Frankenstein: Lost Souls: A Novel

I was very reluctant to read this series...Even though I love me some Koontz.
Low and behold... "I FU&*ing LOVE THESE BABIES"..(SORRY I DOUBTED YOU DEAN)
BUT***BUT****BUT****
Lost souls was boring.
I paid $27.00 with a 20% discount and read it in a day and a half. It was too short and left us hanging a bit to much.

NO HARM DONE.. This is not the first book you have written that i didn't like...

***BUT*****BUT*****BUT***

I really really really enjoyed the first 3 books...PLEASE DONT F-UP THE OTHERS.....OK? Please

Maybe we could invite MR Gorman back to join us?????

Love ya man...D

Still a great series. Comedy a little corney for my taste but sufficient for comedic release. I still want to know how the story will end. Would still definitely recommend to anyone. Danger, mystery, romance, etc., this story has it all. Great idea updating Frankenstein; great author as always.

Having read the previous three books in this series, I was extremely dissapointed with this addition. I can see now why Dean Koontz scrapped his plans for a sixth book, and I'm much obliged he did so.

The story is weak, the character development is non existent, the dialog is utter rubbish. The only highlight of the book was Jocko, the comic relief, who is a troll. He turns out to be the most human of all the characters.

The third book would have been a great place to end the series and I sorely wish he'd done so, saving me the time of reading this one.

Dean Koontz does it again! This master-storyteller manages to reignite the fire and passion fans have housed for his best-selling series, Frankenstein. A fresh look on a classic book, Dean Koontz vision for this story allows readers to delve into the character driven story of Victor Frankenstein and his quest for ultimate power. Delving into the true meaning of humanity, the human condition, and what makes a monster a monster, Koontz manages to bring meaning and emotion to the suspense, horror genre. This book is a true testament to the endless possibilities that the Frankenstein universe houses.

Lost Souls had quite a challenge to pick up where it left off. I enjoyed seeing familiar characters and meeting some new ones. The introduction of nanotechnology into Victor's plans was a stroke of brilliance. The change of scene from New Orleans to Rainbow Falls is jarring and feels like we are starting over. I realize that this is necessary, but feels a bit like a rehash at times.

Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but it was just a step lower than the first three, in my opinion.

In this volume of Koontz's Frankenstein series, the action moves to Montana. Fortunately, the familiar fun characters appear there as well. Interesting new individuals also populate this part of the story. Victor unleashes a new version of human-like creations, and mankind is imperiled by a new threat. Fans that have stuck with the series this far will not be disappointed. As always, Dean produces fiction with thrills and twists providing fast-paced entertainment. Looking forward to reading the final volume.
Michael Travis Jasper, author of the novel "To Be Chosen"

LOST SOULS is the fourth entry in Dean Koontz' FRANKENSTEIN series and it's easily the best one since the first. While this book is no classic, Koontz has delivered a novel that's fast-paced and entertaining.

While Koontz is an enormously talented writer, many of his recent novels have suffered from lackluster plotlines. In books like DEAD AND ALIVE and THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR, the story seemed to take a back seat to Koontz's constant philosophizing and joke telling. In LOST SOULS, however, Koontz has tightened his plotting style, and produced a highly effective pageturner. This is his most suspenseful novel in quite a few years.

LOST SOULS features an abnormally large cast of characters, but Koontz does a brilliant job of endowing each character with a colorful and memorable personality. Several of the new characters are also enormously funny - in fact, this book contains some of the funniest dialogue I've seen from Koontz in a long time. It's tough to write a novel that's both horrifying and hilarious, but Koontz manages to pull that off here.

The major downside of LOST SOULS is its ending, which lacks closure. In fact, the book doesn't have much of an ending at all - it just stops abruptly, right in the middle of the action. While I suppose that's understandable for the first book in a three-book series, the lack of a decent conclusion makes this book less than fully satisfying.

Overall, LOST SOULS is a promising start to a new Koontz trilogy - but I will withhold final judgment until I read the next two installments, which are scheduled to come out in 2011 and 2012.

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about why I hated this book so much...many others have, so I'll just say this. This book feels like it's an afterthought...or the Introduction to an actual book. I wouldn't at all be surprised to find out that this book is ghost-written, because frankly, it doesn't have the "feel" that most other Koontz books do. The worst part for me, however, is the fact that this book just plain stops in the middle. There is no resolution to anything...and after paying for and reading this book, all I feel is cheated.

I've read the three previous Frankenstein novels and while I enjoyed them, I thought the third one was the weakest. I wasn't looking for a fourth and this series was completely off my radar, but when I got my hands on it I found it to be a page turner with great plot twists and moments of LOL hilarity. Koontz has a sense of humor on top of his golden touch with thrillers!

I'm really looking forward to more from this series(although a book 5 is no doubt at least a year away or more), and I really can't understand how anyone could give this gem 1 star.

What happened? The first 2 books were great, the third was still good, and now this. I've been a Koontz fan since the beginning (my favorite is "Life Expectancy"). He continually catches me off guard and knows how to infuse just the right amount of playful character banter in the midst of extremely tense situations. This book has none of that. It tries and fails. To make things worse, it's not the end. It's as if he's hired someone else to finish the series for him.
For the sake of Koontz' reputation in your own eyes, consider book 3 the end.

e.j.

I have been reading Dean Koontz since Watchers and have been a big fan. However, I have to say that either he needs the money, or his publisher is a greedy pig, because this is not even a book. When you are used to novels like "Watchers", "The Face", "Rivers of the Heart", etc., or even the first Frankenstein, this is a cruel disappointment. It should say on the cover that this is not a complete book, or even a serial episode - it's just some hackneyed chapters thrown together in big print. Come on - when the most interesting character is a dwarf, then you don't care about characterization anymore.

I want my money back.

(No spoilers here.) If you enjoyed Koontz's Frankenstein trilogy then you'll enjoy this book. He says that he intended to end the story with book 3 and yet the ending of that book clearly led itself to another book or series. So no one should be surprised at the release of this one.

The positives: the story is interesting and there are enought changes in how the Victor clone operates (i.e., his methods for world domination) so that this is not just a rehash of the past. That being said, I am hard pressed to give this one more than 3 stars.

The negatives: The book is a very quick read. That is not in itself a negative but I would have been much more impressed if Koontz had issued this series in paperback as well. Just because you CAN get people to pay $27 (list price) for a book doesn't mean you HAVE to do it. It makes me believe this publication is more about making money than continuing a story that readers are supposedly demanding from him. Also, though the surroundings and plot are new Koontz spends too much time recapping what happened in the past. He claims you could read this book and then read the original trilogy. I agree in part - you could read this book with reading the prior ones but once you've read it there'd be no reason to go back and read the first three. You're pretty much up to speed once you've read this one. Finally, while I enjoyed the return of Deucalion and Erika 5, the non-stop banter between Michael and Carson was annoying and quickly became intolerable. (You know it's bad when you start rooting for the bad guys against them.)

