Innocence review & Dean interview @ Shelf Awareness

December 7, 2013

Dean Koontz knows exactly what story you’ll be thinking about after the opening chapters of Innocence. His narrator-protagonist Addison Goodheart, a shunned outcast who lives alone deep below the city streets, comes up to the surface late one night and, making his way through the public library, catches sight of a haunting young woman fleeing an angry pursuer. Once the threat has passed, Addison figures out where she must be hiding and reaches out to her; she agrees to meet and talk with him. “I have no illusions about romance,” he tells her during that first conversation. “Beauty and the Beast is a nice fairy tale, but fairy tales are for books.”
Of course, Innocence is a book, and so ultimately there will be much of the fairy tale in Addison’s account of how he becomes 18-year-old Gwyneth’s companion–not so much her hero or protector as a bearer of witness. Gwyenth’s father was murdered by the man who had stolen much of his fortune, the same man from whom she was running earlier (who has an even more sinister fate in mind for her). Addison tags along as she tries to find evidence of this villain’s crimes–and stays with her as she scrambles to protect those closest to her from the inevitable attempts at revenge. He has fallen in love with her, and his devotion is absolute. “She would always be blameless,” he tells us, “for I knew the purity of her heart.”

Read the full review and an Interview with Dean @ Shelf-Awareness.com.

Ask Dean: How did you get the idea for Innocence?

December 7, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TtyTc_O7Rc

Ask Dean: Which of your books do you get asked about most often?

December 7, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsikbDRX1Fk

Saint Odd release date

December 7, 2013

According to the Holidays 2013 issue of Useless News the final Odd Thomas book, Saint Odd, will be published in December 2014. No further details have been made available at this time.

The Holidays 2013 issue of Useless News has arrived

December 7, 2013

Patterson mentions Koontz

December 7, 2013

PW Picks: Books of the Week, December 9, 2013

December 6, 2013

Innocence by Dean Koontz (Bantam) -In this imaginative, mystical thriller from bestseller Koontz, Addison Goodheart, a 26-year-old man so “exceedingly ugly” that his appearance causes “the most terrible rage” in regular people, lives alone in a hidden part of an American metropolis, but views his solitude as a gift that has enabled him to recognize “reality’s complex dimensions.” An unexpected encounter in a deserted library with Gwyneth, an 18-year-old Goth girl who’s the target of the rare-book curator’s lust, throws him for a loop. Addison bonds with Gwyneth, who suspects her nemesis, J. Ryan Telford, of murdering her father by sending him poisoned honey.

Read the full article @ PublishersWeekly.com

Interview in December issue of Book Page

December 1, 2013

The December 2013 issue of Book Page contains a full-page interview titled “Finding Hope in Life’s Dark Side” by Jay Macdonald.
The print version of Book Page can be found in some bookstores (including Books-A-Million) and at many libraries around the country. The cover and the ads are customized for the distribution point, but all contain the same basic content.
If you’re unable to find a print copy, you can also find the interview on the Book Page Web site.

New Edition of "Love of Goldens" available

December 1, 2013

A third hardcover edition of Love of Goldens has been released. This time with a new cover photograph and sans dust jacket. And, according to the sticker on the cover, this edition is exclusive to the Books-A-Million bookstore. Unfortunately I can’t find it on their Web site so if you want a copy, you’ll need access to a BAM or a friend who lives near one.
For those unaware of this bargain book, it contains “A Mind of Its Own” by Dean, which is actually an excerpt from Watchers.

Ask Dean: If you could have dinner with one of your own characters, who would it be?

November 30, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SYIrveTdpY

Ask Dean: Which of your books do you get asked about most often?

November 30, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsikbDRX1Fk

Ask Dean: What are you currently watching on television?

November 30, 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBUPeeD-RyY

Dark Harvest gallery

November 24, 2013

Sarasota author John MacDonald's work on the verge of a renaissance

November 24, 2013

So many of John D. MacDonald’s books had gone out of print in recent years that fans often had to settle for dog-eared used copies, sometimes at collector prices. E-books were not available at all.
But now, nearly 30 years after his death, one of Sarasota’s most prominent and admired writers is experiencing a literary rebirth.
Random House, the world’s largest trade publishing house, is re-issuing its complete library of MacDonald’s output, ranging from crime thrillers such as “Cape Fear” (originally “The Executioners”) to more obscure works that even dipped into science fiction.
Of the 71 books, none have previously been available as e-books and more than 30 had been out of print since the 1990s. All of the works, including those that had remained in print, will have new covers and introductions.
…
Tavani said that best-selling contemporary writers, including Stephen King, a part-time Casey Key resident, have championed the revival. Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series, wrote a new introduction for the McGee series. Another writer, Dean Koontz, authored the introduction for MacDonald’s non-McGee books.

