One of Dean Koontz's early books. Previously published under the pseudonym Leigh Nichols. Suspenseful. A combination of science (genetics) gone wild and the supernatural with emphasis on the former.

This book is by far the best Koontz that I have read. Hauntingly believable (for me at least). I had to force myself to put it down and go to bed, but couldn't go to sleep because my heart was racing. Highly recommended read.

Another of Dean's earlier efforts, from back when he wrote powerful, suspenseful thrillers with realistic characters that you actually cared about and an ending that wasn't so sweet it made you gag. Unlike the pablum he writes now. ::sigh:: I wish he'd never had that aneurysm, or whatever it was that made him into Mother Theresa...

ISBN 0425136981 - Koontz is an author who has always walked a weird line for me, with ISBN 0425098648 Night Chills a prime example. His writing tends to be great, and his sex scenes tend to be abberant, making me wary of his books. Shadowfires straddles the same line, but with far more finesse than Night Chills - there are sex scenes which are somewhat repulsive (and to go into greater detail would give away too much) but Koontz includes a more "normal" sex scene between hero and heroine that balances it out a bit.

Talk about an acrimonious divorce... Eric is a self-made man, obsessed with youth, money and all things Eric. Rachel is on the way to becoming his ex-wife and to finding out that she's in a no-win situation. Eric is angered that Rachel has the nerve to reject him by seeking divorce but that's only the half of it. He's also prepared to drag her through bitter court proceedings to fight her for his money - and her willingness to settle for very little only inflames him further. This is just another rejection and Eric is not going to take it lying down.

When he's mowed down in the street by a garbage truck, right in front of Rachel, that whole "not going to take it lying down" thing takes on new meaning. His body goes missing from the morgue and while everyone else is wondering how they could lose a body, Rachel is sure she knows the answer. It's not possible, but it's true nonetheless: Eric is coming after her.

I was rather surprised to find myself wanting to skip pages, not because they weren't good but because the suspense was periodically unbearable! Koontz's characters are superbly written, with even Eric earning some sympathy and understanding from the reader.

- AnnaLovesBooks

This was one of the earlier Koontz novels that I somehow missed in my youth. It tells the tale of a genetic genius named Eric who after an ugly argument with his soon to be ex-wife Rachel, dies in an accident. But he doesn't stay dead for long. . .

Before long Rachel and her new love interest, Ben, are on the run from a resurrected Eric and men who will do anything to keep Eric's status a secret.

Koontz has always been hit or miss with me and I'm sad to say that book was more of a miss. I'm a big fan of monster books, particularly zombies, but this book focused more on the action (which usually bores me), was filled with mostly unlikable characters and the dialogue was not believable.

Koontz should also stay far away from any attempt at a love scene. When Rachel and Ben finally give in to temptation Koontz describes their happy ending as "Ben emptying copious measures of himself into Rachel". Funny? Yes, but also very creepy when you think about it which I'd rather not!

Anyway, now that I'm completely off track, I'll just end this by saying that I would've enjoyed this more if Koontz had focused more on the changes his "monster" was going through and spent less time on the chase scenes. It would've helped too, if he'd spent less time agonizing about every thought and motivation passing through the dull men's heads (Ben and his nemesis whose name escape me).

I probably would have enjoyed this more when I was a bit younger because now that I'm old and grouchy I don't seem to like much of anything!

One of his good ones...I thoroughly enjoyed it, and that's all I'm going to say!!

Very good. Kept you going from page 1 to the end. As usual, with Koontz books, very strange.

I'm a huge Dean Koontz fan and this story did not fail to live up to his quality of story telling. I couldn't put it down!

This book was amazing!!

Imagine from the point of view of a woman whose husband is struck down in a traffic accident just as she is starting what might have been a messy divorce...Now imagine his body disappears from the morgue and you start to see someone who looks like him...Good suspense, Good Koontz!

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This is a very good read.

great Koontz read....his writing is smooth....with many twists and turns...one of those "can't put it down" type books that makes you immediately look for another Koontz novel to follow it ...

Rachael's request for a quick and clean divorce enraged her husband. She had never seen Eric so angry, so consumed by pure and terrifying hatred. Then, in the heat of the moment, Eric was struck down in a traffic accident. His death was instantaneous. Shocked and relieved, Rachael had nothing left to fear. Until eric's body disappeared from the morgue-and Rachaelwas stalked by someone who looked like her dead husband...

Anyone liking Dean Koontz style of writing will love this book.

Rachael's request for a quick and clean divorce enraged her husband.She had never seen Eric so angry, so consumed bypure and terrifying hatred. Then, in the heat of the moment, Eric was struck down in a traffic accident. His death was instantaneous Shocked and relieved, Rachael had nothing left to fear. Until Eric's body disappeared from the morgue- and Rachael was stalked by someone who looked like her dead husband.

Dean Koontz is the best there is...read ALL his work!

From Inside Cover:
Rachaels request for a quick and clean divorce enraged her husband. She had never seen Eric so angry, so consumed by pure and terrifying hatred. Then, in the heat of the moment, Eric is struck down in a traffic accident. His death was instantaneous. Shocked and relieved, Rachael had nothing left to fear. Until Erics body disappeared from the morgue - and Rachael was stalked by someone who looked like her dead husband.

Definately not one of his best....It brought to mind Pet Semetary by Stephen King. But it was no where near that calibur. And that's dissapointing, because I am a Koontz fan, really.

Dean Koontz being Dean Koontz

Rachael's request for a quick and clean divorce enraged her husband. She had never seen Eric so angry, so consumed by pure and terrifying hatred. Then in the heat of the moment, Erick was struck down in a traffic accident....

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