All this being said, it's not a bad story. It's an enjoyable, quick read that you'll enjoy even more if you can get it from the library. I think this is another case of authors not giving their readers maximum value for their money. Koontz has a new novel coming out in late December and then the second book of this series in the following spring. I'd rather he focus solely on one effort and give us something that grabs us to the point where we can't put it down. It's been a while since he's done that.

I enjoyed this book, having read it at my boring job, but for all the wrong reasons. It's incredibly simple and easy to read (which is both an insult and a compliment). Koontz doesn't seem to care what people think of him anymore, so he keeps crapping out these simple books and cashing those checks. I just cannot stand the banter between married couple Carson and Michael. Koontz is obviously not very good with dialogue. And I'm still waiting for Deucalion to validate his existence by actually DOING SOMETHING!

Dean Koontz has given readers another bizarre tale in his Frankenstein series. Deucalion, the tall, powerful living creation of Victor Frankenstein (aka Victor Helios), resides at St. Bartholomew's Abbey, where his hideous physical character is safe from worldly scrutiny. Salvatore, a monk who is known as Brother Knuckles, witnesses his revelation in the abbey's sanctuary. Deucalion believes his maker to be alive.

Koontz switches his story abruptly to Rainbow Falls, Montana, where an event of epic proportion is taking place. The town's public figures are soon replaced by exact manufactured replicas of their former selves. A new Community will stoically turn the rural town into a center for the next millennium, the birth of an apocalypse. Erskine Potter, the mayor, is the epitome of the new breed taking over Rainbow Falls. A perfectionist, he plans to systematically remove the least bit of disorganization, starting in his house and then moving on to the entire town. With its beginning here, the plan is for the Community to grow, overtaking neighboring areas and eventually the nation. On the Potter property, a large barn will be prepared to house the town's former residents before their elimination. Community drones known as Builders stun them with forehead wounds that yield them useless and lead them like sheep into destruction.

Koontz does not disappoint. He introduces a handful of real people, untouched by the intruders, who must discover the townspeople's plight and work to thwart the plan. From New Orleans, Carson O'Connor Madison and her husband, Michael, demonstrate why they are top cops in their ability to rein in the worst criminals. Previously, they discovered 240-year-old Victor Helios working to establish a new Race from his laboratory. Together, they have killed him and destroyed his diabolical plan. Now they own a private detective agency and parent a baby girl.

Back in Rainbow Falls, an unlikely hero soon develops. Conway Lyss, a vagrant and small-time criminal, is jailed alongside Norman O'Bannon, known as Nummy because of his low IQ. While Carson and Michael catch a Chinese hoodlum in New Orleans, with Carson getting shot in the process, the two jailbirds in Montana witness the strange transformation of fellow prisoners into zombie-like characters their jailors call "livestock."

Victor Helios's test-tube entity, Deucalion, will journey to New Orleans on his instinct that Helios has been resurrected and is still alive. He believes his destiny is to destroy his maker. A number of individuals --- the detectives; the inmates; Erika Five, yet another Frankenstein creation, now living at Rainbow Falls as Erika Swedenborg; and two additional patients from the local hospital --- will combine efforts in the unraveling of Victor Frankenstein's Community. Bryce Walker is an elderly widower and a reluctant patient at Rainbow Falls Memorial Hospital whose level of care has diminished for a couple of days. Previously chatty, pleasant nurses and doctors now mechanically tend to his physical needs with no empathy. Strange pills are administered, and Bryce secretes his allotment without ingesting them. Hearing sobs, wails and painful sounds from other patients, he concludes that the hospital has become a death trap. More uncomfortable by the hour, Bryce follows his instinct and meets a young boy with an allergic reaction who is being abused by the medical staff. Travis senses how much the strange personnel hate him, and the two will team up to escape the dangers they feel.

Koontz's shifting from chapter to chapter into various lives makes for some difficulty in following a plot line. But the reader can easily distinguish between the real and constructed personalities. The questions arise about which ones, if any, will escape their impending fates and transformations into community drones. By the final page, the characters are set for possible interaction, resolution of Frankenstein's Armageddon, and perhaps the destruction of his Community. Only Koontz's skill in the sci-fi genre can keep one reading. He sets the scene, tantalizes and goads us to want more. Rainbow Falls, Montana, may hold the key to FRANKENSTEIN: LOST SOULS.

I am going to start this by saying I really enjoyed the first two Frankenstein books. I thought they were fast, fun and creepy. Nothing amazing, but enjoyable. The third book was lacking, but was saved by Erika Five and Jocko's story. This book... lets start with with positives.

The new characters: Nummy, Mr. Lyss, Bryce and Travis were all very fun to read. When the story is told through their eyes I felt engaged, and excited. They were experiencing things from a fresh perspective, and because they were a part of Rainbow Falls (the main setting of the story) they had more to loose than the rest of the characters.

Erika Five and Jocko: They don't really get much to do in this book, but their few scenes were fun and sweet. It was nice to see them forming a life together, and I look forward to see how they handle the new threat as the books continue.

Victor: Victor is hardly in the book, letting his new New Race do the majority of the dirty work. When he did appear his scenes had impact, something that was greatly reduced in the last book when Victor was a constant, babbling character. In book three you wondered how he managed anything because he was was so insane. In this book you can sense that the new Victor is cold and calculating. It makes him more of a threat, and less of a joke.

Deucalion: He's in this book enough to show his impact, and Koontz has allowed him to become a more human and rounded character. I enjoyed his presence, but... well, I'll mention that in the negatives.

The Big Battle: I am not going to say what it is, where it happens, or when, but I will say that when you get to it, you'll get a kick out of it.

Now for the negatives, and sadly, they are pretty major.

Michael and Carson: Why are they even in this book? This is a new trilogy, and it would have been nice to abandon them. They became obnoxious in the last book, and in this book they really only serve one purpose, and thats to fill everyone in on what had happened in the past three books. I at no time felt engaged with their story, and towards the end they take over everything. I wish they would have just been left in the past, and Koontz would have allowed the new characters to take and tell the story.

The Ending: What's the problem with the ending? Well, there is none. This book is almost all set up and introduction, and just as the action starts, the book ends. This should have never been released in hardcover, and God knows I will be waiting for the next volume to hit paperback before I buy it. If you haven't bought it already, wait until the paperback. This is a fun read, but it's a frustrating one. I repeat, there is no ending. We get very few answers, and now have to wait a year before the next book comes out. With serial novels it is best to have each novel be a self contained story that then effects the larger story arc. Koontz needs to understand this when writing serialized stories. That or just release the book in paperback so that people who spend nearly thirty dollars on a hardback don't feel cheated. This leads to the next problem...

Pointless Characters: There are a few characters, most importantly the FBI agents (who do so little I can't even remember their names) that show up and do nothing. They appear to be important for the next books, but in this book just seem to kind of take up space.

Deucalion: He really does nothing. He is put in plenty of situations where he could have been a hero, but in the end... He is mostly an observer, or worse a plot device to tell the reader new information (and sometimes old information).

