Shadowfires

Originally written under the pen name of Leigh Nichols, this book tells of a love triangle gone horribly wrong. Rachel Leben has been separated from her brilliant husband for months. Eric Leben is a genetic scientist whose main obsession is youth. Rachel has become tired of her older husband's obsessive lifestyle and is wanting a divorce. After a violent argument, Eric storms out into the street and is killed when he is hit by a truck. Horrified by the situation, Rachel reluctantly leans on Ben Shadway, a man that she is falling in love with. But their nightmare has only just begun. There are signs that Eric isn't dead, that he is coming after Rachel with a rage that goes beyond anything human. Now Ben and Rachel must run, not just from Eric, but from a terrible secret that the government is well aware of.
Like many of his other books, this story has deep, complex characters, heart pounding action, and thrilling suspense. A fast paced read, this tale keeps you riveted until the very end. The only complaint I have with the story is that all the loose ends in the story were all tied up in a very brief climax. (Almost as if a time limit was up and the story had to be finished right now.) Other than that it was quite enjoyable.

Moments after a heated arguement in the street with her ex husband, Rachael watches in horror as he is brought down by a dump truck. Just an hour ago, they were sitting in his lawyers office finalizing their divorce, and now he is dead, killed before her very eyes. Though Rachael feels horrified by his death, she feels no grief...sorrow, but no sense of loss. Eric, her ex, was lost to her a long time ago. Feeling a sense of relief, but at the same time a queer unease, Rachael heads home to unwind after her wild day. But the day isnt over...she receives a phone call from the morgue...Erics body has gone missing. Soon events spiral out of control and Rachael is on the run from a stalker...a stalker that looks remarkably like her dead Ex husband.

Shadowfires was, at first, hard for me to get into...the story really stretched the limits of my imagination, but eventually, the tension wound so tight and the story and its characters got so interesting, I was willing to let go and just enjoy the ride. All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I love DK's characters. I think he does an amazing job with his villains...they are so 3 dimensional. Even as Im hating them, Koontz allows you in deep to see a softer side that makes them seem so human. I hated Eric, he was a sick twisted pig, but at the same time, there was a part of me that felt sorry for him as DK revealed more and more about his past and his motivations. Truly, Koontz is brilliant.

I just finished Shadowfires tonight and I've been told that it's his scariest & goriest book.
It's the 15th book by Koontz that I've read, so I have less than half of his library under my belt to compare it to, but I do agree that it's the goriest...especially so far.

(spoiler alert)

The way Eric gives into his animalistic desires & gorges on flesh & blood, after raping that lady at the rest stop...whew! It had me squirming uncomfortably in my chair.

And how well he described Eric as he became more of an "it" through metamorphic changes in his skeletal structure.

I really liked this book. I didn't think Eric's death was particularly creative, but it fit as far as what "the good guys" had at their disposal. I don't think it takes away from the climax of the book, but if it were a movie, I think people would have expected more fireworks at the ending ("fireworks"...no pun intended).

I liked it about 3/4 of the way through when Eric's motivation for staying young was explained...that gave his character a lot more depth & even earned a little sympathy from me.

Having read 15 DK books now, here's my rankings:

1-Odd Thomas
2-Frankenstein 1 (a very very close second!)
3-Frankenstein 2 (a very very close third!)
4-Watchers (a very very close fourth!)
5-From The Corner Of His Eye
6-Shadowfires
7-Lightning
8-Hideaway
9-Strangers
10-Velocity
11-Brother Odd
12-The Key To Midnight
13-Odd Hours
14-Forever Odd
15-The Taking

Eric Leben is a brilliant rich scientist. He's not a nice guy though and after an encounter with a garbage truck is dead. Rachael who had decided to settle on next to nothing in their divorce settlement suddenly inherits his company.
The government knows what Eric was working on and wants his secrets and everyone who knows about them. Meanwhile Eric's corpse walks out of the morgue. He wants his documents back and his wife dead. Being immortal isn't as much fun as you'd think, Eric has some physical and mental issues to deal with.
Ben Shadway who has had a crush on Rachael since he met her decides to accompany her while she flees those after her. He has a few secrets of his own and enemies.
This isn't Koontz's best work. It's fairly dated with references to communism with national security. It's storyline is fairly predictable in parts and the ending is very disappointing and unimaginatively simple. I also didn't think the moral dilemma about Anson Sharp was resolved properly for Jerry Peake before he acted either.

