77 Shadow Street: Review and Analysis

I know the title says "Review and Analysis" but we're going to start with the analysis and if you have some kind of condition where things have to be done in some specific order or else you go berserk, then I suggest you step away from the computer. I don't want to be sued for driving you into berserkness, causing you to destroy your computer, or iPad, or iPhone for that matter. Are there any other devices I need to mention?

Pressing on.

The Analysis.

77 Shadow Street is not the horror tale as one is lead to believe from the description of the story on the back cover. There are no ghosts, or demons in the general sense as society understands them today. The true terror lies in between the lines, within the moral of the story. Technology can be a wonderful thing, but is society advancing too quickly? The Roman Empire fell because it could not keep up with their own technological advancement. In this story (SPOILER ALERT!!!! TURN BACK NOW!!!!) a scientist comes up with a way to better human kind, but the science goes too far and is applied to other ideas with the best intentions, but instead creates a sort of Gaia, where the Earth is a living creature and in which no human lives because they were all destroyed by their own technology. Perhaps our future is not fated so dramatically, but how long will it be until we destroy each other with our iPods? (There's an app for that). <<<<< I'm joking here. I'm not a conspiracy theorist or paranoid. But I think you get the idea.

The Review

This book is only 607 pages in the large print yet I felt as though it dragged on. The story didn't start to pick up until about a third in, which up until that point I was having to force myself to read it. I felt the characters lacked depth and imagination. You had the scientist, who was nice enough but refused to admit he was at fault, you had the ex-marine who kept everyone alive, there was the conspiracy theorist, and the expert who through his thoughts revealed to the reader the history and nature of the house, and of course the children who had to be protected above all else. Then there were characters who really didn't need to be in the story at all and should have died much sooner than they did. Frankly, there were just too many characters for the story, and there was too much going back and forth between them.

During the last quarter, I was getting to the point where I was tired of reading the story and was ready to yell at the book, "JUST GET TO THE ENDING ALREADY AND TELL US WHAT HAPPENS!" I was skimming, and skipping passages. The story should have been wrapped up around page 500.

However, the monsters were unique, but not as terrifying as Mr. Koontz wanted them to be. Despite all this though, the ending was very satisfactory, and at the last moment the reader was lead to believe that there was going to be a last second plot twist, the last surprise; but with a sigh of relief, all was well with our heroes in the end. I enjoyed the twist though, it was refreshing, and made me gasp for about 5 seconds and before I phewed and wiped the sweat from my brow.

So, I give it 2.5-3 stars out of 5.

77 Shadow Street so far...

When I read the synopsis for the book, I was given the impression that the story was going to be told from the houses point of view, or even the thing that was killing everyone. Then as I started reading the book, I decided the story was going to be told in a series of events, much like a paranormal documentary. Now that I'm a little further into the book and certain characters keep making reappearances I am now able to pick out which characters will be the main characters, and who will probably form bonds and possibly even romances. However, since Dean Koontz's writing has changed since his older books, I haven't decided if this could end in absolute tragedy, or if there will a silver lining at the last chapter.

Also, I'm getting a House on a Haunted Hill vibe.

Oh and, I'm still waiting to be terrified.

June's Book Pick

Dean Koontz's 77 Shadow Street will be our very first pick for the month of June. I've never read this one and it's been a very long time since I've read one of his books since I prefer some of his older writings. In fact I think you can find one of his books under Just Couldn't Put It Down tab up top.

I actually discovered this one on Good Reads (LOVE that site) and the blurb about it just captured me;

"I am the One, the all and the only. I live in the Pendleton as surely as I live everywhere. I am the Pendleton’s history and its destiny. The building is my place of conception, my monument, my killing ground. . . .

The Pendleton stands on the summit of Shadow Hill at the highest point of an old heartland city, a Gilded Age palace built in the late 1800s as a tycoon’s dream home. Almost from the beginning, its grandeur has been scarred by episodes of madness, suicide, mass murder, and whispers of things far worse. But since its rechristening in the 1970s as a luxury apartment building, the Pendleton has been at peace. For its fortunate residents—among them a successful songwriter and her young son, a disgraced ex-senator, a widowed attorney, and a driven money manager—the Pendleton’s magnificent quarters are a sanctuary, its dark past all but forgotten.

But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, elevators plunge into unknown depths. With each passing hour, a terrifying certainty grows: Whatever drove the Pendleton’s past occupants to their unspeakable fates is at work again. Soon, all those within its boundaries will be engulfed by a dark tide from which few have escaped.

Dean Koontz transcends all expectations as he takes readers on a gripping journey to a place where nightmare visions become real—and where a group of singular individuals hold the key to humanity’s destiny. Welcome to 77 Shadow Street"

Most of the books I've read of his are more thriller/suspense/mystery/paranormal-but-not-necessarily-scary, so this is the first horror book of his that I'll be reading. And from some of the comments and reviews on this book I think this month's read will be very promising/


So what other Dean Koontz books have you read? Do you remember the first one to get you hooked? Mine was "From the Corner of His Eye." I love how all the characters are connected together. I felt like I was playing "6 Degrees of Seperation with Kevin Bacon."

Also, don't forget to tune into the forums to discuss 77 Shadow Street at 8:30Pm on Saturday June 30th.