Political Overtones: I understand that Koontz is a conservative. I'm not. I expect some deal of his personal beliefs to be written into the text. I'm fine with that. It however hurts the story when those beliefs feel shoehorned into scenes, stopping them dead cold so that a character can preach. There are scenes towards the end where the religious message is so forced that the characters dialogue becomes clunky and flat. I'm not saying he shouldn't include this message. I'm saying that he should work it into the story in a more believable fashion. Right now it's to forced to be effective, and to stiff to seem honest.

Overall: Yes, I enjoyed this book, even though it may seem like I didn't, and yes I am going to read the next one. I want to know what happens. There are enough characters here that I care about. I want to see how their story ends. So I will buy the next book. In hardcover? Probably not. Still, as a fan of the series, I feel slightly cheated. Luckily, because this book is all set up, the next book should be much more exciting. I also expect it to be frustrating, due to the fact that the new series still has one final book to finish things up. So I am ready to wait two years for an ending.

Bought it in hard cover, read it and yup, like others reviewing experienced total frustration. I completely agree with other comments on the total lack of an entertaining or even interesting story line. The book's actual interesting content could be put in maybe a page... the rest is just repetitious fluff. Of course, that's been rather true of all of Koontz books so what was I expecting? Sooo... yes, feeling the frustration and I've actually NEVER EVER found a book that was part of a series that so blatantly left you without a complete story in itself... and left you at a climax to force you into feeling you had to have the sixth book. Maybe I've been lucky. Well, thanks Koontz... that finally cured me of trying your books. I kept thinking 'WHY did I just read that?'... and finally, yup. Done.

I really, really enjoy this Frankenstein Series. Maybe because I "listen" to it rather then reading it, it comes alive. I can picture each of the characters. When it's funny I actually laugh out loud, and when it gets scary the hair on the nape of my neck stands on end. The New and Improved Doctor is just as self involved and pretentious as ever, although he seems above the "sex" thing entirely. He has no time for such nonsense. Michael and Carson are now married and happy to have baby, Scout, to pander over and enjoy. Their byplay is fun, making the novel a bit folksy but more interesting then when they were just "cops". Jocko is a Hoot and a Half. He is so adorable, I love when he steals a scene, and he does it SO WELL.
The story progresses. The bad Doctor continues to get rid of people replacing them with replacants. His goal appears to be ending life on earth completely. He is so completely lifeless, pathetic...no endearing qualities whatsoever. The replacents are completely devoid of sympathy, empathy or emotion of any kind. Makes one believe that complete Evil is possible. The God Guys are by and large Human, with Human foibles and behaviors. I think this book was written as a journey rather then a destination. The end is probably inevitable but it's enchanting along the way. All these facinating characters, I think of them as new friends, keep the pace truckin' along. Can't wait to read (er listen) to Koontz next Frankenstein Book.

Note: my rating is really a 2 1/2 and not a 3.

To be blunt this book could have been so much more. I was captivated and thrilled with the first trilogy, the first book wowed me, the second hooked me and the third while not nearly as good was still satisfying. I honestly thought that the Frankenstein books were to be left off with the third. I was initially happy to see that there was a new one out and nabbed it right away and began to pour page after page. After about a quarter into it i started to get annoyed, too often nothing happens and we are led on and on for several chapters of a build up, too often are jokes and witty dialog are overdone.

This book is honestly a rehash of what happens with the first two books (structure and how the story builds up) except we've already been on this journey, it's just a different location with a few tweaks to Victor and his plans.

Im a diehard fan but im not really enjoying the way Koontz is going with this, it's too half-assed and the fact that he purposefully left it off for another book is very disheartening. Im afraid that he'll use the success of the first three and try to churn out as many as he can just as he's done with Odd Thomas.

For once Koontz i am disappointed :/

Spoiler alert: I won't give away the ending, because I can't (more on that below). But you may learn more than you care to by reading this - you've been warned!

Dean Koontz's latest installment in the "Frankenstein" series left me feeling schizophrenic. The story is intriguing, the chracters are rich and well developed, and this book has all the elements that made us fans of Koontz. However, the book picks up from the previous volume, and doesn't end. I would call this book a "bridge" more than anything else - it takes the reader from the end of one to the beginning of the next without adequately addressing either story.

If you have read the previous books, you will most likely enjoy this one. You already know the back story, which, in fairness, Koontx does a fairly good job recapping for the new reader. And you may be satisfied with the faux ending, knowing that you will buy the next book as soon as it is available.

For readers like me, though, it was unsatisfying. I didn't know the characters since this was the first Frankenstein book I read. And, feeling unsatisfied, I don't know that I will read the next one, since I feel like I have to read the first three to truly enjoy it.

If none of that matters to you, and you are already a Dean Koontz fan, this book is well written and up to Koontz's standards. It's a page-turner - he just stopped short of including the last (and critical) pages.

I think everyone is being too hard on Koontz here. These are short, easy to read books that have a good plot, and keep you interested. They're perfect for summertime vacation reading and this sequel is no exception. Good characters, good conversations and a scary, futuristic plot, if you've got some imagination. It's not one of Stephen King's major epics, but it's not meant to be. I recommend this one and the 3 before it. Intend to get the new one too!

I'm an avid reader, not a literary critic. I liked the book. I liked the characters, especially Jacko. I recognized the real-life population control, human-life hating theme alive in the world today. Koontz took it and made a novel of it. I like how he made the politically incorrect life (the ugly, the mentally handicapped, the elderly) to be valuable people on the earth.

If you're one of those life hating people, you won't like this book, because you'll recognize yourself as being portrayed as one of the monsters.

This isn't a scary book making you hide under the covers or afraid to walk out at night. It's more of an adventure.

I like dialogue and don't really care about the poetic lights shining on leaves. I usually skim the first paragraph of each chapter where Koontz paints his pictures. But if you like that stuff, it's there.

I love Koontz and I love the Frankenstein series, but this book is only "half" a book??? Why the cliff-hanger? Why not finish the book, then publish it. Previous books gave us closure. This one leaves everything in the air and I agree with others: I don't even really care about the characters. There's so little character development here that the ones I cared about before are now only just shadows. Norman and "Jocko" are only redeeming characters. I was hysterical when Jocko was eating the cinnamon muffin.... how sad is that? This book should be 1200 pages long. And it should be FINISHED. Stephen King waits until the book is done before publishing. Like "Breathless" (in the fact that it isn't a complete book), this one pales when held up to the other Frankenstein books. The only different... I actually WANT to read the rest of Breathless. Mr. Koontz: If you're bored, you should have left Victor dead, eh? If "Odd is on our Side" is like this, I'll have to find a new author!

Whereas the first three improved upon each other, this one seems to have gone downhill. Though the original characters were just as good in their designs as they had been (including the self-effacing Jocko), all the new characters felt stilted, the dialogue not quite reaching through.
I'm sorry, but where I enjoyed the first three, I simply couldn't keep all of my focus for this one, so it became a rather bad chore to get through this one.