*spoilers*

Once again, typical Koontz.

It started off pretty strong. A middle-aged woman, Rachel, is freed from her awful marriage after her rich husband gets dusted by a garbage truck. She feels relieved, but then learns her husband's body is gone from the morgue.

As it turns out, Mr. Rich Husband was doing research into immortality, and comes back to life. Thing is, he cannot maintain mental stability, and has pretty much reverted into a primal, blood-thirsty killing machine.

Now, as I already said, it started out pretty strong. But can someone, anyone, tell me why Koontz feels so implied to answer all of his plotlines with some sort of rampant, out-of-control government conspiracy? And so, as aforementioned, this is typical Koontz. It worked in The Watchers, and it worked in a few others, but there's a point in time where it just gets old. The man has so many creative, imaginative ideas, but I just don't see why he has to answer all of them with the same jargon.

And more so, every time he does this shpeal, he seems to go out of his way to inject his rants about the apparently terrible state of modern civilization. He's cynical as hell, and he does his in almost every book he writes. Little insights here and there would have been fine, but he does it to the point where it really does distract from the plot.

Character-wise, eh. He's never been too strong with characters (aside from a few - "Life Expectancy" and the Odd Thomas series, to name two), and this is no exception. Generally cardboard characters with corny, cliche'd dialogue you'd never hear a real person say, coupled with overdone romance that really doesn't need to be there.

But while I didn't really enjoy this one, I'm not trying to say that Koontz is a bad author. I absolutely loved "Intensity", "Life Expectancy", and "Odd Thomas". He's a great writer, when he wants to be. But I just wish he'd stop milking the same plot devices over and over again.

Dean Koontz is a master storyteller! He won't leave behind literary classics. He won't win a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize for literature. But he surely will leave a legacy of outstanding, entertaining novels to generations to come. As a popular fiction writer, Koontz is up there in the stratosphere.

"Shadowfires" is the first Koontz novel I have read in years. One weakness stands out, but his ability to get the reader to turn, no, whip through those pages has not diminished whatsoever for this reader.

First, his use of omniscient narrator is what most annoyed me. I used to like knowing what every character thinks and his personal background upon being introduced into the story. It doesn't work in "Shadowfires" for this reason: Koontz tells all except the cause of the terror of the main character, at least not until well over a hundred pages into the story. OK, yes, it is shocking, but I would have appreciated her terror more if I had known what its cause was.

A major reason why Koontz is so popular is that he tells a great story, often embedding into his horror story a vein of modern life, often a thorny ethical issue. This one in this story is the classic Dr. Frankenstein and monster story, modern man experimenting in areas best left alone.

Several sets of characters play prominently in the plot and the reader forms strong reactions--favorable or unfavorable-- towards each. Rachael Leben divorces her husband, Eric Leben, a brilliant, but cold genetic engineer. In anger he strides away from Laura on the street and runs into a garbage truck, is hit and killed. Spooky things begin happen, then horrific actions!

Benny Shadway is Rachael's companion, whom she meets long after the separation. He has a fascinating history. They join to battle this terror together. Julio Verdad and Reese Hagerstrom are detectives who don't know the meaning of quitting. Sharp and Peake are federal agents in the Defense Security Agency and usurp the detectives' roles in the ongoing, horrific murder investigations. Interior motives abound. Securities and insecurities scrunch around known and unknown facts. Koontz keeps the mix going at breakneck speed. Where will it all end?

In Las Vegas, of course. The state of unreality, the place of dreams that turn to nightmares, bankruptcy, despair. By the time the reader reaches this point, he/she will not have the slightest idea how it all ends. Count on bankruptcy, not of money, but of soul. Count on nightmares, not of sleep, but of reality. But don't count on despair. The one who should have it is too far gone to know it.

If only I could discuss the ethical issues of this story, but I'm playing it as Koontz does--withholding the cause of the terror. It's all in the Shadowfires!

