The Face
Ratings21
Average rating3.4
The story was all over the place and it took a until the last 100 pages to settle down enough to flow. I normally like Koontz books, but to me this one was hard to read. I didn't get the level of suspense and terror that I'm used to from reading his works.
Started out well, with a lot of suspense and an interesting premise, but I think Koontz tipped his hand a little too early. The major players were revealed halfway through and as it turns out there wasn't really much to figure out after that, so the rest of the book was boring.
Read better ones from Koontz. At times I had a feeling it was an early book of his (i.e. he seemed to close threads / justify events awkwardly). Still, a nice way to spend some free time.
What's not to like? I won't get into the story itself, it can be read elsewhere, but come on!! The descriptions, the plotlines, the characters, the riddles, everything. This has to be The Masterpiece of Dean Koontz's career thus far. This is a perfect story, almost as perfect as they come, it even outdoes my faves such as ‘Whispers', ‘Intensity', ‘Sole Survivor' and ‘From the Corner of His Eye'. To those of you who didn't even get through half of the book: Give it another chance!! This is perfection.
What's not to understand? True, the lead character, Ethan Truman, gets killed off in chapter two and is back in chapter three, but if you guys'n'gals just hang in there, by the end it will make perfectly sense, and if you don't get touched and aren't filled with hope and joy when the last page is turned, then I dare say that your heart is made of stone. And yes, there is a large cast, but not as large as in, say, ‘Strangers' or ‘From the Corner of His Eye'.
This is a darn good novel; it has everything, love, horror, terror, hope, redemption...and in spite of the 600+ pages it is a fast read, immensely gripping, and not easily forgotten (but I'm also one of those guys who found that ‘Mulholland Drive' has lots of meaning, and who never have found a movie going by so quickly).
Highly, highly, highly recommended.