The first book was great, the second one was good, the third garbage, and this latest installment of what promises to be a never ending, unimaginative series, is by far the worst. I am beginning to wonder if Koontz' genius was buried with his beloved Golden Retriever, Trixie? Koontz was my favorite author, but his recent books have fallen so far of the high expectations I have had of him that I wonder if the real Koontz retired and a ghost writer is finishing his series for him. What happened to quality characters like Christopher Snow (Fear Nothing, Seize the Night) and Laura Shane (Lightning)? Even his famed "Odd Thomas" books are lackluster in comparison with his older books. His books used to exhibit flawed characters who reacted in real ways to the things plaguing them. The characters in Lost Souls are incredibly one-dimensional and very much either "good" or evil."

My advice to prospective Koontz readers is to stay clear of his recently published works and instead delve into his older books. It is there that Koontz shines.

This was a total disappointment. Unlike some of the books in the series, this book had no conclusion whatsoever. Koontz obviously has become so obsessed with making money that he now sells books that are only a bridge to another book. He should be ashamed of himself.

First of all, let me say I am a Dean Koontz fan.

I've ready many for the author's books, most are good and I will admit I have not read the previous books in this series, but this book went NOWHERE! I read about 1/3 of the book and wanted to just stop, but kind of enjoyed some of the characters....so I read on. The characters got more interesting and I could see the book might have one of his "big endings", but finally after I was 85% through the book, it still wasn't leading up to anything. Finally, nearing the end, I knew there was no time to wind up any kind of a story - the book just ended abruptly. No meaning, no story, no explanation, not even a clue as to what could have happened next. After I was through I felt like I wasted hours of my limited time available for reading and was let down. I also felt like it ended this way just to get you to buy the next book to see what happens (which I will not).

Koontz has had many good books the last few years, this was not one of them.

I have been an avid Koontz fan for many years and have greatly enjoyed many of his works; including the prior three Frankenstein novels.

This one, while readable, is DEFINITELY NOT one of his better works. I have to agree with some of the other reviews that it felt unnecessary, thin, contrite, and worst of all SHORT. I felt like I just bought half a book, and that is the most disappointing of all. With the commercialization of everything else in this world, splitting movies, games, and everything else into multiple "installments" in order to keep us buying; I was ashamed to have one of my favorite authors pull the same shtick.

The book itself does borrow very heavily from so many other sources, which in and of itself isn't terrible, but in most cases it was done poorly or half heartedly and, I feel, did injustice to not only the original yarn, but Koontz' adaptation as well.

My honest suggestion: Get it from your library if you are a fan; it's not worth the $10, skip it if you aren't. Leaving the story so open at the end of Dead or Alive is a preferable ending to this and potentially what is in store for the next book(s).

"There is no light in my revelation. It's a dark tide in my blood--dark, cold, thick, and insistent, telling me he's alive."

No one could expect Victor Frankenstein/Helios to stay quietly dead and give up his plans to replace humanity with his "perfect" new race. So you can guess what happens in "Frankenstein: Lost Souls," a slow but solid thriller which Dean Koontz picks up the plot threads left hanging by his first trilogy.

For the past two years, Deucalion has been living at a monastery... until he senses that somehow Victor Helios is alive. Meanwhile, in the small Montana town of Rainbow Falls, cold-hearted replicants are replacing all the people, except for a handful who manage to escape notice. One of the townspeople just happens to be Erika 5, who catches a glimpse of a very familiar face -- Victor Helios.

So Deucalion tracks down his onetime allies Carson and Michael, now happily married with a baby daughter -- and with a tip from Erika, they set out for Rainbow Falls to stop Helios once and for all. However, this is not the Victor they defeated and killed in New Orleans, but something far more terrifying in every way...

"Frankenstein: Lost Souls" is apparently the first book of a new trilogy, so unsurprisingly it feels like the first third of a very, very long novel. It takes most of the book for Koontz to tie together all the plot threads and get everybody going, so the pace is kind of sluggish up until the last quarter. I kept wishing Deucalion, Carson and Michael would JUST GET MOVING.

However, he does an excellent job mingling mystery, bloody horror, science fiction and a hint of religious symbolism, and Koontz's prose is soaked with sinister moments (oh, the little nails in the brains!). He builds up the suspense steadily as the replicants take over Rainbow Falls, until they finally clash with the good guys -- but there are some funny moments as well, usually from Jocko.

Koontz also takes time to explore how his characters have changed. The mighty, melancholy Deucalion seems to be more at peace with himself now, while Michael and Carson have settled into pleasant domesticity (and start babbling like idiots whenever they talk about their baby). He goes a bit overboard with the overprotective parent shtick (baking soda?), but it's very touching to see how now they not only fight for the world, but for their daughter's future.

It takes quite some time for "Frankenstein: Lost Souls" to kick into gear, but Dean Koontz's fourth Frankenstein novel is a nicely suspenseful start to a new trilogy. Just hang on through the slow parts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It held many of the characteristics for which I have always loved in most of his books. Until I got to the last page and said "Hey, Where's the rest of the book?" I had no idea that this book was part of a series when I checked it out of the library, so here I am trying to find the titles of the rest of the books so I can get them from the library as well.

I've been going to Koontz for a cheap, thrilling read for as long as I can remember. The thing that differentiates his Frankenstein and Odd Thomas series from his other works is that I'm willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money (27 $) to read the follow ups. I was VERY content with books 1 through 3, and while the pages burned, I still felt like I got my money's worth. "Lost Souls" however, left me in a state of complete frustration.

First off, I have a problem with Koontz starting a new Frankenstein trilogy. Victor, and everything he created (though somehow, Erika Five lived through some magical lightning, typical Koontz cop-out)died. How is it that Victor managed to get himself back on his feet so fast? A clone can only go so far. And from a authorial stand point, WHY? IT can only create billions of questions and plot holes.

And what's with Victor's new base of operations being in the middle of absolute nowhere? WHY is my question?

In what seems to be a newer trend for Koontz, he creates 5+ plot lines that you have to follow. And with such a short book as this, you draw very little info, or interest (if any) from the characters. This creates a huge problem. Such little information is given to the reader, after what was supposed to be the end. And the information that IS given just makes one go "...Really?". This is the why I give the book 1 star. It is the worst Koontz novel I have ever read, and I've read dozens. Unfortunatley, I spent 30 dollars on this, because I don't beleive in book reviews. Heed my advice, wait for the paperback.

This is a fantastic book! It ties the entire series together in a way that leaves you wanting more, and more, and more, as any great book or series of books should do. I was left breathlessly wondering if somehow even dear Odd Thomas will make an appearance in his next Frankenstein book??? or perhaps the other way around? Given the ending of the last book in the Odd series, "Odd Hours"... These two books leave me wondering (HOPING!) if Mr. Koontz will somehow weave all these wonderful characters into a most special book.
For those naysayers... I am sorry for you that you cannot see the deftly wrought beauty of his stores. My advice to you is this; there are always other books and other authors to read. Perhaps you should stick to the gore fest, puny writing, bad characterizations, with no hope in sight we are all doomed! books. There are unfortunately more than enough of those. The special light that Dean Koontz is so expert at infusing his books with, is not for those determined to live in the total darkness of the soul.
Hooray for Dean Koontz! And hooray for those readers who revel in the luminescence of his characters and his sterling ability to expertly build characters. Characters that we would not mind calling friends. Dean Koontz conveys that we can all be hero's, and goodness along with humor is a choice. He does this with such remarkable ease! He gives us hope that goodness will prevail. Not only in his books but in the real world, If only WE can keep hope in our hearts. He is not just a master writer. He is THE master writer.

