Has Anyone Read Koontz or Laymon? What do you think?

Question

I love Dean Koontz and Richard Laymon. I recently found out that they are good friends and although their writing is similar, they are both brilliantly unique. I have found a few titles from each that were disappointing but the others that were magnificent more than made up for it. I would like to know which Laymon books you like and which you didn't and why. Just curious. And Koontz has been writing since the 70's under different pseudonyms and I was curious if anyone has read his works that are out of print and wha they thought. Koontz is my all time favorite author, but Laymon is the only author that has ever truly scared me with a book--Endless Night --has anyone else read this?

My favorite was Endless Night so far. I was terrified! And believe me it is really hard to scare me. I have been watching horror movies since age 5 and reading horror novels since age 9 or 10. I know, no parental guidance, lol.

I definitely have mixed feelings about the review posted as an answer below. Of course the book Endless Night has gory, scary, creepy parts.That is why it scared the daylights out of me. But I don't agree that it slowed down. I couldn't put the book down, thought it moved very fast even after she THOUGHT she escaped. I also don't think someone should post as an ANSWER a review and opinion of someone else if they have never read the book. I understand if that was the poster's opinion, but he/she states that he/she had not read it. So don't taint everyone else's view before they have a chance to read for themselves. Every book is not for every person, but I think the depth of the scenes was more than a bit exaggerated by the reivew. I am a woman and I have lived through terrible ordeals in real life, but I LOVE horror stories and realize that this is FICTION. To each his/her own, but don't ruin for someone who can read and make their own decision.If you don't like the book, put it down.

Answer 1

I haven't ever read Endless Night, but I've read a couple other books by Richard Laymon. I have read Night in the Lonesome October and Darkness, Tell Us. They were both wonderful books. They both kept me on edge. I finished then within a couple days because it was hard to put them down! I haven't read any books by Dean Koontz, but I do have have a few of his books, I just haven't gotten around to reading them. I was going to ask for a new book by Richard Laymon for Christmas, but I wasn't sure which one I should ask for. Now I will know what to ask for. I've heard several people liking the book Endless Night. I guess that's what I'm going to go for!

Answer 2

Try F. Paul Wilson (Stephen King is the president of his fan club, so that should tell you something). "Midnight Mass," "The Tomb," and "The Keep" are three really good one by him. Peter Straub is pretty good, usually. Start with "Ghost Story" or "Floating Dragon." Watch out for his short stories, though...zzzzzzz. Clive Barker's "The Books of Blood" are some of the best short stories I've ever read. John Saul has some good ones, but he has some bad ones, too, so be careful. "Suffer the Children" is pretty good. I've read "The Amityville Horror" by Jay Anson, and "The Hungry Moon" by Ramsey Campbell and enjoyed them both. Haven't gotten around to anything else they've written, though. If you liked Stephen King's "The Stand" you'll probably like Robert McCammon's "Swan Song." I couldn't put it down. In other genres, I like Michael Crichton, Dan Brown, Thomas Harris, and Hunter S. Thompson.

Answer 3

I really liked Mr. Murder by Koontz and have read seveal others of his. I have not read any Laymon. What's his best in your opinion?

Also, if you want to read a "one hit wonder" along these lines - read "The BEast Within" by Edward Levy.

Answer 4

I just recently started reading Koontz. I really enjoyed his book, Odd Thomas. It was a very fast read and had a few surprises I didn't expect. At one point, I actually gasped out loud in a doctor's office waiting room.

For those who haven't read it and are interested, here is the link from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Odd-Thomas-Novel-Koontz-Dean/dp/0553802496/sr=1-1/qid=1161936821/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7105532-4422510?ie=UTF8&s=books

After reading your post, you had my curiosity piqued about Endless Night. I love good, scary books, but after reading these reviews from Amazon (which make it sound more sick than scary), I think I'll pass:

"The book starts out very promising, delivering what the backcover promises almost instantly: poor Jody gets a nasty surprise. The writing is awesome, the story so far very scary and believable. But then Jody gets away and the story just falls apart. In my opinion, because from this point on the nerdy, psychopath killer gets a voice in the book and the reader gets to read nothing but disturbing stories about how he rapes and murders people, and yes, all in very graphic detail.

What's left of Jody's story - the emotional aftermath and her relationships with her father and the other survivor - is suddenly used to fill up the void between the killer's stories, which seems to have become the main thread in the book. But in the meantime, the killer's actual pursuit of Jody goes slow and is without excitement - that is, without the good 'hide and seek/will he get her?!' kind, but with plenty of the sick 'look at me, I'm raping and stabbing people for 3 hours at a time!' kind - and let me tell you, those 'war' stories, go on and on. Up to the point where it got so pathetic, I got bored. By the time I finally got to those final pages I'd been waiting for since page 80-something, I'd already pretty much lost my interest.

All in all, that leaves about 150 of interesting pages and about 300 too sad and laughable sick ones. Not a great deal, if you ask me. "

And...

"A sick feeling crept over me every time Simon would describe the "hi-jinks" of his gang's exploits. Normally in Richard Laymon books, I get a delicious creepy feeling when it comes to the gore and the over-the-top events that happen. This book seriously grossed me out. There is so much brutal rape in this book, it really surprised me and sickened me. Skinning, murdering, skewering, cannibalism, torture, all of that is there too... but the rape scenes made me start feeling very jittery and ill and they are present from beginning to end.

I have often wondered about Richard Laymon's "mental state" and views of women, and this book verified to me that he must have had some issues. Particularly when he describes the rape/murder of the character Connie, who is kept alive for two months because she apparently "enjoys" the abuse. I just don't know. There are so many girls and women raped and "destroyed" in this book. It's pretty terrible. And it is treated so flippantly and with humour and joy by the killer... disturbing, as I'm sure Mr. Laymon intended. Mission accomplished. But... too disturbing for me. I felt SAD reading this book, sad and sick, during these parts. A first for me with this author. "

Answer 5

"From the Corner of His Eye" by Koontz is possible the best book I've ever read. So much suspense, such good writing.