Koontz News
Quicksilver cover, description, and release date update
August 4, 2021
Amazon is now listing a release date of January 25, 2022. They’ve also provided a cover image and story description…
#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes a surprising and exhilarating road trip with a man in pursuit of his strange past―mile by frightening mile.
Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery―abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.
During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving.
Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview―an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary.
Source: Amazon.com
Happy 76th Birthday Dean
July 9, 2021
Quicksilver synopsis
July 3, 2021
Amazon.com has posted the synopsis for Quicksilver.
#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes a surprising and exhilarating road trip with a man in pursuit of his strange past―mile by frightening mile.
Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery―abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.
During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving.
Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview―an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary.
“Mobile library vans”?
June 18, 2021
Speaking as a librarian of 25+ years, I can confirm we still call them “bookmobiles.”
1 week until Nameless: Season 2
June 4, 2021
The first Persian translation of a Dean Koontz novel
May 19, 2021
Announced back in mid 2020, چشم های تاریکی (The Eyes of Darkness) is Dean’s first Persian translation published in Iran. Yesterday I finally received a copy to add to my collection. As I suspected there seems to be a reason that this was the title that was chosen. Here’s a (Google) translation of the blurb on the back of the book:
We have to go back to 20 months ago. A Chinese scientist named Li Chen became infected in the United States when he had a diskette containing information about China’s biological and dangerous weapons in the last decade. They named it Wuhan 400 because it was taken out of Wuhan RDNA Laboratory and was the 400th hand-made microorganism in the research center. The Wuhan 400 was a perfect weapon. It only affected humans and was not transmitted by animals. Like syphilis, it does not survive outside the body for more than a minute, meaning it cannot permanently infect objects or places such as anthrax or other deadly microorganisms. With the death of Mizian, it was destroyed and could not survive at temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius. All this advantage in one weapon
It was interesting….
What’s New & Updated May 17, 2021
May 17, 2021
There was a plan for this week but then Dean released the titles of the next six Nameless stories and the next novel. So yeah, plans change.
- From the Desk of Dean: Be warned!
- Nameless Season Two Episode One: The Lost Soul of the City
- Nameless Season Two Episode Two: Gentle Is the Angel of Death
- Nameless Season Two Episode Three: Kaleidoscope
- Nameless Season Two Episode Four: Light Has Weight, but Darkness Does Not
- Nameless Season Two Episode Five: Corkscrew
- Nameless Season Two Episode Six: Zero In
- Quicksilver
- While He Was Sleeping by Chris Johnson to Appendix G
Also, I’ve got a completely off-line vacation coming up so there’s a good chance of no more announcement posts until early June.
Nameless Season Two Titles and Release Date
May 11, 2021
Titles and a June 10 release date for the eBook versions are up on Amazon. They are:
- Episode One: The Lost Soul of the City
- Episode Two: Gentle Is the Angel of Death
- Episode Three: Kaleidoscope
- Episode Four: Light Has Weight, but Darkness Does Not
- Episode Five: Corkscrew
- Episode Six: Zero In
No covers yet nor information on audio editions yet but I’m assuming they’ll be released on the same day.
Links above are to the Amazon.com pages. Guide entries will be added over the next few days.
Wordplay 2021: Dean Koontz & James Lee Burke
April 19, 2021
Dean Koontz (The Other Emily) and James Lee Burke (A Private Cathedral) together, at last! Two of the most prolific, bestselling, well-known writers in the country will be in conversation for the first time ever. Help us kick-off Wordplay with this historic event.
Note: Enhanced ticket buyers can join this event live on April 30, 7 p.m. CST and participate in the Q&A. The general public will be able to watch the recording on May 2, 7 p.m. CST.
Source: Wordplay 2021
Nameless & other news from this week’s Poisoned Pen chat
March 28, 2021
This past Tuesday, March 23rd, Dean sat down with author Michael Kroyta for a Facebook live chat sponsored by The Poisoned Pen Bookstore. You can head on over to Facebook to watch the whole thing (embedding isnt’ working for some reason,) but here’s the important news that came out of this event.
- There will be more limited editions “eventually” just not right now while he works with this new publisher.
- Six more Nameless stories (Season 2) are in the works. Once those have been published as Amazon exclusive eBooks and audiobooks, there are plans for a single-volume print edition of all twelve stories.
- The rights for additional Odd Thomas films have reverted to Dean.
- There is a dog in the next book. (He did not say what the title of the next book is.
What did Travis feed Einstein?
