Last night, I was approached by Tami Jackson to join her book tour! The book is called Ravena & the Resurrected. On February 28th, Ms. Jackson will visit this lovely blog and answer some questions. It would be awesome if you book junkies would stop by and show her support!
Title: Fear NothingAuthor: Dean Koontz
Genre Horror/thriller
Pages: Hardback, 391
Published: 1998
First Lines: "On the desk in my candlelit study, the telephone rang, and I knew that a terrible change was coming."
"Christopher Snow is different from all the other residents of Moonlight Bay, different from anyone you've ever met. For Christopher Snow has made his peace with a very rare genetic disorder shared by only one thousand other Americans, a disorder that leaves him dangerously vulnerable to light. His life is filled with the fascinating rituals of one who must embrace the dark. He knows the night as no one else ever will, ever can -- the mystery, the beauty, the many terrors, and the eerie, silken rhythms of the night -- for it is only at night that he is free.
"Until the night he witnessed a series of disturbing incidents that sweep him into a violent mystery only he can solve, a mystery that will force him to rise above all fears and confront the many-layered strangeness of Moonlight Bay and its residents."Jacket copy
Thoughts (will contain SPOILERS): This book follows one adventurous night with Christopher Snow. He lives with a rare disorder called xeroderma pigmentosum, which keeps him out of the sunlight. He spends his time riding around Moonlight Bay on his bicycle with his trusted dog, Orson. This night, the night of his father's death, is different than anything he has ever dreamed. This night will change his life.
Focusing on a main character that has a disability that keeps him inside during the day time is a really interesting concept. Having access to the nightlife, gives the readers' a unique invitation to the world of the unseen and sinister.
Throughout the novel, Koontz alludes to the fact that Orson is not your typical dog. He appears to understand Chris and show other signs of above average intelligence. Near the end of the book, one of the characters suggests that Orson may not be your average dog. In fact, he is part of a secret government research project. Koontz even addresses the Francis Project from the Watchers. Did Koontz want to revisit and explore this subject in more depth?
As in Watchers and, later, in the Prodigal Son series, Koontz once again tries to bring Frankenstein and Creature back to the table. As a way to correct Chris' disorder, his mother uses government contracts to do genetic research. They swap DNA from animals and people and mix it with a diluted virus to carry it into the subject. In other words, they make a retrovirus. This retrovirus completely changes the composition of the carriers. Through the animal testing, they created this group of rhesus monkeys called the Troop. They are evil and violent. Their main goal is to destroy anyone and anything they associate with their creation. In addition, court-matrialed soldiers are also injected with the retrovirus.
Koontz then extends this Frankenstein theme by looking into birth defects. Since this genetic testing was originally started to reverse Chris' XP, many of the people involved believe that it might be able to reverse or correct other issues.
His fierce pride in Toby's exhibition of this new verbal skill was so touching and so deeply sad that I could not look at him.
"In spite of all that he didn't have, he was always happy," I said of Toby. "He found a purpose, fulfillment. Now what if they can take him far enough that he's dissatisfied with what he is . . . but then they can't take him all the way to normal?"
"They will," Manuel said with a measure of conviction for which there could be no justification. "They will."
"The same people who've created this nightmare?"pg 341
Is it worth it? How far is too far? Koontz posits these questions, but doesn't pass judgment. The questions are meant to make us think. And, I feel, that Koontz maybe a very powerful argument either way.
I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down! At points during the book, I felt really creeped out and paranoid. The scene inside the nurse's house was almost too much! I still stand by the fact that porcelain dolls are creepy and evil!
Rating: 5/5
Currently Reading: Ravena & the Resurrected by Tami Jackson and Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey
Horro/Urban Fantasy Challenge: 3/24
Current Progress:
3/50 books
Pages Read: 1364
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