I just finished "Life Expectancy" by Dean Koontz, and I think it's his second-best book, following "From the Corner of His Eye". This book is just a great piece of work. It starts out with a catchy theme and fairly predictable, and then just near the end it throws some great twists, goes from being good to really great.

On his deathbed, Jimmy Tock's grandfather makes ten predictions about his grandson: He names the baby's length, weight, exact time of birth, a birth defect (which comes true), and name (which the parents haven't told anyone). He then predicts "five terrible dates" which will fall between his 20th and 30th birthdays. Jimmy has a pretty uneventful life until that first date, which he and his family try to prepare for, but he has a pretty bad day anyway. From there they really begin to take the later four dates more seriously.

I had made two predictions about this book. One turned out to be be partially true, and the other was completely off. I'll post what my predictions were, but I won't post which one turned out to be partially true. My first prediction was that on the "fifth terrible day", Jimmy or someone very close to him would be killed - but really I thought Jimmy himself. My second prediction was that we'd learn that Jimmy Tock and Konrad Beezo's baby would be switched at birth, and the five terrible days really apply to Punchinello, not Jimmy. I recommend against reading the spoilers unless you've read the book, or at least the first couple chapters - right up until the "section" titled "Might as well die if I can't fly" (that's the "first terrible day" section - each "terrible day" has a section) - because that's when I had solidified my predictions. So they aren't really spoilers, but get to that point before reading them.

Koontz is often accused of recycling ideas - this book is no exception. I thought the whole "five terrible dates" thing sounded like a twist on the first half of "Lightning" (the first Koontz book I read), only that book's character didn't know about the days, and there were different elements involved with both. Other than that, "Life Expectancy" was pretty original - and very good. It's not as good as my current favorite Koontz book, "From the Corner of His Eye", but I highly doubt he will top that one any time soon, as it was a cut above anything he's written prior or since. "Life Expectancy" almost comes close, though, and "Odd Thomas" was interesting.

I strongly recommend "Life Expectancy" for just about anyone who likes to read. It's got a little of everything.

That book is a work of art. I don't read a lot of books but I did read that after recommendation from Matt and I was really pleasantly surprised. It kept me hooked and I finished it within a few days. I loved it!

I am still trying to find the time to read "Odd Thomas" which is meant to be really good.

I read a lot of Koontz. I love his more recent work.

Life Expectancy was brilliant - I really enjoyed the characters and their little world. If you like that, you should definitely read "Odd Thomas" and the sequel "Forever Odd".

I read "From The Corner Of His Eye" and found that very good, if not a little difficult to get into.

I recently read "Velocity" which was pretty good but the ending lacked any real punch. I was waiting for a huge twist that never came.

"The Taking" is a brilliant book until the last 1/4 which isn't so brilliant.

I'm working through "By The Light Of The Moon" now which turning out pretty good.

Yeah, I think I remember you (Debbie) saying you were reading "Life Expectancy".

I've read "Odd Thomas", but I'm waiting for paperback to read "Forever Odd". I don't mess with hardcover, too bulky, too inconvenient to read. Same goes for "Velocity" - I'm really looking forward to that one. I wouldn't expect a huge twist or any kind of supernatural thing with it - it's not meant to be. It's meant to follow (in style) only one Koontz book - "Intensity". If you've read "Intensity", you should expect "Velocity" to be the same kind of story - not traditional Koontz at all.

"The Taking" was just so sweet to read. Despite being an atheist, I was satisfied with the ending. It felt like a copout, kind of a letdown, but the bulk of the book was so well written, I let the ending slide. Koontz does more bad endings than good anyway - he takes you on a heck of a ride, but he doesn't quite stop before letting you out - you kinda fall out of the car when it's still moving. Or in the case of "From the Corner of His Eye", he just pushes 240mph and you fly by the sights, and then the car crashes.

I would have liked "From the Corner of His Eye" better if it focused more on the two children growing up together and developing their powers, rather than building up to this one conflict which ended before it began. I think the book would have worked well as a trilogy - the first being that main conflict, the second being about them growing up together, maybe some other conflicts, and the third being about the baby introduced at the end. Maybe.

