightful plots with each novel, and he never scrapes the surface of being generic or repetitive. With 'Strangers', Koontz tries his hand at a novel of immense proportions, carefully building up each of his characters personas and developing them throughout the novel, until each character seems like a close friend. This is important, because when the characters are in trouble or in dange

It has been a long time since I have read this book so my memory of the details is a bit hazy. But, after reading several reviews I felt it necessary to provide a slightly different perspective.Yes, Strangers is wordy. Yes, Koontz spends a lot of time on character development early in the book.But that's what makes this book so interesting. At the beginning, the description of these disparate individuals and their problems seemingly have no connection. As the story progresses though, you start to see similar patterns emerging in their experiences and begin to realize that there is a thread woven between these people. You then start to speculate yourself on what it could possibly be. That type of story telling is what makes a mystery so compelling and this one definitely is. I remember that the eventually revealed bond that these people share is one that I had surmised might be the cause but there were several that I was developing in my own head and was never truly sure.I found this book fascinating and the length of it never even dawned on me as I read it.

I've just finished reading STRANGERS for the fourth time. And, undoubtedly, I'll read it again and again. When I checked out some of the other reviews I was astounded that some readers didn't like this story. They thought it was too long! Good Lord, it wasn't long enough! Or the ending wasn't feasible. Maybe it's because I love science fiction that I could appreciate the ending, and find it thoroughly believable. What happens in this story, dear ones, is that several people from varied backgrounds, who all come from different places, start manifesting strange symptoms that eventually draw them to a motel in the desert where they all stayed last summer. You see, something happened to them at the motel. And someone has erased their memories. However, like a bad penny, the memories start resurfacing and begin to affect each person: sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. I think Dean Koontz is at the top of his game with this story. His power of description is magnificent. And his ability to make you care for his characters is on the money. I just loved Ginger, the young Jewish surgeon who goes into a fugue state whenever something reminds her subconscious of the night her memory was erased. And Jorja, the Vegas waitress whose daughter is obsessed with the moon. Once again, Koontz's female characters show strength and resilience. His male characters aren't bad either. There's Dom, the writer, who wakes in the middle of the night in the closet and doesn't know how he got there, nor what he's so afraid of that he nails his windows shut while sleep-walking! And there's Jack, the thief, who just makes your heart ache when he has to say goodbye to his wife who has been in a coma for many years. I could go on and on about this thrilling story. But I won't because I want you to read it for yourself. If you like a story that grabs you by the seat of your pants and takes you for the ride of your life, a story that's written by a master of suspense who knows how to get your heart pumping, then this book is for you. I'm truly baffled by those negative reviews.

I am a huge fan of Dean Koontz and have read a good majority of his books. To me, STRANGERS was right up there with INTENSITY. Strangers is the story of a group of people all suffering from wierd occurances. Everything ranging from sleepwalking, to fear of the dark to telekinesis. They are from all different parts of the country...but...they're all drawn together from an event that happened to them last summer. An event so big, that a certain group of people have taken steps to make sure that it was completely erased from their minds....did they do a good enough job?...... An excellent read, lovable characters and a truly inspirational and out of this world ending.

I love this book. I've read many of Koontz's books, but this is by far and away his best. It is the story of a group of people spread out over the country who all start experiencing strange things: a grown man becomes deathly afraid of the dark; another starts sleepwalking; a priest loses his faith; a young doctor has attacks that cause her to flee from she doesn't know what; and there are others. As they try to figure out what is causing these things they are drawn together, and to a motel in the Nevada desert. Koontz leaves the reader as much in the dark as the characters in the book, and it is a pleasure to try and solve the mystery along with them. A very interesting, involving, and exciting book, I highly recommend it to all.