Although this story was written a couple of decades ago the plot is current. The heroine exudes charm, beauty and brains. Trying to finalize a messy divorce she becomes a hunted woman. Her only hope is a man she thinks it's so mild mannered as to be useless. Fortunately appearances can be deceiving. Great read from Dean Koontz!

I mostly enjoyed reading this book, but there were a few things that irritated me or slowed down the reading. First off, this book is very artful. It has a ton of literary techniques, including irony, imagery and *many* similes. I guess this would be great for one of those high school English essays, where you point out every little literary technique and relate it to the author's life or the history at the time the book was written. However, it can make for tedious reading. Most students never like the required reading, but that could be because they are forced to beat the crap out of every detail. Some of the similes are good, but the sheer number of them made me feel like Koontz was cramming them down my throat, just to show he could. He also tends to describe the background too much. Yes, you should be able to picture the area in your mind's eye, but do we really need ten lines listing all the trash lying around a garage? Do we want to know about the broken chairs, old mops, rusted buckets, etc. stored there? I think not. Lastly, Koontz repeated himself too much. He would write a paragraph or two on something that happened a couple of chapters before, that you can clearly remember. It's a waste of time and quite annoying. Overall, this is a good book. It's just boring or slow at times.

An obsessive, competitive scientist and his abused lovely wife. What happens when a divorce goes wrong and a man kills himself and then his body disappears? Shadow Fires, by Dean Koonz, tells you what could go wrong. This is a fiction book set in California in June.
I would recommend this book for young adults or mature people. There is death and beatings described in detail, so if you have a weak stomach this is probably not a book for you. Some parts in the book can be too detailed and can make it boring. When one of the main characters talks about himself and how he views people and the way they think of life, like past, present, or futuristic people. I thought that part of the book was boring and I stopped paying attention to what I was reading.
On the other hand, there are many parts that kept me reading. When one of the main characters finds a house broken into and the kitchen was destroyed with knives in the wall I really wanted to know what happened. If you're into a little bit of mystery with a lot of deaths, mixed with a little bit of romance, this would be a perfect book to read!

this book was a fun ride. Briefly: an obsessed genius finds the way to immortal life, but the life he finds is not human.

this book involves secret corrupt federal agents, a lot of cat and mouse chases, multiple settings, and lots of action.

as always, the characters Koontz creates are interesting, believable, and three dimensional. Not one of Koontz's best novels- still, it is a very good thriller.

this book will remind you of the saying: "be careful what you wish for...you just might get it."

(Incidentally, I own a first edition hardcover copy of this book that I'm selling for $100. Contact me if you want to purchase it. It is in excellent condition- good binding, no marks, or torn pages).

Many of my favorite Koontz novels were originally published under the psuedonym LEIGH NICHOLS. There is something so engaging and suspenseful and passionate about those earlier novels that I really think he was in the top of his form back then. SHADOWFIRES stands out as one of his best. Beautiful and intensely-likeable Rachel Leben has finally escaped the neglect and cruelty of her husband, brilliant genetecist Eric Leben. Or at least she thinks she has. But Eric's hate for her (mainly for leaving him which in turn humiliates him) becomes a force of nature. Nothing will stop him from destroying her. Not even death... I've read this book at least twice now and will probably read it again. It's a classic "chase novel" with a creepy blend of science and horror and suspense. Highly recommended.

I suppose this book can be overanalyzed and nitpicked till it's reduced to nothing much,but I enjoyed it thoroughly and that's all that matters.There are good guys,who are really good and bad guys,who are totally evil,a lot of genetic-experiment-gone-wrong motive,it's very descriptive and quite graphic at times.Overall,I thought it to be a well paced story with enough thrills to be considered a thriller and enough frights to be concidered a horror novel.It has a realy 80's feel to it,which is hard to describe,but the book was written in that crazy decade of unlimited promises of the future and slightly corny heroes and Shadowfires sorta captures that innocence.
If you're a fan of Dean Koontz or just looking for an easy and fun read,this is your book.