I have never contacted an author before or written a review but this book demanded I do so. It is a rip-off of the first order. I feel he was on a deadline with his publisher and wrote this in 2 hours. The first two books in this series were great and I thought he was back on track after the last few years of output. The ending to this book was abrupt with no wind-down to the story!?! Please do not waste your money on this dribble.

.I didn't correlate Frankenstein to the 'Invasion of Body Snatchers' type of literature but I found the story line to be interesting, if not intriguing, as I continued reading. Though dissimilar, the characters are reaching a point where they share a common goal. I am looking forward to the next book to see how they will eventually come to terms with the immense issues confronting them, singly and jointly.

Realize that I paid $10 for this book at the airport, and finished it a day later. The story line and characters were boring and annoying, so annoying. I remember wishing I could rip the book up. It isn't worth it, especially if you paid more than a dollar for it. Dean Koontz should really up his game.

Save your money. This is a hacked serial that leaves you hanging

One could skip every other page and still get the plot. Even without skipping pages, you will quickly read through the shallow writing and rehashed characters from other of his works. I can hardly wait until the Spring of 2011 not to buy or borrow the next part of this serial. Too bad he chose to cheat his public with such an ending.
"Publishers Weekly", whoever they are, should be ashamed they didn't tell readers the truth about this novel. I will now consider anything from them as usless.
Note to Koonz and Bantam: While you can fool some of the people some of the time, most of the reviewers won't be fooled a second time.

I briefly read some of the reviews after I just finished the book and I totally disagree with their rating. Yes, the whole book is a setup for the next one coming out in spring 2011 but I can say I loved the book especially the introduction of Nummy who just made me laugh. So just sit back and enjoy the book and wait with anticipation for the next one since he keeps you totally hanging!

I read all of the Frankestein series to date and loved this book with its many colorful characters and their offbeat personalites> I think the critics are being to hard on koontz - a writer is supposed to entertain and take us out of our everyday lives - this book did just that for me! What a great imagination! Tamera Lawrence, author.

Lost Souls was the first of the Frankenstein series that I have read, but I am a long-time Koontz fan. Since all the characters were new to me, I didn't get bored from a lack of character development as some reviewers have mentioned. Not only were the characters fresh to me, but I also found some of them especially entertaining. Since there are tons of reviews on this book, I will simply add my impression that this book ends at the height of the story arc. If I want to hang on a plot cliff I will turn on daytime soap operas. Koontz normally does a great job on keeping momentum in a series while allowing each book to stand on its own (e.g. Odd Thomas). Lost Souls however, left me picking at the back cover to unlock the rest of the book. I wished I had waited to read this until the second half of the story had already been published.

Realize that I paid $10 for this book at the airport, and finished it a day later. The story line and characters were boring and annoying, so annoying. I remember wishing I could rip the book up. It isn't worth it, especially if you paid more than a dollar for it. Dean Koontz should really up his game.

Save your money. This is a hacked serial that leaves you hanging

One could skip every other page and still get the plot. Even without skipping pages, you will quickly read through the shallow writing and rehashed characters from other of his works. I can hardly wait until the Spring of 2011 not to buy or borrow the next part of this serial. Too bad he chose to cheat his public with such an ending.
"Publishers Weekly", whoever they are, should be ashamed they didn't tell readers the truth about this novel. I will now consider anything from them as usless.
Note to Koonz and Bantam: While you can fool some of the people some of the time, most of the reviewers won't be fooled a second time.

I briefly read some of the reviews after I just finished the book and I totally disagree with their rating. Yes, the whole book is a setup for the next one coming out in spring 2011 but I can say I loved the book especially the introduction of Nummy who just made me laugh. So just sit back and enjoy the book and wait with anticipation for the next one since he keeps you totally hanging!

I read all of the Frankestein series to date and loved this book with its many colorful characters and their offbeat personalites> I think the critics are being to hard on koontz - a writer is supposed to entertain and take us out of our everyday lives - this book did just that for me! What a great imagination! Tamera Lawrence, author.

Lost Souls was the first of the Frankenstein series that I have read, but I am a long-time Koontz fan. Since all the characters were new to me, I didn't get bored from a lack of character development as some reviewers have mentioned. Not only were the characters fresh to me, but I also found some of them especially entertaining. Since there are tons of reviews on this book, I will simply add my impression that this book ends at the height of the story arc. If I want to hang on a plot cliff I will turn on daytime soap operas. Koontz normally does a great job on keeping momentum in a series while allowing each book to stand on its own (e.g. Odd Thomas). Lost Souls however, left me picking at the back cover to unlock the rest of the book. I wished I had waited to read this until the second half of the story had already been published.

I had been looking forward to reading this book for quite some time. The writing was different from Koontz of the past. The chapters were only a few pages long and had very little substance. The writing reminded me of the quality of James Patterson's books. I won't write a spoiler, but when I came to the last page I said, "What the hell? That is how you end it?" Basically there is no resolve, and a few pages later is an advertisement for the next installment which will be out in Spring 2011. At this point, I am not sure I will even pick it up.

I'm only a hundred pages into it, and already I can see that this book will contain all the flaws that has been plaguing Koontz's recent writing. I just got finished with the the nail-bitingly terrible Brother Odd only to read more anti-science rants.

The good guys are so honorable and upright that they practically drip with honey and the bad guys are so swarthy and irredeemably evil that the reader can only suppose that they eat dead babies to celebrate Charles Manson's birthday. I shouldn't have said that last part, wouldn't want to give Koontz any ideas for his next villain.

Enough with the mentally disabled kids and how their parents want to kill them. It's been done to death, and isn't touching in the slightest, it's contrived and distracting and smarmy. I have nothing against people with handicaps. What sane person does? Oh right poorly written Koontz villains that's who. I feel for them, but I'm going to make them into something that they are not. Koontz practically has the mentally disabled on the same level as saints; they come down from heaven to show us the true quantum nature of the universe or something. Oh, and the golden retrievers are angels.

There's one scene where a whole town of people are being rounded up for slaughter, and Koontz manages to completely ruin any moment of tension and possible horror by going into a frickin' Abbot and Castello routine between a cop and a mentally disabled man. I kid you not. Dean Koontz is a master at creating potentially amazing scenes of tension, and then spectacularly ruin them with only a sentence or two. In the one of the previous books, Deucalion outright states that Helios will never succeed in his goal for world domination. Thank you, Koontz, you just extracted whatever interest we should have in the plot. Having a character outright state that the conflict is pointless removes any tension or need to care. Need I say that the plot have been far better if Helios will certainly succeed if our heroes don't stop him? That's the purpose of a protagonist! Go back to creative writing class!

