The Neighbor

If you’ve ever wondered how good a short story can be, Dean Koontz reminds us in The Neighbor. While it is touted as a prequel of sorts to his novel, The City, you need not have read it — I confess I haven’t yet — to enjoy this mesmerizing and tender short story. Koontz immediately sucks us into the......more

Dean Koontz brilliantly tugged at the coming of age of two impressionable youngsters. They lived in a time when the war in Vietnam was escalating. That in itself had no specific effect upon the storyline. This well-written short story gave me a look at the unpredictable dynamics of a family. The cha......more

I am huge fan of Dean Koontz so it isn't easy for me when I read something by him that it wasn't good. I was meditating to give it a 3-star rating but at the end, I realized that this short story was just okay, so the 2-star rating was sadly the right call in my opinion. The narrative is nothing out......more

I figured I should review the prequel to The City separately, seeing as how I enjoyed The City so much and it was included with the volume. This short story is about Malcolm and Amalia, shortly before Jonah moves in next door. The narrative is also in first-person, but it’s about them, not Jonah. Th......more