Koontz News
Dean Koontz dominates 6 of the top-10 Kindle e-book sales for the holiday by Joshua Fruhlinger
November 27, 2019
Chances are good that many people will be reading on Kindles and smartphones in order to conserve luggage space (and to avoid awkward conversations about book covers), and chances are just as good that many people have already loaded up their devices for the trip. So we took a look at Amazon’s ($NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Store sales ranks for the past couple weeks as we head into Thanksgiving.
And what we found is total Dean Koontz dominance. That’s partially because Koontz is a best-selling author who has sold more than 450 million books, has written more than 100 books, and has had 14 of them hit #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.
But this time around he doesn’t need book stores or even the New York Times. That’s because he just released a series of six books (yes, six), and all of them have immediately jumped to the Amazon Kindle top-10 list.
The series is called Nameless. Five of the six books took the top-5 spots in the Kindle Store, and the sixth one took spot 8.
Read the full article @ Thinkum Alternative Data
What’s New & Updated November 25, 2019
November 25, 2019
This week I filled in a hole in my collection with a first edition paperback of Strangers and then got my hands on two ARCs of Devoted. (I’m giving one away.) Let’s say this was a great week.
- Devoted ARC, details for other editions based on the ARC, and marketing images
- Strangers (DRK) mass market paperback, image added and details corrected.
- Supernatural s14e05: Proverbs 17:3 to Ephemera
Congratulations to this week’s Amazon Charts authors…
November 25, 2019
Devoted ARCs are hitting the streets
November 23, 2019
Dean on Nameless
November 18, 2019
Devoted will have a Kindle in motion edition
November 14, 2019
Similar to the Kindle release of Ricochet Joe, the Kindle version of Devoted will be an “In Motion” edition.
This book can be read on any device, including Kindle E-readers. It may include art, animation, or video features that can be viewed on certain Fire tablets and the free Kindle app for iOS and Android. You can switch features on or off at any time.
And have you noticed that the Kindle edition page has a background?
Devoted cover images and excerpt
November 13, 2019
Amazon.com‘s got the cover image up for Devoted and Flavorwire has an animated version of the cover along with an excerpt…
The two-lane blacktop is a dark snake slithering through the moon-washed paleness of the Utah wastelands. In the nearly empty vastness, small clusters of lights glimmer here and there in the distance, like extraterrestrial pod craft that have descended from the mother ship on some nefarious mission.
Traveling south out of the Provo suburbs into ever greater isolation, Lee Shacket dares not take Interstate 15. He uses less-busy state highways, undivided federal highways when he must, anxious to put as much distance as possible between himself and the events at the Springville facility.
If he has committed as much evil as any man in history, he has done it with the best intentions. He believes that those intentions matter more than the consequences of his actions. How could humanity have advanced from caves to orbiting space stations if all men and women were risk averse? Some seek knowledge and rise to challenges at whatever cost, and because of them, progress is made.
Anyway, all may be well in the end. The final result of the project is not yet known, only that it’s gone wrong in mid stage. Every scientific endeavor is marked by setbacks. Ultimately, failure can be the father of success if one learns from the errors made.
The Koontz Living Trust
November 12, 2019
In my defense I’m a librarian and a copyright nerd, but did anyone else notice the new copyright assignment on the Nameless books?
“Text Copyright © 2019 by The Koontz Living Trust”
Entertainment Weekly: Read (or listen) an excerpt from Dean Koontz’s newest story collection, Nameless
November 11, 2019
It’s a time of great change for publishing, and technology has opened up many new possibilities for storytelling. So for his next book, best-selling author Dean Koontz is trying something new. Nameless is a collection of stories focused on a mysterious vigilante without a name — he adopts many, from “Alan Grofield” to “Ben Shepherd,” but his true name is Nameless. He goes on missions from someone known as Ace of Diamonds, who sends him with the money, hotel rooms, guns, and information needed to take out criminals. Nameless has experience and know-how, but more importantly possesses the superhuman gift of clairvoyance, allowing him to glimpse both the future and his own enigmatic past.
Nameless: A Collection of Six Stories combines the serialized fiction of the past with the bingeable fiction of today. Released all at once digitally on Amazon like a streaming show, each installment of Nameless will provide more information about the character at the heart of it all.
Below, check out an exclusive excerpt from the Nameless story “In the Heart of the Fire.” Read the rest of “In the Heart of the Fire,” as well as the next five episodes of Nameless, when it hits Amazon on Nov. 12, free for Prime and Kindle Unlimited members.
Check it out @ Entertainment Weekly
What’s New & Updated November 10, 2019
November 9, 2019
A day early this week as I’m taking a short overnight trip. Several bookstores will be involved so hopefully I’ll come back with some new treasures. In the meantime, it looks like the Nameless books will be Audible audio exclusives along with the Kindle eBook versions. The image here is the “cover” on the six-book collection from Audible.
- Nameless 1: In the Heart of the Fire Audible
- Nameless 2: Photographing the Dead Audible
- Nameless 3: The Praying Mantis Bride Audible
- Nameless 4: Red Rain Audible
- Nameless 5: The Mercy of Snakes Audible
- Nameless 6: Memories of Tomorrow Audible
Dean Koontz reveals 6 new thrillers — and why you won’t find them in bookstores by Jim Ruland
November 7, 2019
Built-in bookshelves line both sides of the hallway that leads to Dean Koontz’s office at his sprawling home in Newport Coast, and every one of them is crammed with books. Not just any books. His books.
“When I’m having a bad day,” he says as we pass through the hallway, “this reminds me that I’ve done this before.”
That’s a bit of an understatement.
