The Voice of the Night

I'm surprised that this makes so many people's least favorites list. This was Koontz number 18 for me and it looks like I'm going to have to add it to my top ten favorites! It's more teenager oriented than his other books, much as The Funhouse was. It should be refreshing for anyone who doesn't like Koontz's heavy descriptions, as The Voice Of The Night has much more dialogue and is lighter on the descriptions and metaphors. It has a RL Stine rated R feel much as The Funhouse did. Colin Jacobs is a shy, akward, nerdy fourteen year old boy who recently moved to town. His father is a beer-guzzling, wife-beating redneck and Colin lives alone with his mother who is always working and never has time for him, nor does she ever trust him. Colin's only friend is Roy Borden, also fourteen. Roy sometimes likes to talk about sick things, but Colin just assumes he's putting him on. When Roy reveals that he's killed not only animals, but people, Colin doesn't believe him. But when Colin tries to force him into helping him cause a massive disaster in town, Colin must make the most important descision of his life. If he refuses, Roy will kill him. If he goes along with it, he'll be responsible for several lives. The book was pretty disturbing at times. Roy is a pretty messed up kid. It's his reasons for being a messed up kid, revealed at the end, that made me shed a tear. And it's much more than you may think. You'd never think you could feel sorry for this twisted boy who likes to torture, maim, and fascinates about rape, but you do. I highly recommend The Voice Of The Night, along with: Intensity, The Door To December, Watchers, Whispers, Darkfall, Hideaway, Shadowfires, The Funhouse, Twilight Eyes, and Phantoms.

The Voice of the Night, by Dean R. Koontz is the best book I have ever read. I couldn't put if down from the minute I picked it up and started reading it. If you want an example of a page turner, then here's one for you. The book is about a young fourteen year old boy, Colin, who moves to a new little town in the 1990's. Right when Colin moves there, he becomes bestfriends with a boy named Roy, who is about the same age. The are inseperable. The boys are together all of time. Roy has become Colin's new bestfriend, which is something Colin has never had. He had been the outcast in his old school, but now he is friends with the most popular boy in his class. Roy has a deep secret that he desperatly wants to share with Colin, but he first has to test Colin to see if he is trustworthy. When Roy finally feels that Colin is trusted enough, he tells him his awful secret. Roy kills people for the fun of it. And he wants Colin to help him kill someone to prove their friendship. Colin cant possibly kill someone, but he doesnt want to lose Colin as a friend. He decides that their friendship is not worth what Roy wants it to be, so he says 'no' to Roy's offer. This angers Roy and he is out to kill Colin. But in the end..... well, i guess i'll just have to let you read and find that out! This is an excellent book, and I would recommend it to ANYONE. It has just the right sequence of events to make you keep wanting to turn the pages and never stop. Which is what I love about this book. I will read it many times.

I read this book about a year ago, the version I read was a reissue with Dean Koontz name. I thought it was a good story, though not the same as he usually writes.

Writing a review for a hopelessly out of print and obscure old horror paperback. Futile? I agree, but I looked this one up on a lark because something about it has held it in my memory for the last 16 years. I can't even remember much of the plot except it had kind of a "Separate Peace" friendship-gone-wrong thing going on between two young boys that I found captivating. The characters were really well done and the love subplot between the protagonist and his lady friend was really sweet. I even remember writing the author a fan letter when I was like 15 years old. Attention Brian Coffey -- you owe me a letter!

It's unfortunate that I could not put 20 stars down- that's what it deserves for being such an amazing novel. I first read this book 3 years ago and still pick it up and look at it (skim the pages and read my favorite parts) almost everyday. Although this book's premise does not fit my definition of "horror," it is still scary because it could actually happen and and because Koontz is able to get you to feel for both the characters (near the end of the book I was relatively empathetic to Roy because of some issues he had and still has) and therefore it makes the prospect of something happening to them (for the most part it's Colin you worry about) daunting. It's an incredibly exciting book, with action and subtle clues of the suspense that is to come and it also has psychological elements to it that also interest me because I am fascinated by psychology and such things. I love this book! It's one of my favorites and my favorite of his. Feel free to email me to talk about the book, any of his other books (or other authors and their books) or anything in general.