March 4, 2021
Not everyone knows that chocolate is bad for dogs. Turns out that back in 1986 when Dean wrote Watchers he didn’t know this either and had Travis feed Einstein a Hershey bar. (Chapter 1, part 3) But recently an eagle-eyed reader on Facebook noticed that in later editions Einstein eats a Planters Peanut Bar. So of course, you humble webmaster needed to try to figure out when this change was made. Here’s what I found:
1986 Hardcover: Hershey Bar
1988 Paperback: Hershey Bar
1998 Koontz Book Club Hardcover: Hershey Bar
2003 “Afterword paperback” (40th paperback printing): Planters Peanut Bar
2008 Trade paperback: Planters Peanut Bar
So it looks like the change was made in 2003. The Facebook commenter also said that “Lots of people wrote to him and set him straight.” but I have no current way to confirm this. If someone can find some sort of article or interview that does confirm that I’d love to have a copy sent my direction.
Six more Nameless stories on the way.
February 14, 2021
Intensity & Relentless in The Right Kind of Wrong (2013)
February 14, 2021
Film details @ IMDB
Dean appeared at a B. Dalton opening in 1988
January 4, 2021
According to Kerry Cisneroz:
“Newsboy Books was opened in the 1970s, and was originally called Chino Newsstand. In 1988 B. Dalton Bookseller, Chino’s first major chain bookstore, opened in the idle of the newly built Chino Town Square on Philadelphia Street and had huge selections of over 5,000 books and magazines. They had special guests at their grand opening, including author Dean Koontz. Free balloons and pencils were given away….life was still simple then, and people were excited about free balloons and pencils.”
I’ve reached out to Kerry to see if they have any additional information and will report back if I hear anything.
What’s New & Updated December 7, 2020
December 7, 2020
A bunch of super random items this week including a cut joke from a film, a TV mention, and some music.
- Foreword to How to Reach Eternity by Daniel Love to Appendix F
- I Heard Angels Sign by Lisle Crowley to Innocence
- The Other Emily ARC
- Saved By the Bell 2020 s01e07: House Party to Appendix B, TV References
- Winter Moon original score inspired by the Dean R Koontz novel by Electric Supply Station
Dean (Dane) gets a shout out on the new Saved By the Bell
December 5, 2020
Saved by the Bell (2020) s01e07: House Party
Don’t ask me for the lottery numbers
November 22, 2020
A few months ago I mentioned how I’d never previously seen a copy of The Drowned Man’s Reel for sale anywhere. Last week I questioned the release of any limited editions in the future. Well…
Here’s another copy of The Drowned Man’s Reel up for auction on eBay, and here’s the page to order the forthcoming limited edition of Devoted.
Last Dangerous Visions to be completed by J. Michael Straczynski
November 16, 2020
When Harlan Ellison died in 2018, he left behind a project that he’d long promised to complete: The Last Dangerous Visions, an infamous third anthology that would have followed his Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions anthologies.
Now, it looks like it’ll be completed, nearly half a century after its first intended publication date. Ellison’s friend and now estate executor J. Michael Straczynski (the creator of Babylon 5 and co-creator of Sense8) has promised that he’ll complete the anthology.
The Last Dangerous Visions is something of a white whale for Ellison. In 1967, he rounded up a number of authors writing in the genre and produced Dangerous Visions, an acclaimed anthology that included 33 original stories from authors such as Lester del Rey, Frederik Pohl, Brian W. Aldiss, Philip K. Dick, Larry Niven, Carol Emshwiller, and others. The anthology was hailed for pushing the boundaries of science fiction amidst the New Wave movement, and earned considerable praise from reviewers.
…
Notably, Straczynski says that there are several publishers who are interested in publishing the massive, three-volume anthology, although he’ll work on completing the entire project first before submitting it for publication, which he says will happen in March and April 2021.
Read the full article @ TOR.com
Crime Reads releases the cover and an excerpt from The Other Emily
November 16, 2020
The following is an exclusive excerpt from The Other Emily, by Dean Koontz. We are thrilled to reveal the cover of this gripping new thriller, which will be released in March 2021. It’s been ten years since Emily was presumed to have been killed by a serial killer, and her partner David is still determined to figure out what happened. But then he meets Maddison, a woman who seems exactly like the love he lost.
Read the excerpt @ Crime Reads
The end of limited editions?
November 16, 2020
According to Paul Worosello “Joe at Charnel House told me that he was not doing any of the new Koontz books. I figured it was a thing with his new publisher.”
I can’t say I have any special insight into Dean’s deal with Amazon but I can’t say I’m surprised that there’s a significant amount of exclusivity built into the deal.