How unusual to see a Koontz novel which is mainly evil, evil and evil like this one. I can't remember off the top of any other novel which is purely evil other than "Phantoms" (another whopping good read)But Shadowfires is a great novel. Uncharacteristically evil...not much of a friendly book, but a damn good read regardless. The guy, Eric, is killed in a traffic accident after a heated discussion with his wife. He gets killed, but comes back to stalk her. Given Koontz's wizard-like ability of casting spells over his readers with beautifully worded passages, this makes for a well recommended read for those who like evil in its purest element.

This book has a lot of DK staples:
Love triangles (not really a staple, but always a romance factor)
Governement secrets
Scientist obsessed with fountain of youth (most of DK's books contain an element of scientific study)
It all adds up to an interesting brew of suspense and his trademark wittiness and characters just add to it. A fun read not to be overly analyzed. It's the entertainment factor that is important.
Koontz knows how to write a great novel and while some think his books are formulaic, they need to take a refresher creative writing course (if they have ever taken one)!!
First-rate reading; not his best, not his worst, just a great tale.

OK... KOONTZ HAS WRITTEN ABOUT GENETICS BEFORE (AND CONTINUES TO DO SO...HENCE, THE CHRISTOPHER SNOW BOOKS.) BUT, I PERSONALLY LIKE THIS BOOK EVEN BETTER THAN WATCHERS (TRANSLATION...IT'S SCARIER!) Eric Leben is a truly frightening villain... he wasn't well glued together before his death and self-imposed resurrection, but he becomes (literally) a monster upon his return. The "shadow fires" of the book's title are psychologically chilling. Leben is definitely one of Koontz's best villains...and that says a lot. He's certainly more interesting than Candy, the vilain of The Bad Place...which nonetheless remains my fav Koontz novel. Anyway, if u are looking to get chills, th is is the book for u. Just realize the book is a bit slow in places. it definitely could've been tighter. BUT the supporting characters in this book are great... especially THE STONE and the sadistic federal agent... Sharp, i believe his name was. so pick this one up... and prepare to be spooked. :)

"Shadowfires" was another wonderful book in the long line of great Koontz novels, and this one was no different.

We have the story of a woman named Rachel, and her husband, Eric Leben. Eric was a doctor in genetics who was fighting with his wife until he is pushed in front of a bus, by her, and killed. Rachel felt that maybe freedom was at last hers, until hours later, Eric is missing from the morgue, and we learn the awful truth of his secret work.

I felt that this book had action from the very first few pages, and did not stop until the very last word. I was thrilled with the roller coaster of a ride that Koontz took me on, and i could not put the book down once i started on the journey. Koontz makes great use of location, and our fears of within, to give us this great chiller of the experiments of man to be more than human. A definite gem in the Koontz collection, a must have for any collector, and a great place to start for anyone taking a look at his work for the first time. A Masterpiece. My only wish of this book: It should have been made into a movie. -CW

One of Koontz's more obscure thrillers. Written under one of his pen names, I discovered the book when it was released in paperback under his name. I found it breathtakingly intense. I loved it. Genetic experimentations gone awry, soon to be ex husband dies in angry mood, then returns, and is focused upon the rage he felt at the moment of death; his soon to be ex-wife. She finds herself on the run from him, and he. Just. Won't. Stop! All the while he is experiencing regression due to self injected experimental drug. It is a frightening race against a former human that has changed, and continues to change, for the worse.

Although this Koontz book is not one of my favorites, I like how Dean reaches outside of the norm and drags his characters into a place of dread and the unknown. The chase scenes in the desert and the bizarre killings were disturbing, but it kept me glued to the pages, hoping for resolve. Perhaps this story with its man turned creature, was Dean's prelude for his great Frankenstein series. I recommend this book. Tamera

One of Koontz most wicked characters, the morally reprehensible Eric is 'resurrected' after being killed in a car crash.
Of course genetic experimentation is involved which leads to morphing.
Graphic and chilling descriptions.