I didn't like "By the Light of the Moon" very much, but despite that my fiancée and I have agreed that our first daughter will be named "Leilani". It's just a really nice name, and quite uncommon. (Our first son will be named "Jeremy", but that's a name of my fiancée's choosing - I prefer uncommon names.)

Dean is my all time favorite author.

I love everything he writes, the only book I've read by him that I did not absolutely love and 100% enjoy was Demon Seed, to be fair, it was one of his first books, so of course it's not going to be his best work.

I love Life Expectancy, I got it for xmas last year, in hardcover, and loved every second. I also enjoyed, Odd Thomas, The Taking, and Velocity equally as much. Most recently I've enjoyed his new Frankenstein books of which there are two so far, I read the first one, got the second one found out the third doesn't release until the summer of this year, so decided not to read the second yet, and opted for John Grisham's The Rainmaker which is good, but I long to get back to Dean.

Koontz is my favorite author, too, but there are some books that I just don't like. "Shattered" and "The Face of Fear" both bored me to tears - what garbage. "The Vision" wasn't much better - I have a feeling Koontz threw in that over-the-top rape scene at the end to try to save it. He failed. (And what the heck was that all about? I've read some pretty bad stuff in books, but that took the cake. I mean, who wants to read about a six year old raped with a bat... and not the kind you play baseball with? Forget the absurdity, that that would never... umm, fit... that's just disgusting.) Also, a (comparably) newer one that I just didn't like was "Twilight Eyes" - it just didn't entertain me much.

Koontz started with science-fiction, but good luck finding any of those books. "Demon Seed" is just the easiest of the sci-fi books to locate - maybe because it was made into a film. In the 80s and into the 90s, he went into this sort of action-suspense stage, a lot of which was hit and miss. The good books were pretty good, and the not-so-good books (like "Darkfall" and "Cold Fire") are still pretty decent, minus a few oddballs.

Then in the late 90s, he started with this whole "faith in humanity" trip, which I keep thinking is going to overplay itself and fall apart, but he keeps pumping out great books.

I'm not trying to sound too cynical... I love Koontz's books, and will read each one as it comes out in paperback as soon as I can get my hands on it, but some of the older ones weren't so good, and one just flat-out offended me. I mean, damn... "Whispers" and "Lightning" had a couple edgy moments. Even "Voices in the Night" and "Night Chills" were within my realm of acceptability (the latter barely so) but I firmly believe "The Vision" crossed a line of wrong-ness that should not have been crossed without some kind of sticker on the cover. Who the heck wants to read about something like that?

ROFL - I can't believe this. I just finished Life Expectency like last week.

I've read just about every Dean Koontz book ever written. I have 3 on paperback I haven't read yet (working on Frakenstein book 1, I have book 2 and another one at home I haven't read), and since I only get them when they go to paperbook there's like 1 or 2 out that I don't have yet.

I own probably 20-30 Dean Koontz books, every one he's written that's out on paperback.

Wow...small world. Life Expectency was good, indeed. I like some of his other works better mind you (I don't know how much Dean Koontz you've ever read), but this one did not disappoint me. Then again, none of his books do.

I especially liked the Fear Nothing and Seize the Night (sequel) ones. And some of the older ones too. My favorite (think it was House of Thunder?) was about the girl who was driving, wakes up in a hospital, and she's being haunted by guys from her childhood. She comes to find out she's in an "Americanized" city in Russia being researched because she is part of the US Government and they think she has information they want or something like that.

Dean Koontz is indeed the best author alive.

I even have 3 of the movies that were made from his books, and I've seen 1 or 2 others. LOL

And I can't believe you have time to read, lol. You must have a clone.

@bfarber - Yes, that's "House of Thunder" - actually an old favorite of mine from its time. I absolutely love that book.

Though not necessarily a favorite, the only Koontz book I have read three times is "Midnight". I just find it to be re-readable. I've read "From the Corner of His Eye" twice now, the most recent time being late last year. I may read it again later this year when I haven't got anything else to read. I just love that book and will probably read it over and over every couple years.

