Long before the film there was the written word. Long before we settled down in
front of video or now DVD players for our fright-fests, we would read tales of 
terror by candlelight.
For most, this has been lost, however there are still those that prefer the pages
to celluloid or even both and why not?
This section then is for you. To help you to search through the rubbish and find
stories worth your time to read. If you're an avid reader of horror novels then
why not join 'Castle Dracula' as an official 'staff member' reviewing them.
To do so, just click on the 'Join My Staff' link in the menu to the left for 
details of this and other vacancies.

- The Face Of Fear -
- Dean Koontz -

"The Face of Fear" is a thriller/suspense novel, by the infamous Dean Koontz, which tells
the story of a psychic man encountering one of the worst realities imaginable. Previously
injured, 'Graham Harris' has now become a clairvoyant and, of course, has powers that 
allow him to help the police capture serial killers and the like. Right now he is trying 
to hunt down a fiend known as "The Butcher," a sadistic freak of nature that takes unnatural 
delight in cutting up women and men, leaving their bodies behind for the coroners to puke 
on. Things go from bad to worse when 'Harris' sees a vision of his own murder, and pretty 
soon he and his girlfriend are trapped on the fourtieth floor of a deserted office building
with the killer inside. 
When I read the back of this book to someone, once we reached "The only way out is to climb 
down the sheer face of the building. But there is a blizzard outside with fifty-mile-an-hour 
winds - and a dangerous fall from Mount Everest has left 'Harris' paralyzed with fear," they 
laughed and said, "Oh, of course."
The plot may sound interesting but it more or less reminded me of lifetime dribble that’s 
made in the dozens for bored housewives to relax to on weekday afternoons. It’s unrealistic 
in certain points, but besides that -- it’s just been done so many damn times now no one is 
left to care. The biggest fault this novel has under it’s belt is that the atmosphere was 
tense, but this actually worked against it. The tension began much too soon, but never let up! 
From the beginning of the novel to the end we have the two protagonists battling the same 
chances for over a hundred pages. After all this is constantly whirling around, the tension 
loosens as it just grows tiring.
On the people side of things, at first 'Graham' is a sympathetic character but eventually he 
becomes a bit too whiny for my tastes. His girlfriend, 'Connie,' was a sweet gal but her 
reactions towards having to take care of 'Graham' got on my nerves a bit. This is a realistic 
response some women have -- drifting toward some relationships just to save men that need 
saving -- and it was definitely different to have these two in the main shoes the reader walks 
in. The detective, 'Preduski,' was hysterical and wonderfully animated. He was by far my 
favorite character.
The antagonist was cold all the way through but not much detail was given on why he became 
this way. That’s fine, I didn’t need drawn out blueprints on his personality, but while he 
wasn’t anything 'bad,' he never stands out either.
As I said before, there "is" suspense, but overkill causes a book to turn into road kill.
Koontz’s writing style is always beautifully worded, but here it can’t help but be buried 
under overly-coincidental "blizzard snow."
As a basic opinion summary, this novel fell flat on it's back. The characters were realistic 
but not the most intriguing bunch. The pace of the book wasn’t that uneven but it wasn’t that 
interesting either. I wish Koontz would have realized at the beginning that enough was enough 
and would have stopped and altered course while he was ahead.
As it stands, though, I couldn’t wait to close these pages just so I could breathe. Get a 
breath of fresh air. Clear my lungs of all the panic.
If stereotypical serial killers in stereotypical psychic plots is your thing, then go for it. 
But this Koontz fan was sorely disappointed and left taking a valium.

Reviewed By Erin Williams.

Click here to read how this page is protected by copyright laws.