Hey, guys!
It's been a while since I've written a review for a horror story, and although it's been a while since I've read this book, I think it's about time I wrote a review for What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz.
Many of you may have already heard of Koontz for his series Odd Thomas. I myself have never read that series, so if you like it and want me to read and review it, let me know in the comments!
Now, this novel is about a serial killer known as Alton Turner Blackwood . . . years after being killed.
John Calvino is a police detective with the kind of family life that people can only dream about: a beautiful wife, and two imaginative daughters, and a son who thinks you're a hero. They are financially stable and basically want for nothing.
But John has a dark past. As a kid, he had loving parents and two younger sisters he adored. But after sneaking out one night, he returns to find that his whole family has been murdered as the last targets of a serial killer.
John was able to kill the murderer, but not before Alton Turner Blackwood delivers a disturbing prophecy: that years from now, his wife and kids will become his targets. The guilt and the prophecy from that night has haunted John for the rest of his adolescent and adult life. That is, until he met his wife.
Nicolette is an artist - and a good one too. She and John have a happy marriage with three children: Zach (the oldest), Naomi, and Minnie (the youngest).
Zach is an aspiring military man, a skilled artist, and extremely protective of his sisters. Naomi is a fashionista who constantly dreams of being whisked away to a new world where she is a lost princess. Despite these fantasies, she loves her family more than anything.
Minnie is eight years old. She had been ill as a young child but recovered, and as a result seems more spiritual and sensitive to her environment. She's unique and unusually rational for her age, so she's naturally my favorite character.
But this happy life is in danger of coming to a violent end when John is called upon to investigate murders committed by a juvenile offender.
Now, this happy little fourteen-year-old brutally murdered his entire family completely out of the blue. No history of mental illness, no previous infractions, nothing at all from this kid aside from good grades.
But when John visits him in the mental hospital to ask questions, the fourteen-year-old resembles nothing of the happy-go-lucky kid he used to be. Talking to himself, referring to himself in the third person, and basically talking to John with all the good manners and condescension of Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs.
So what happened? There's some missing link here that John is determined to find, especially once other murders start occurring.
The creepy part? These series of murders closely resemble the those of the victims of Alton Turner Blackwood from years ago.
But he's dead. So what's going on here? Find out by reading the book for yourself.
As I said, it's been a while since I've read the book (I don't think I've touched it since high school). Therefore, I don't know how my attitudes about the book could have changed in that time. But I will say that I did enjoy the book at the time, if nothing else.
It's a little slow-going at first, but the tension quickly escalates the more often these murders occur and the more background you get on the characters, particularly Alton Turner Blackwood. If you love murder mystery thrillers or ghost stories (or both), you'll love this book too. I would recommend this for high school readers and up, though, due to the gory/gruesome content.
That's all I've got for this review. Hope you enjoyed and that you'll give a book a try. Come back tomorrow for a writing exercise!
Happy reading!!
It's been a while since I've written a review for a horror story, and although it's been a while since I've read this book, I think it's about time I wrote a review for What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz.
Many of you may have already heard of Koontz for his series Odd Thomas. I myself have never read that series, so if you like it and want me to read and review it, let me know in the comments!
Now, this novel is about a serial killer known as Alton Turner Blackwood . . . years after being killed.
John Calvino is a police detective with the kind of family life that people can only dream about: a beautiful wife, and two imaginative daughters, and a son who thinks you're a hero. They are financially stable and basically want for nothing.
But John has a dark past. As a kid, he had loving parents and two younger sisters he adored. But after sneaking out one night, he returns to find that his whole family has been murdered as the last targets of a serial killer.
John was able to kill the murderer, but not before Alton Turner Blackwood delivers a disturbing prophecy: that years from now, his wife and kids will become his targets. The guilt and the prophecy from that night has haunted John for the rest of his adolescent and adult life. That is, until he met his wife.
Nicolette is an artist - and a good one too. She and John have a happy marriage with three children: Zach (the oldest), Naomi, and Minnie (the youngest).
Zach is an aspiring military man, a skilled artist, and extremely protective of his sisters. Naomi is a fashionista who constantly dreams of being whisked away to a new world where she is a lost princess. Despite these fantasies, she loves her family more than anything.
Minnie is eight years old. She had been ill as a young child but recovered, and as a result seems more spiritual and sensitive to her environment. She's unique and unusually rational for her age, so she's naturally my favorite character.
But this happy life is in danger of coming to a violent end when John is called upon to investigate murders committed by a juvenile offender.
Now, this happy little fourteen-year-old brutally murdered his entire family completely out of the blue. No history of mental illness, no previous infractions, nothing at all from this kid aside from good grades.
But when John visits him in the mental hospital to ask questions, the fourteen-year-old resembles nothing of the happy-go-lucky kid he used to be. Talking to himself, referring to himself in the third person, and basically talking to John with all the good manners and condescension of Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs.
So what happened? There's some missing link here that John is determined to find, especially once other murders start occurring.
The creepy part? These series of murders closely resemble the those of the victims of Alton Turner Blackwood from years ago.
But he's dead. So what's going on here? Find out by reading the book for yourself.
As I said, it's been a while since I've read the book (I don't think I've touched it since high school). Therefore, I don't know how my attitudes about the book could have changed in that time. But I will say that I did enjoy the book at the time, if nothing else.
It's a little slow-going at first, but the tension quickly escalates the more often these murders occur and the more background you get on the characters, particularly Alton Turner Blackwood. If you love murder mystery thrillers or ghost stories (or both), you'll love this book too. I would recommend this for high school readers and up, though, due to the gory/gruesome content.
That's all I've got for this review. Hope you enjoyed and that you'll give a book a try. Come back tomorrow for a writing exercise!
Happy reading!!
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