Why does the clone of Helios have completely different motivations from Helios? If I'm not mistaken. the clone should have the exact same memories and personality of Doctor Helios. No difference at all. What, did Dean Koontz feel that annihilating humanity and replacing it with a perfect race who would go out and conquer the universe wasn't evil enough, he had to make the new Helios have a completely non-nonsensical motivation like total destruction of the human race. Remember what I said about villain motivation and chances of succeeding? Well, this new Helios has a completely impossible goal that couldn't possibly succeed, so why should our heroes bother trying to stop him? Sure, he could kill some people on the way to failing, but that doesn't make the reader interested. Oh that's right, villains in the Dean Koontz universe absolutely cannot be interesting characters. Otherwise people might imitate them and make the world go to hell faster. Is that really what Dean Koontz is scared of; that if he has a depiction of a villain in a story that someone might be sympathetic for, that they will go our and imitate it?

Dean Koontz needs re-learn his craft by picking up some horror novels. I would recommend some of his own that he wrote back in the 1980s. He should learn that tension is desirable in a horror story, which this book isn't. I don't know what this book is---other than maybe his soap box to spread his bizarre pro-Creationism, anti-science, pro-Golden Retriever, pro-autism, anti-bioethics platform.

Despite all this bashing, I actually love Dean Koontz's (earlier) works, and it hurts me to point out all these flaws from a once-talented author. Once he was writing horror because of his deep depression and emotional scaring from his father, and this torment produced some of his best writing. Being a starving artist probably contributed too. I am convinced that Dean Koontz, somewhere along the way, decided that his books needed to be used to change the world, because it certainly isn't to entertain his reading audience or scare them. It can't be for money, it's obvious that he has enough.

And now that he's wealthy and growing older and more paranoid about the state of the world, he writes now with an agenda, and the quality of his writing has taken a backseat to that agenda. Writers should have an agenda when they write, and that agenda should be to tell a story. But that clearly isn't Koontz's agenda.

I enjoyed the first three books in this series and was looking forward to potentially seeing more. This newest one was enjoyable although not quite as good as the first three. The new "creations" of the clone Victor are certainly more menacing in their nature than the old models. My suggestion would be to look hard at our two heros. Maybe taking them out of their "good eats" N.O. home is part of it but they don't seem quite fully engaged in their own story. There is less suspense. I enjoyed some of the locals and their response to events. Overall if you liked the first three, this one picks up where they left off, give it a try.

To really enjoy this book it needs to be heard rather than read. The narration done by Christopher Lane is nothing short of amazing. He doesn't just read the words he performs as each character, he brings them to life and the whole listening experience was just plain fun, can't wait for the next installment

This fourth book in the series was awesome. It left me immediately wanting to read the fifth book. If you loved 1, 2, and 3, my bet is you will love #4. I am amazed that Dean Koontz can write things that are so suspenseful, and then so funny (i.e. Jocko's eating and computing habits). Like the title says, I don't understand the poor reviews....I loved this book and couldn't put it down.

Koontz has gotten boring. He seems to be writing books anymore simply because some people still buy them. However that might change if he keeps on writing drivel like this. In his first Frankenstein trilogy he should have ended the series. If he wanted to write another trilogy start with fresh charaters. I am getting tired of reading about golden retrievers with psychic powers and charaters as thin as mica. Sorry Dean, but you have lost me as a reader

What a disappointment! This is not even an entire book. It stops in the middle of nothing. I always enjoy his books, but this one left me feeling cheated. At least the first book was complete into itself, but this one isn't. Better to combine it with whatever comes after than to leave it the way it is.

I was pleasantly surprised with this latest installment of the series. I really didn't care for the last one. This one was a great quick read. Although I was disappointed that I have to wait for the next installment to find out what happens. He left you hanging at the end.

I think it was a good story...it had interesting characters...I think some of the critics are being a little harsh..its entertaining...I can't stand when people over analyze things...some of the reviews must have been written by people who had no childhood who don't know how to kick back and relax a little...If you like Dean Koontz you will like this book...

Koontz should have stuck with just a single episode in this series. The first book was pretty decent, the 2nd got weird and this one is even stranger. It's like he took one of his stories that goes from normal to really weird and is just spreading it out over multiple books. I probably won't read any more in this series. Very disappointed with where everything went after the first book - it was a great read.

The book jumps all over the place and when it ends, it just ends. There is no conclusion, no ending. The ending was simply the author saying if you want to find out what happens, buy the next book. Well forget you! I want my money back!

I have been a Koontz fan for many, many years. This is the first time I was actually angry with an author.

Why? This is only half of a book. Literally. The whole story in this new book is just a rehash of the previous books. Sure, there are some new ideas added. But, it isn't until the end that he finally gets around to starting the new story arc and suddenly... Buy book 2 in 2011!

This was a terrible disappointment. If this is the new Koontz, he needs to just start writing dog stories 100% of the time.

As for me, I will absolutely not be buying book 2 or 3 when they come out. In fact, Koontz, you owe me a refund.

..a lot of Mr Koontz's earlier stuff.
read the whole thing, but was abit disappointed, feeling that I'd been here (both geographically and in story terms) before. Still well written and very readable, but feels a bit like that album bands make because they have to, rather than want to. You want to love it, but you just don't.
Read this and a totally off-the-wall thing called Beyond by Paul Edwards this week. Felt far more satisfied with the latter.
V.

The first three Frankenstein books are excellent; this half-novel is horrible. Apparently he's more interested in collecting checks than writing quality material.
The characters lack depth, the dialog is mundane and the ending may have been a result of his laptop running out of battery power (i.e. IT JUST ENDS...).

Mr. Koontz leaves you totally hanging at the end of this book. There is no ending and now I must buy another book to see how it ends. Unless it is a trilogy and I'll have to buy two more books. There should have been a prologue saying you are buying an incomplete story.

Sorry but the ending here was lame. Nice book. Love the idea of the Builders...very freaky and sci-fi worthy. Next book promises to be better though, hence the reason Lost Souls is getting 3 stars instead of 2. I like the Ahern and Walker team and I'm praying Nummy doesn't get killed.

Dean Koontz does a good job on bringing users up to speed after the death of Victor Helios in Dead and Alive while advancing the story forward. - My one sentence review.

This book is mostly backstory, character introduction and reintroduction, as well as locale description with a major cliff hanger. This has produced mixed opinions from readers, but also allows the story to live and breath in more than one book. My only true complaint about this book is that the cliff hanger is at the monumental point in the story, but the trade off is that I will get to rediscover the series again in Spring 2011.

Book 4: Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Lost Souls
This book doesn't seem like a fully fleshed out story. It is more of a recap of Dead and Alive, as well as laying the groundwork for the next book(s) in the series. You learn of Victor, as he is after his "clone" was activated following his "human form's" death. You also are introduced to several new characters and New Race entities. The replacement procedures utilized by the New Race are more refined and the story now mostly takes place in Montana. The action begins near the very end, once all of the backstory has been laid so that the story will become more fluid. The story is well written, very engaging and definitely a must read for fans of the series.

