Selected Product:
| Dark Rivers of the Heart
Mass Market
Edition: 1st Ballantine B
Author: Dean Koontz
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: 1995-09-27
ISBN-10: 034539657X
ISBN-13: 9780345396570
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating:
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Praise for DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART
"A humdinger of a chase novel [that] explodes with all the giddy excitement of a half-dozen James Cameron pictures. DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART deserves to go to No. 1 on the bestseller list."
--Entertainment Weekly
"A fresh surprise on virtually every page . . . and a pyrotechnic denouement full of marvelous mayhem."
--The Washington Post
"Mr. Koontz has succeeded where many genre writers have failed: He has switched gears . . . and written a believable high-tech thriller."
--The New York Times
"As usual, Koontz's writing is flawless: clean, clear exposition, colorful description, precise narration, and realistic dialogue. DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART is exciting, entertaining, and thoughtful."
--The Denver Post
"It is difficult to imagine a reader who won't be hooked by this thriller about government power run amok and a man and woman on the run from the madman who wields that power. Unrelenting excitement, truly memorable characters, and ample food for thought."
--Kirkus Reviews
A thrilling, suspenseful ride.
| Customer Rating: | When Spencer Grant, an ex-law enforcement officer who's living off the grid, tries to reacquaint with Valerie Keene, a waitress who dazzled him in a bar, he discovers she's being hunted by government officials on a mission to kill her. From what he knows of her, they can't possibly have good reason for wanting her dead. His quest to find her makes him the target of an assassin, working for a shadow agency of the government, who, on his own time, kills emotionally scarred or physically hindered individuals to show them mercy. The assassin can tell Spencer is tortured and wants to set him free.
While tracking down Valerie with his trusty, skittish dog, Rocky, by his side, Spencer must not only uncover a buried memory that haunts his dreams and is just a breath away from his recollection, but avoid the most efficient eyes and ears on the planet. He and Valerie embark on the run of their lives in a nail-biting chase.
Frustrated and peeved, the assassin takes out the big guns and drudges up Spencer's worst nightmare to use as a snare, pulling various characters into a stomach-churning climax, leaving readers cringing and unsure as to who if any of them will survive.
I enjoyed the researched details, from the gum trees in L.A. to the high-tech surveillance methods to the computer hacking. And I also appreciated Koontz's skill weaving the past and present and using dream sequences in a non-clumsy way. Any inserted backstory was gripping rather than weighty. And I love conspiracies so the shadow government thing worked for me. He made it believable and chilling.
I found this ride suspenseful and enjoyed it very much. The ending had some sweet justice, kind of, but left things a little messy. I wished Koontz had turned the tables on the assassin and allowed the monster to kill the creator so to speak. If you've read the book, you know what I mean. A twist of irony would have been delicious and I was disappointed he didn't pull the trigger. Also, Valerie makes a point to say she'll have to kill the one who's after her, but the story never had that confrontation. I was teased into believing it would enter into the novel at the end and was annoyed it didn't.
All in all though, I enjoyed the story but just wish the ending had been a bit more tidy and satisfying. It could have been with better choices by Koontz.
If you want to read a well-researched book with round characters, a suspenseful plot with expertly interwoven threads of past and present, and a cool dog who finally gets his day to be a hero, check it out. |
A classic Koontz thriller
| Customer Rating: | | Dark Rivers of the Heart is a page turning thriller involving sociopaths with unlimited power and means to perform deeds. A man and a woman on the run confront the evil of their pasts as they lead their pursuers on chases. The hunter becomes the prey in this novel that explores the twisted minds of the most evil people. This definitely ranks near the top of Koontz' early novels and on par with good suspense novels. |
A page turner for sure.
| Customer Rating: | Corruption in the highest levels of government? Hired killers employed by them? Conspiracy?!
You really feel for the charecters caught in the middle.
Some 15 yeas ago this book helped steer me twards Libertarianism.
Thanks Mr. Koontz. |
Law enforcement and the average citzen
| Customer Rating: | | I read this book a while ago, but it was one of the most interesting and insightful books I have ever read. The story is fiction but what happens and how a average person can be railroaded by government bureaucracy that gets out of hand is very real. Its a good read. It can and does happen. |
Conspiracy theory
| Customer Rating: | Koontz was in full-fledged paranoid rant when he wrote this book back in the mid-90s. Everything from Waco to Ruby Ridge to black helicopters make cameos in this "innocent man on the run from nameless government agency"-themed book. It's a lot like Sole Survivor but without the metaphysical edge.
I would actually have given Dark Rivers only one star (a first for my review of Koontz books) but Dean comes up with a really creative serial killer that bumps the book up in my estimation. Like I mention in one of my other reviews, Koontz is awfully hard on artists in the plastic arts, and he continues that tradition in this book. |
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