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Brian's Reviews > Phantoms
Phantoms
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* The quotation from Stephen King on the back cover of my paperback edition: “Gruesome. Unrelenting.” No indication of quality, just a couple of observations about the presentation. Like saying, “Action-packed,” to describe Sucker Punch.
* Dialogue isn’t one of Koontz’ strong points. Neither is characterization. Here we have a 14-year-old girl who never behaves like a child, so she might as well be 28. Here we have a cop who, with his heavy-lidded eyes and his ingratiating manner, fools people into thinking he isn’t too bright, but who, of course, is a brilliant detective. (Koontz, however, doesn’t dedicate the book to or even thank Peter Falk.) And over here we have a pretty, young woman doctor who states that even if a guy beat and raped her, she’d still give him the best medical care she could if she found him bleeding out on the street. She’s not religious, either, which is strange, since she treats the Hippocratic Oath like one of the Ten Commandments. (Funnily enough, the character she’s referring to turns out to be a prolific serial killer.)
* The book doesn’t end well. Oh, it smarmily ties up every loose end, but even before that, Koontz generates his climax from a ridiculously unbelievable bit of scientific investigation. In Jurassic Park, Crichton created dinosaurs from a simple mosquito. Here, Koontz does basically the reverse. And, yes, it’s just about that deflating.
* These criticisms aren’t the sort that occur to you only after an enthralled reading of the book. Regrettably, they occur with regularity throughout.
* Though it's not relevant to the book, the movie, also written by Koontz, is worse in every way.
* Dialogue isn’t one of Koontz’ strong points. Neither is characterization. Here we have a 14-year-old girl who never behaves like a child, so she might as well be 28. Here we have a cop who, with his heavy-lidded eyes and his ingratiating manner, fools people into thinking he isn’t too bright, but who, of course, is a brilliant detective. (Koontz, however, doesn’t dedicate the book to or even thank Peter Falk.) And over here we have a pretty, young woman doctor who states that even if a guy beat and raped her, she’d still give him the best medical care she could if she found him bleeding out on the street. She’s not religious, either, which is strange, since she treats the Hippocratic Oath like one of the Ten Commandments. (Funnily enough, the character she’s referring to turns out to be a prolific serial killer.)
* The book doesn’t end well. Oh, it smarmily ties up every loose end, but even before that, Koontz generates his climax from a ridiculously unbelievable bit of scientific investigation. In Jurassic Park, Crichton created dinosaurs from a simple mosquito. Here, Koontz does basically the reverse. And, yes, it’s just about that deflating.
* These criticisms aren’t the sort that occur to you only after an enthralled reading of the book. Regrettably, they occur with regularity throughout.
* Though it's not relevant to the book, the movie, also written by Koontz, is worse in every way.
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Started Reading
August 24, 2011
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August 24, 2011
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Jennie
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rated it 4 stars
Sep 05, 2011 04:28PM
Must agree about the characterization of the girl. I taught at a middle school for ten years, and she sure didn't make me think of any kid I'd ever met there. I also thought it was funny how they took time to philosophize about good and evil after having killed the creature. It just didn't seem natural. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the book.
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I wonder if Koontz himself realized this. The younger sister, 14 in the book, is played by Rose McGowan in the movie, and she was 25 at the time.
I agree about the 14 year old not really acting like a teenager, but then I've met some really mature young people who seemed old before their time.As to religion and the Hippocratic Oath, what do the two have to do with each other?
well when i got half way through the book , i watched the movie with my son - horror for Halloween, and up to were i read so far i found the movie to be a pretty good adaption , so far only thing odd was that the 14 year old sister ended up looking about 30 , ive yet to finish the book so not sure how much the second half of the movie compares to the book, so to be honest i dont see how they movie can be worse than the book in every way when so far as ive seen its half as great as the book
I haven't finish it yet (not even close), but I completely agree with characterization and dialogue...It is difficult to believe and sort of ruins it. Plus, I don't care about these people (yet).To be fair, whenever I try writing fiction, those are the two things that mess me up, too.
Lastly, King's review did also strike me as having double meaning.