I personally enjoy all 4 of the current books in the series and wait eagerly for the final announcement of a release date for the next installment in his Frankenstein series. I thoroughly enjoyed the original Frankenstein and I am very pleased with the direction and modern adaptation that is the Dean Koontz Frankenstein Series.

All four books seem "incomplete" without the precursor and sequel in the series. However, if you follow the story, and re-read Frankenstein: Prodigal Son: A Novel (Dean Koontz's Frankenstein),Frankenstein: City of Night: A Novel (Dean Koontz's Frankenstein) and Frankenstein: Dead and Alive: A Novel (Dean Koontz's Frankenstein) prior to reading Frankenstein: Lost Souls: A Novel, you will better understand how the story meshes together so far, over the course of all four books.

A small recap, in my words, of Book 3: Dean Koontz Frankenstein Dead and Alive.*

Near the end of Dead and Alive, Erika Five and Jocko both discovered a special room that was hidden behind the bookcase of Victor's library. Contained within this super secure hidden room was a special ornate glass container with a swirling red and black mass. This mass had a consciousness and when Erika decided to speak to it, it responded and told her "You are mine, Erika Five." Later, it is stated that Victor Helios, on a daily basis, would go to this room and download all of his transferable "self" into this entity, and it is alluded to that he is doing so as a contingency plan in the event of his death that he will become one of his new race. --- This is key information, if you do not remember this at least vaguely, you will not understand the precedence of the new book.

*I have included this, as most people are genuinely confused as to the connection to the series.

Was really looking forward to reading this Frankenstein sequel and after finishing it in no time at all (yes it really is that short) feel thoroughly cheated.

The story line ended almost in mid sentence just as the action was about to begin in earnest and with the bad guys getting what they deserved.

I initially thought that there was a problem with my Kindle download and went on line to request a complete download. Fortunately before making a complete fool of myself checked on the readers reviews and found that this indeed was all that was available.

Well done Dean for getting paid for passing off an unfinished short story as a complete novel!!

I read every Dean Koontz. Some have been a disappointment. But, perhaps others would read the same novel, and enjoy it. I know, that is what happens to me. I do not like to review novels. I read a lot, and therefore, if I read one of my favorite authors, and the book, was not up to my expectations, I wait for the next one. I enjoy this series, and looking forward to the next installment.

This isn't a book, it's an introduction for a book! I feel totally ripped off. Didn't resolve anything, didn't even START anything. Waste of an afternoon. No action, nothing. At one one time I loved Koontz's books, but I'm afraid a previous reviewer may be right. He's just burnt out!

As soon as this book came out I pulled out my paperback copies of the first 3 novels and re-read them. After I finished, I went out and bought the newest version in paperback. By far this was the BEST of the four. I am having difficulty waiting for the fifth book...come on Dean...get a move on, this fan is waiting!

I've generally always loved Koontz's work, but this book is the exception. I found it hard to care about the characters, partly due to the large number of them. The ending seems like a "to be continued..." and was dissatisfying.

Like many, I waited a long time for the final book in the series. What a dissapointment. The previous books were engaging and enjoyable reads... the final was pure garbage with no inherent value.

I may be wrong, yet it felt like Koontz either didn't want to write the final book or gave it to a junior high school drop out to write.

It was my own fault really -- I was in a hurry at the library, saw the words Dean Koontz and Frankenstein, and grabbed the book off the New Fiction shelf. I should have checked these reviews before wasting six hours of my life reading a book with no ending. To make matters worse, the story and its telling have all the faults mentioned by other reviewers. So, it wasn't even a particularly enjoyable six hours.

It had been a while since I'd read the first three in this series so it was fun to be reintroduced to characters from those books in this one. Loved the addition of the baby and how it changed how Carson and Michael are dealing with life. I was very glad I had book 5 on hand when I finished this one!!

This book had no ending. It was interesting, but very frustrating. I was on the last twenty pages waiting for this book to wrap up and the last page was no different then the middle of the book. I hate when an author does this.

This book was one of the worst things I have ever read. If I knew that I only had 24 hours to live I would read this book over and over, because each minute feels like an eternity. The plot is worthless. the characters are trite. And yet he keeps writing. I'm not sure what is worse putting my hand in a meat grinder or continuing with this series. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is literate. Quite possibly, Dean's dog Trixie would roll over in her grave if she knew he was going to write this.

I guess I must have missed the part where it said this was part one and I would have to fork out more money to buy part two and find out the ending. Cheap shot Koontz - And then to add insult to injury this is certainly not one of his best books. He should have quit while he was ahead -as in book 3 of the series.

Koontz must have needed a new vacation home. Thats' the only reason I could think of for him to release this piece of garbage. This was by far the worst book of the series. What started off as a great read with the first book has declined with each book. Even worse this book is nothing more than a set up for the next one. Very disappointing.

I tried to stay interested but the story just dragged on. Something must have been wrong with my download because the ending was horrible or the author stopped to get you to buy the next book in the series.

I USED TTO HINK HE WAS A GREAT WRITER BUT AFTER READING HIS LAST FEW BOOKS I FEEL HE HAS JUST LOST THE ABILITY TO WRITE A GOOD BOOK HIS YOUR HEART BELONGS TO ME WAS JUST TERRIBLE MADE NO SENSE RELENTLESS WAS EVEN WORSE I REALLY NO LONGER CONSIDER HIM A DECENT AUTHOR WHICH JS A SHAME BUT CERTAINLY WILL NOT BUY ANY MORE OF HIS BOOKS AS I FEEL IT IS A WASTE OF TIME.TTT

While clearly the weakest in this series, it was still riveting and will keep me hooked to wait for the next. The sci-fi had to go in a different direction as the events in New Orleans had cataclysmically ended Victor's storyline there.
It was a fun, quick read and I recommend it highly.

I like the Frankenstein and Odd Thomas series, but even as a just a book in a series, this is still half a book and a rip off at full price. Wait until the 5th book is out and this is in the bargin bin.

After reading the original Frankenstein trilogy written by Koontz, I was thrilled to see this series continue. However, this book was a HUGE disappointment. Absolutely nothing is resolved in this first installment (presumably another trilogy?) and nothing much actually happens in the story. It was incredibly short for such an expensive book. I'll be waiting for used paperback for any more of this series.

I'm seriously considering suing Dean Kootnz. This book is so bad that I think we could get enough people together for a class action lawsuit. Worst pile of garbage I have EVER read! Lame, stupid, ends without any resolution at all, characters aren't true to the originals, tons of useless dialog, total waste of time.

I started reading this book after reading Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep." So, when I didn't warm to this book I thought it might be because Chandler is such a master of his style. After nearly two hundred pages of generic descriptions I realized it wasn't because of Chandler. It was because Koontz has lost his touch.

This book feels like Koontz is still trying to prove he could do the whole series without co-writers. He hardly mentions the past of the characters in any detail. His description of what Carson and Maddison went through in New Orleans was brief to the point of insulting the characters. They ate a lot of food drove fast and killed monsters.