I can see myself re-reading "Life Expectancy" too. When I read a book, I let my fiancée read it (who I got into Koontz), and if it isn't that great, I give it away, pass it on to someone else. If it's really good, like "From the Corner of His Eye" or "Life Expectancy", I only recommend it. In CA I would give away my copy, knowing I could buy it again, but I haven't gotten to know any secondhand bookstores in NC yet, so I'll hold onto the paperback treasures I have.

What movies do you have? I used to own "Hideaway" on VHS - it was OK. I saw it in the theater. I have also seen "The Servants of Twilight" - decent flick, but they changed the ending. I bet Koontz wouldn't have minded the film if they didn't - it wasn't bad at all. And I taped "Intensity" off the TV. I was trying to download "Mr Murder" last year when I was on DSL, but I couldn't find it anywhere. It was supposed to come on TV, but I never heard of it. I ought to get my mother to post "Hideaway" and "Intensity" to me... One day I'll get a capture card, I'd like to put them on the computer, maybe burn them to DVD. Both were pretty good.

I didn't mention this in the original post, and it hasn't been mentioned here... I'm not sure if I read it somewhere else, but I really got the feeling that "Life Expectancy" had a lot to do with September 11 and other terrorist attacks. I mean, Jimmy Tock has these five dates, and he can't be sure whether to take them seriously or not (though he does) until the first one (kind of like his own personal 9/11). From there, though he does prepare, he's constantly saying how he's enjoying his life, living it to the fullest, rather than hiding away, worrying about the next terrible date. Because (highlight only if you've read it) the last two Terrible Dates concern his kids, if he'd hidden away, taken the Terrible Days too seriously, he wouldn't have brought kids into the world, and thus they wouldn't be in danger (though maybe he would). And Osama bin Laden is mentioned early on, so it's a world that 9/11 has happened in, but he's got his own personal terrorists in his life. So I guess Koontz's message is that yes, there are terrorists out there who would kill us at the drop of a hat, but we can't let that get in the way of life, let preparation for or defense against take the place of living a full and happy life. Koontz is brilliant - he's touched on 9/11 and made a good point around it without offending either Bush's supporters or opponents, or people on either side of the debates surrounding 9/11. Universal truths. Genius.

Ok, I just started to read it (being recommended by all of you, it better be good , so far, excellent), Grandma Rowena is sure making me laugh, hehehe...

She is a nut, yes.

I will post a list of all the Koontz books I have at some point, maybe tonight if I have the patience. Like I said, read nearly all of his works that I'm aware of, or that are available at least. I have them all in paperback. I don't give them away/sell them as my goal is to collect all of his work that is available on paperback as a collection of sorts.

He definitely has 9/11 on his mind when writing the book. Probably because he wrote that in the last 2 years give or take. I think his goal was like you said - consider it, but don't let it take over your life.

I loved the ending of the book. The way he makes you think at first that Jimmy died, and then you find out he didn't, was genious...I expected him to die anyways as his fifth terrible date, he did a good job keeping you guessing with that.

Well, yeah, in regards to deception, Jimmy as a narrator is not always straightforward. I wouldn't say he lies, but he bends the truth from time to time. For example, first when he makes allusions to baby kidnapping in the very beginning, that Rudy is worried about Beezo stealing his baby. At this point he knows that he's Beezo's son; that was revealed to him between the third and fourth Terrible Dates, and the narrative from the beginning is from Jimmy's point of view having completed the fourth Terrible Date. Next and most obviously when Lorrie tells him she's seeing someone else, and Jimmy/Koontz ends the chapter there, only to come back and explain that he's liable to stretch the truth. Third, when Lorrie takes over the narrative, saying she's taking over for reasons that will become clear. Why'd she take over. I don't think the reason became clear. Unless they're both taking us for a ride.

I hope anyone reading this thread who has not read the book has not read the spoilers. It's a heck of a ride, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it the next time through, but on your first time, you should be surprised by the twists in this book.

And I used to want to collect all the Koontz books... but not anymore. Though I do have the original House of Thunder around here somewhere... Pretty sure the pseudonym is Richard Paige. I used to have the original Door to December as well. I had a couple of them... That's where the collecting is at.

You guys know he wrote an adult novel, too, right? Under the pseudonym Leonard Chris, the title... well, it's not necessarily offensive, but in that context it is. If you're really interested, use Google. In any case I doubt you'll find the actual story anywhere (though, if you do, drop me a PM).