Read the full article @ HeraldTribune.com.

Two articles about Beautiful Old Dogs

November 24, 2013

10 Beautiful Old Dogs To Celebrate Senior Dog Month

While many people just naturally think of adopting a puppy, there are so many reasons to adopt an older dog. Now a new book pays tribute to this unique canine group and also shows us many reasons why senior dogs are special. Beautiful Old Dogs: A Loving Tribute to Our Senior Best Friends, edited by David Tabatsky, is filled with gorgeous photography by the late Gary Gross. While Gross may have been noted in fashion, he later went on to become a leading dog trainer.  This book captures purely stunning photos of senior dogs in their glory in an effort to show how beautiful and loving senior dogs really are, along with uplifting essays and poetry by Anna Quindlen, Ally Sheedy, Christopher Durang, Doris Day, Dean Koontz, Marlo Thomas, and others.

Spokesdog’s Book Review: Beautiful Old Dogs

When I was asked to review this book there was something about the title that made me anxious to get to it.  The title is short, sweet, simple and says it all.
Have you noticed some grey hair on your dog’s muzzle?  Does it seem your dog is growing more lumps on a monthly basis?  Have you noticed your dog is napping more?  There is no way for humans or animals to beat the aging process although humans trying to fake out the mirror may pay for a little nip or tuck here and there.  Dogs seem to take aging in stride as they are not consumed with our vanity.

Dean Koontz's 'Innocence' Is A Fall From Grace

November 24, 2013

Heads up: the reviewer didn’t like it.

Dean Koontz’s newest novel, Innocence (December 10; Bantam), is virtually guaranteed to be a runaway holiday bestseller. With a primo release date and the tried and true name of Dean Koontz stamped on the cover, grandmas everywhere will be salivating to slide this gift-wrapped treasure into the soft hands of their bookworm grandsons. After 30+ years of repeated bestsellers, Koontz is no longer an author, he’s a brand. He represents something you buy because you’ve always bought it, like a particular type of canned chili––he’s not particularly good, but you stick to what you know. And when it comes to Christmastime, a new Dean Koontz hardcover is like a strangely familiar glitter, winking at you from a Barnes and Noble easel rack.

Read the full review @ Bloody Disgusting.

The top 25 underappreciated films of 1998

November 24, 2013

25. Phantoms

“Hundreds of thousands missing! No bodies, no graves, no witnesses” Peter O’Toole emotes in this unfairly overlooked mash-up of The Blob, The Thing, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and the cosmic terror of HP Lovecraft. Something evil has wiped out the occupants of Snowfield, Colorado, and whatever it is has designs on absorbing the rest of the planet, too.

The oddly-cast yet entirely welcome O’Toole leads an eclectic cast, including Ben Affleck, Rose McGowan and Liev Schreiber, who encounter something sentient and very oily in the deserted old town. There are few truly original ideas to be found in this adaptation of Dean Koontz’s novel (with a screenplay by the author himself), but it’s an entertaining, well-paced thrill ride, and genre fans will find much to enjoy in the gooey monsters and O’Toole’s deliciously ripe performance.

Read the full article @ Den Of Geek.

The Best Sci-fi/Horror Mash-ups, Part 2: The 80s

November 24, 2013

The Dean Koontz adaptation “Watchers,” about an escaped mutated monster and a hyper-intelligent dog, with former teen star Corey Haim and Michael Ironside (of “Scanners” fame), spawned three sequels of varying quality and is reasonably entertaining. Think “A Boy and His Dog” with a more action bent and you’ve almost got it.

Read more @ FilmEquals.com.

Ask Dean: What question do you get asked the most?

November 24, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=r5ffmMOaI3g

Ask Dean: What was your favorite book as a child and why?

November 24, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6Vi7r4rDjqM