The book lacked imagination. He starts the novel in the same monastery that Odd Thomas spent his third novel visiting. King occasionally brings in character's from other stories. He always made it seem like an easter egg for faithful readers. Koontz makes it feel like a sermon on redemption and the need to have faith in God. He basically smacks you in the face with a subtext that runs through the whole story.

He tries to sneak in asides about there being evil in the world and good faithful people having to fight to preserve light and love. However, the asides aren't sneaky and feel extra pedantic.

I could continue on about the dialogue, the setting, and many other things. However, I will keep it simple. Do not waste your time on this book. Do not buy it, and don't waste a library visit picking it up. You could easily find at least a dozen better books on the new release shelf.

This book is just like the rest of Dean Koontz Frankenstein Novels. Its thrilling, fun, and exciting! The reviews of this book are too picky. I enjoyed it. If you liked the first three Frankenstein Novels then you'll like this book.

This book is awful and unnecessary. The "last" Frankenstein book was horrible so I don't know why he is even starting a new trilogy. It pains me to say this, but Koontz has finally gone the way of Stephen King and lost touch with the average-person's reality. His characters are all either 100% good or 100% evil, which is not the case in real life and makes them all so one-dimensional and unrealistic. No one is all good or all bad. He also seems unable to write a novel anymore that isn't full of supposed-to-be-inspiring platitudes about the wonders of life, to the point that I really feel like Koontz is trying to force his religious beliefs down the reader's throat, and I resent this. Yeah, yeah, a butterfly flaps its wings in one place and it causes a tsunami across the world. Please stop beating us over the head with this in every.single.book. Also, each new book that Koontz writes has more and more of his ridiculous brand of witty banter between all the characters, which used to be kind of funny but now is used to such excess that it's barely tolerable. People just don't talk like that anywhere but in a Koontz novel and it again makes it impossible to relate to the characters. People in their right minds don't cutely discuss whether or not baby wipes are caustic while in the middle of trying to take down an armed bad guy. Ugh! Lastly, every Koontz book now has at least one character who understands the way quantam physics and multi-dimensional travel works and they are therefore able to instantly step across time and space and magically be anywhere they want - instantly! Koontz shamelessly uses this feat so that he can make things happen without having to actually come up with a realistic way for it to occur. How handy! Oh, did I mention that the dimensional traveler can bring other characters along with him when the plot requires? Yeah, very handy for the author!

I really wish that this weren't the case, because I have read every Koontz novel written and he has been one of my favorite authors for almost my whole life, but it is painfully obvious to me that Dean Koontz has retreated far enough into the ivory tower of his life that he is incapable or just not interested in writing anything but these same old formulaic stories with interchangeable characters. I really had to force myself to even finish this book.

Finally, you have to ignore the review by Harriet Klausner (#1 reviewer), because she rates EVERYTHING 4 or 5 stars. As the #1 reviewer of all of the store.com, that's a whole lot of 5-star book reviews so take her with a grain of salt.

I am SO disappointed in Dean Koontz with Lost Souls. I think he has sold out to the publishing houses and stopped this book at the climax. This could have been a great book but instead of making it worth while, he introduces the characters, sets the situation up and then ends it. Pah-Leeez! He is going to make the story into 2 more books when it could have been a good, long one. No thanks. Sadly, this is the last Dean Koontz book I read. "(

Deucalion informs his closest friend Brother Salvatore that the former's creator Victor Frankenstein AKA Victor Helios of New Orleans has arisen from the dead again. He knows this because of his dark blood insisting it is so.

Victor uses the name Leben and moves to Rainbow Falls, Montana where he believes he can continue his creationist work using modern science and technology in isolation until he is ready to release his super human species on mankind. He actually has a secret financial backer, Victor begins anew. Meanwhile efficiency expert Rainbow Falls Mayor Erskine Potter meets his only adversary, himself; as the Community replaces him with his "brother".

The quintet that stopped Victor Helios in New Orleans two years ago regroups. Police Detectives Carson O'Connor and Michael Maddison, Victor's manufactured wife Erika 5 and her buddy Jocko, and Deucalion the tormented "Adam" gather in Rainbow Falls. However, unlike their last encounter, this time Victor has a Community of supporters who will kill anyone who interferes with his work; innocent collateral damage is part of being efficient and effective.

Obviously readers of the first Dean Koontz Frankenstein revision trilogy (see The Prodigal Son, City of Night, and Dead or Alive) will relish the return of the creator Dr. Victor while new readers will have no trouble diving into Lost Souls. The key is fully developed to rival Victor's creations as each of the heroic five has doubts while finding being human is not easy to define when you are not God's children. Readers will enjoy this strong investigative science fiction thriller as the magnificent five anticipate a second High Noon confrontation with Victor, but this time he has powerful allies ready to kill any interfering with his creation of a master race.

Harriet Klausner

I was a little worried when I saw that Koontz' next book was going to be the start of another Frankenstein trilogy, preferring that he go on to other novels. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Lost Souls. Victor, in another incarnation, has found a way to continue his plans for exterminating mankind after the setback in New Orleans. While the heros from the previous trilogy have begun news lives, Victor himself has taken his plans back to the drawing board and devised an even more sinister plan than before. His new human extermination project is not the same old thing but the next evolution of evil, swifter, scarier, harder to stop. The main heros from the first three books make return appearances, yes, even including Jocko, but several more unlikely heros begin to emerge as the book progresses. Being the first book of what is to be a three part series, this episode begins building tension as Victor's dark creations begin their work throughout the small town of Rainbow Falls, Montana. While the residents are unaware of the danger overtaking them, our heros, Deucalion included, arrive to find Victor and stop him again. This time they're a little late to the party and it may already be too late. This time Victor may not be so easily beaten.

Each chapter is written in a narrative voice according to the main character being observed. The character of Nummy, who is mentally impaired, has a more simplistic narration, while Victor's parts ooze the arrogance of a delusional evil genius. This effect adds a really nice atmosphere to the telling, allowing readers more empathy for some, more loathing toward others. Don't expect resolution here, we've only just begun the story. This book kept me turning the pages faster than Victor's new plan to blitzkrieg mankind and I will be eagerly anticipation the arrival of the next installment. I like the new setting of this book and the interesting townspeople that this evil is being unleashed on. Koontz has given himself a big canvas here and this first book sets him up to take full advantage of it. Frankenstein allows him the perfect vehicle for a great morality tale of our times.

.....Dean Koontz no longer writes his own stories! He now employs a stable of apprentices so that he can simply jot down story idea outlines and they can crank out huge volumes of watered down Koontz-like product. Sort of like the Victor character in these Frankenstein books cranks out soul-less imitations of life. I miss the old Koontz terribly. And I too am bored with the religious platitudes underscoring everything he writes now.

Well i started off reading it and it just got so much worse as i went along. Deculion is just shallow, no substance what so ever.. and i am tired of the creations just killing everything and hating everything.. Jocko is irritating.. and the two detectives just as so shallow and the joking is too much.. I got half way through this and jsut did not have it in me to finish which is real weird.