First I pressed "REPLY", forgetting that it reveals the spoilers, lol. Anyway, I plan to buy this one and a couple others real soon. Thanks for the recommendation.

I just finished the book, excellent, great recommendation; it's the first book by Dean Koontz that I have ever read. I want more, as long as they're equally fast paced. I love fast paced books.

I don't know if it's from reading many mistery books but I didn't believe for one second that Jimmy had been killed when Lorrie took over the narrative; I just knew they wanted to pull or chin, just like they did. Same thing when Lorrie said she was in love with someone else.

Also, at the beggining of the book, similarly (though a bit different) as to what Nathan thought; I suspected that Jimmy and Punch would be twins. I wasn't 100% sure but I was almost certain (99% ). I certainly didn't try to guess what they five terrible days would bring. After the third date I though that one of his kids would need a kidney for sure, and that's why kidneys would be so important; although, I didn't get into thinking (didn't want to) all the possibilities that this could unravel.


What a great ride; I enjoyed every second of it.

Well Nimdock, if you want fast paced, his books Intensity and Velocity are designed just that way, to be edge-of-your-seat thrillers. Intensity inspired a TV movie of the same name, as well as the recent "High Tension/Switchblade Romance".

I wouldn't call too many of Koontz's books fast paced, with the odd exception. He likes to spend time with characters, let the bulk of who they are and how they feel about their situation really sink in with the reader.

Now, if you like a good mystery - and forgive my recommendation, as I am not a mystery reader - I recommend The House of Thunder. It's a very weird book, keeps you guessing. I think the mystery unravels a little too soon, and from there it's straight action-adventure. Lightning is another good one, though the ending is a bit campy. Odd Thomas is another good read, and it's got a sequel out now - don't read Forever Odd until you've read Odd Thomas.

I just get the feeling you'll hate about half of Koontz's books and like about a third, the rest being so-so, so of course I'd like to point you to the third I think you're most likely to enjoy.

I can't remember their pace, but Voices in the Night and Night Chills were pretty good. (Be warned, Night Chills had some pretty disturbing content.)

I am the Key...

Well Nimdock, if you want fast paced, his books Intensity and Velocity are designed just that way, to be edge-of-your-seat thrillers. Intensity inspired a TV movie of the same name, as well as the recent "High Tension/Switchblade Romance".

I wouldn't call too many of Koontz's books fast paced, with the odd exception. He likes to spend time with characters, let the bulk of who they are and how they feel about their situation really sink in with the reader.

Now, if you like a good mystery - and forgive my recommendation, as I am not a mystery reader - I recommend The House of Thunder. It's a very weird book, keeps you guessing. I think the mystery unravels a little too soon, and from there it's straight action-adventure. Lightning is another good one, though the ending is a bit campy. Odd Thomas is another good read, and it's got a sequel out now - don't read Forever Odd until you've read Odd Thomas.

I just get the feeling you'll hate about half of Koontz's books and like about a third, the rest being so-so, so of course I'd like to point you to the third I think you're most likely to enjoy.

I can't remember their pace, but Voices in the Night and Night Chills were pretty good. (Be warned, Night Chills had some pretty disturbing content.)

I am the Key...

Well Nimdock, if you want fast paced, his books Intensity and Velocity are designed just that way, to be edge-of-your-seat thrillers. Intensity inspired a TV movie of the same name, as well as the recent "High Tension/Switchblade Romance".

I wouldn't call too many of Koontz's books fast paced, with the odd exception. He likes to spend time with characters, let the bulk of who they are and how they feel about their situation really sink in with the reader.

Now, if you like a good mystery - and forgive my recommendation, as I am not a mystery reader - I recommend The House of Thunder. It's a very weird book, keeps you guessing. I think the mystery unravels a little too soon, and from there it's straight action-adventure. Lightning is another good one, though the ending is a bit campy. Odd Thomas is another good read, and it's got a sequel out now - don't read Forever Odd until you've read Odd Thomas.

I just get the feeling you'll hate about half of Koontz's books and like about a third, the rest being so-so, so of course I'd like to point you to the third I think you're most likely to enjoy.