In the grand scheme of all books, Shadowfires does not rate a 1 star. But in comparison to Dean's other books, it is worthy of only 1 star (and maybe no stars). As others have mentioned, the leads are cookie cutter. Too many bad guys - Eric the ex, his business partners, the government agent chasing the leads. And the business partners storyline, which could have provided the most suspense, was wrapped up tight much too early in the book and with no satisfaction to the reader. This felt like the book editor told Dean to drop the business partners angle. But sadly the editor missed the mark - all of the details should have been edited instead.

I highly recommend Dean, but avoid this book. Try Strangers instead.

I love horror books, and far-out stories. The premise of this book was great, but I personally found the execution to be flawed. There were a number of times where I would scratch my head and think, "that wouldn't happen that way!" - even within a fictional story, situations need to be believable.

About halfway through the book I gave up reading it when the protagonist stated that she thought the 15 year old, drug addicted, hospitalized girl could "handle" the corporate executives who had just gunned down 2 police officers, but feared should would not be able to deal with the Government agent investigating the case.

This book is creepy, from the first chapter up to the finish!
Wifey is paranoid, after death of her estranged spouse.
AND she should be! Afterall, he dabbled in "prolonging life."
The plot thickens, and the author has a fantastic imagination
in creating this humanoid-like monster thing in hot pursuit of his wife!
IT gave me the creeps to think of him traveling along with her in the trunk of her (HIS) luxury car! wuahhahahahah

A very well written high level thriller. The writing flows well through all the suspense. A scientific experiment with life extension using recombinant DNA, and a scientist comes back from the dead and well.. all hell breaks loose. Paperback with 509 pages, and suspenseful to the very end. Recommended great reading.

Story was mildly interesting, but it was written in such a way that it felt like a romance novel. I didn't need to waste my time reading about the main characters feelings for one another more than once. The writer seemed to feel that he needed to repeat himself to the reader. He repeated himself about the main characters feelings, the cops feelings, character physical descriptions, etc.... I found myself skimming the book and looking forward to it finally being over with.

A very well written high level thriller. Flows well through all the suspense. A scientific experiment with life extension using recominant DNA, a scientist comes back from the dead and well.. all hell breaks loose. Paperback with 509 pages, and suspensefull to the very end. Recommended great reading.

An interesting premise about a man who decides to tamper with his own genetic material to cheat death was marred by subpar writing. I could definitely have done with about half of the gooey relationship between the oh-so perfect hero and heroine.

Probably worth 3.5 stars. Pretty good premise but left a fair bit unexplained regarding the development of the main antagonist. Could have been a lot cleaner and more deeply developed. The "grand finale" was as good as any Koontz book!

Searching for a Koontz novel that would keep me busy during our school testing week, I came across Shadowfires. This book taunted me when I would test, so the tests were a breeze. I just had to finish them so I could find out what would happen next.

Dude, this really kicks. I really really liked this book. I've read about 6 Koontz books and a few King. I like Koontz WAY better than King for a few reasons. 1) Koontz doesn't have the meaningless, stupid, boring details that haunt EVERY King book. 2) Koontz has pretty good endings to his stories...King does NOT. Anyway, this book is very cool and I suggest you read it if your a horror book fan...Otherwise, what are you doing on this page? haha...Cool, Cool book.

As a die hard Koontz fan I was really disappointed with Shadowfire. I usually have a hard time putting a Koontz novel down but I've had a hard time to keep reading this book. The characters are almost silly, the plot is not as well thought out as other story lines that I've enjoyed. I could certainly pass up this book.

Its done in typical Dean style, not over the top...but a good read! And THIS ONE...Oh my! I was scared. I actually read it twice, and I usually never do that! It was just SO freeky that I wanted to be scared again. :O) Dont read it at night if youre home alone!

Not very believable. I have enjoyed a lot of Dean Koontz books but this is was not one of them. It's just to be so outlandish and ridiculous that I can't read any further. I stopped reading it in the middle. It just became to predictable and boring.

Too bad I read "Relentless" first... This one is a repackaged/rebranded release of a pretty early work. Still kept me rapt all the way through, but I realized I was shaking my head at too much of the cheesy dialogue and it regularly challenged my own ability to suspend disbelief.

Might be okay if you've read other greats of his ("Velocity," "Seize the Night," "The Good Guy," "The Husband," so many!)....