Dean Koontz is one of a handful of writers whose name people recognize even if they haven’t read his work. He’s written more than 100 books, 14 of which have landed on the top spot of the New York Times Best Seller list. He’s sold more than 450 million copies of his work.
But his latest project, “Nameless,” isn’t on these shelves. Nor will you find a copy at your local library or bookstore.
Published by Amazon, the “Nameless” series is being released only in electronic and audio formats. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can download the first installment free starting Nov. 12. It’s an unconventional approach for an unconventional book.
I spoke with Koontz about “Nameless” at his home office, where he says he spends a minimum of 10 hours a day, six days a week, typing away on a computer that does not have access to the internet.
Like much of his home, the room’s furnishings and design reflect an Art Deco aesthetic. “I just love the Art Deco period,” Koontz says. “Common everyday objects were made like works of art. That’s all lost now.”
His latest project is a bit of a throwback to the Parker novels by Donald E. Westlake (writing as Richard Stark): short, gritty crime stories with a no-nonsense protagonist. In one scene, Koontz even drops the name “Alan Grofield,” a recurring character in Parker’s capers.
Read the full article @ the LA Times
Image: Author Dean Koontz at his Newport Coast home with Elsa. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
California will never stop burning by Dan Zak
November 6, 2019
Thirty miles southwest of the 46 Fire, Dean Koontz, the megaselling novelist, was standing outside his enormous new home the morning after Halloween.
“We had friends who wouldn’t move to California because of earthquakes.”
Like other Californians, he has stood on a roof with a garden hose and a stance of defiance.
“They moved to the Gulf Coast and got hit by a hurricane.”
It costs a fortune to insure some homes in California. This is why Koontz invited Moseley and his team for a consultation about a defensive sprinkler system and his SPF3000 spray. Local authorities have challenged the effectiveness and safety of the product, but Moseley has testimonials from grateful clients and documentation of test results.
He also has his on-the-go demonstration. On Koontz’s front stoop, Moseley blowtorches one end of a piece of wood. It ignites, burns, starts to disintegrate. Then he torches the other side, which has been treated with SPF3000. It blackens but does not ignite. Then Moseley scrapes the charred veneer with a car key to reveal intact wood underneath.AD
“Impressive,” Koontz says. His Tuscan-style villa is in a gated community near Irvine. This is a place of Bentleys and catering trucks, and an air of invincibility. Koontz knows that nothing is invincible. If he were younger, maybe he’d move to a place that wasn’t quaking and conflagrating so much. Arizona, perhaps. But he loves it here.
“None of us live forever,” he says. “And you have to weigh the quality of life with the risk.”
Read the full article @ The Washington Post
Tunnel Boy then & now
November 4, 2019
So yeah, TMZ is pretty much near the bottom of my list of sites I want to point anyone to, but they’ve done a then & now on Lucas Elliot Eberl who played the tunnel boy in Phantoms so here ya go.
The Agent was not written by Dean
November 3, 2019
Some chucklehead is taking advantage of how Amazon’s systems work and has written a Kindle book titled “The Agent.” The fun part is that the “author’s” “name” is “Dean A Koontz” which Amazon is then connecting to our one and only Dean Koontz. I think the A stands for Asshat! Sadly, some readers have already fallen for this. If you have, please demand a refund. I’ve also reported the issue to @AmazonHelp on twitter and will let you know what they say, if anything. In the meantime, I’m not providing a link so as to not give the “author” and Google juice. I’m sure you can find it yourself.
Devoted available for pre-order
October 22, 2019
Here’s the Amazon.com links to pre-order the hardcover, Kindle, and MP3-CD Audiobook editions.
Great new photo of Dean on Twitter
October 5, 2019
Nameless collection up for pre-order
October 2, 2019
“If our memories make us who we are, who is a man without any? Nameless has only a gun, missions from a shadowy agency, and one dead aim: dispense justice when the law fails. As he moves from town to town, driven by splintered visions of the past and future, he’s headed toward the ultimate confrontation in this propulsive collection of short stories by #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz.”
- Nameless 1: In the Heart of the Fire
- Nameless 2: Photographing the Dead
- Nameless 3: The Praying Mantis Bride
- Nameless 4: The Mercy of Snakes
- Nameless 5: The Mercy of Snakes
- Nameless 6: Memories of Tomorrow
Pre-order all six now @ Amazon.com.
What’s New & Updated September 30, 2019
September 30, 2019
You may have noticed a bunch of blog posts during this last week. I’m trying to get better with thing’s I’ve found online getting posted, but I’ll admit actual Koontz news helps that a lot. I’m also prepping for the big push to integrate the fanzine content. Some of it already exists in the notes for certain entries, but that’s mostly reviews and ads. Hence the blog post about Piers Anthony. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already. In the meantime, enjoy these random bits of info you probably didn’t already know about.
- Dean Koontz Suspense Theater
- Lisa Tuttle’s review of Soft Come the Dragons in Interplanetary Corn Chips #6
- Locus’ September 2019 coverage of the Amazon deal added to the July 22, 2019 blog post
- The Making of Veronica and Rich Man’s Child to Appendix F
Oddkins film?
September 29, 2019
Titley penned the first live-action “Scooby-Doo” movie, “Cheaper by the Dozen,” and “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” His latest feature film projects include adaptations of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” “Arabian Nights,” and Dean Koontz’s “Oddkins.”
Read the full article, none of the rest of which has anything to do with Dean, @ jg-tc.com
Jazz radio show host and drummer Michael Hanson dies at 78
September 26, 2019
Hanson enjoyed a few side ventures, including being a sought-after reader of audio books. He did a number for bestselling horror writer Dean Koontz.
Source: Madison Magazine
Photo from the original article