I can't remember their pace, but Voices in the Night and Night Chills were pretty good. (Be warned, Night Chills had some pretty disturbing content.)

I am the Key...

Thank you for the triple recommendation Nathan, hehe.

I went to Barnes and Noble tonight but they didn't have Velocity nor Intensity. I bought Odd Thomas; however, I'm not going to read it right away. I have a couple of books by James Patterson that I'm going to read first.

I am so burned by James Patterson... see, I read this really BAD book that he wrote called, I think "When the Wind Blows". It would have been OK, had it not tried to go two different ways. He started out trying to write a childrens' fairy tale, about a little girl with wings who gets out from the lab that made her and wants to save her little friends. But then he turns it into more of an adult story - bad words, violence... the combination didn't work, and actually kind of bothered me. And then he went and wrote a sequel to it - "The Lake House" - which someone on the board I used to run read, came back and gave a bad review - that's actually how I found out about the sequel.

I know James Patterson is a lot better than that, for example, the Alex Cross novels, two of which were made into movies. Kiss the Girls is the first one, I don't recall the second, more recent one. The films were OK. Are the Alex Cross novels his best work, or is there other good stuff? Can you recommend me a couple that I can look for?

That's exactly what I'm reading, the Alex Cross series; I already read Along Came a Spider (that was the other one that was made into a movie) and Kiss the Girls a while ago. Right now I'm about to start Jack and Jill and then I'll read Cat & Mouse.

In Cat & Mouse the villain, Gary Soneji, from the first book returns... for some reason Soneji was killed in the movie adaptation of Along Came a Spider, so I guess a movie can't be made out of Cat & Mouse... idiots.

By the way they did the movies in reverse order, Along Came a Spider is the first book of the series and Kiss the Girls is the second one. I think that Denzel Washington should be in those movies; Morgan Freeman just looks too old for the character.

So nothing is ruined for me when I read the book ( which I have just borrowed from our local library )

I will not read all of the replies here ...........................................

I am such a huge fan and read just about all of his novels.

Currently I am reading......." The Face "


and then I am onto " Life Expectancy "


and have another 3 novels up my sleeve to keep me busy...lol

Happy to hear it is a good book though......Thanks
Keep ya posted with ,my opinion later.

"The Face" was alright, but not a high point of Koontz's recent work - at least not in my opinion. I have a few solid gripes about the book - most notably, the significance of the title. It's the nickname for the boy's father, and he's really got nothing to do with the story. It just doesn't sit well with me. But the book has high points as well. The villain, if I'm remembering correctly, was pretty entertaining. In ten years I'll remember "The Face" as being "the one about the villain who walked down the street and threw poisoned dog biscuits into peoples' yards" (not a spoiler).

"The Taking" is another recent ones that fans (on Amazon) don't like, for the most part. They don't like, or don't accept the ending. The ending... how shall I put it... I didn't believe it, but I accepted the explanation. And it was a good read throughout.

Has anyone heard anything about his upcoming hardcover "The Husband"? I couldn't find anything about it. The cover shows two wedding bands and a teaser line like "We have your wife, we want 2 million dollars." I'm thinking it'll be another straight-action book a la "Intensity" and "Velocity" - how could that have a supernatural aspect? Not that I mind, I'm waiting for "Velocity" in paperback, as it should be the next one, then "Forever Odd" which just came out.

"The Face" was alright, but not a high point of Koontz's recent work - at least not in my opinion. I have a few solid gripes about the book - most notably, the significance of the title. It's the nickname for the boy's father, and he's really got nothing to do with the story. It just doesn't sit well with me. But the book has high points as well.




Totally agree....." The Face " really didn't have a huge part........

although I was riveted to the book...

Am now onto my fourth chapter into " Life Expectancy "...
I should be done in a few days

Use quote tags... I was like "Didn't I post that?"

It's very possible to finish "Life Expectancy" in a few days. I was surprised - one day my fiancée had just started it (maybe 2 chapters in), then she was after the first terrible day, then the third, then she was right at the end - I left her alone and let her finish it. I took at least 2 weeks... maybe a little less, it was such a good book. So I'd say it took her three days, four tops.