Dean Koontz has been called "America's most popular suspense novelist,"* but that only begins to describe the rich variety and endless invention that characterize his work. Critics hail his impeccable craft and the artistry that has inspired the devotion of millions of fans around the world. He is unique among contemporary writers, venturing far beyond traditional boundaries to explore our deepest fears and most transcendent aspirations.
Now, in From the Corner of His Eye, Koontz brings together his most powerful themes to draw readers into a spellbinding world made by a master at the top of his form -- a story rich in triumph and tragedy, joy and terror, love, hate, and profound meaning, played out by perhaps the most unforgettable cast of characters he has yet created.
Bartholomew Lampion is born in Bright Beach, California, on a day of tragedy and terror, when the lives of everyone in his family are changed forever. Remarkable events accompany his birth, and everyone agrees that his unusual eyes are the most beautiful they have ever seen.
On this same day, a thousand miles away, a ruthless man learns that he has a mortal enemy named Bartholomew. He doesn't know who Bartholomew is, but he embarks on a search that will become the purpose of his life. If ever he finds the right Bartholomew, he will deal mercilessly with him.
And in San Francisco, a girl is born, the result of a violent rape. Her survival is miraculous, and her destiny is mysteriously linked to the fates of Barty and the man who stalks him.
At the age of three, Barty Lampion is blinded when surgeons reluctantly remove his eyes to save him from a fast-spreading cancer. As the growing boy copes with his blindness and proves to be a prodigy, his mother, an exceptional woman, counsels him that all things happen for a reason, that there is meaning even in his suffering, and that he will affect the lives of people yet unknown to him in ways startling and profound.
At thirteen, Bartholomew regains his sight. How he regains it, why he regains it, and what happens as his amazing life unfolds results in a breathtaking journey of courage, heart-stopping suspense, and high adventure. His mother once told him that every person's life has an effect on every other person's, in often unknowable ways, and Barty's eventful life indeed entwines with others in ways that will astonish and move everyone who reads his story.
People magazine has said that Dean Koontz has the "power to scare the daylights out of us." In this, perhaps the most thrilling, suspenseful, and emotionally powerful work of his critically acclaimed career, Koontz does that and far more. He has created a compulsive page-turner that will have you at the edge of your seat, a narrative tour de force that will change the way you yourself look at the world.
Katherine M. (TheSmartKat34) from VICTORVILLE, CA wrote on 7/31/2007...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
It is worth reading again, and again. I loved it, read it twice. It is time to make room on the shelves for new books and let someone else enjoy the memory of this one. Oh and I won't spoil a bit of this, but you will love the way they talk about the inbetween.... You have to read it to find out what that means. You will like it as much as I did. Promise
Cindy J. (octoberskye) from NORWOOD, MA wrote on 3/25/2007...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
A very interesting and unique Koontz which spans 3 generations. Koontz goes off on a very sprititual tangent with this one.
Lisa F. (Booknose) from HENRYVILLE, IN wrote on 2/26/2007...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is my favorite by Koontz, it's a wonderful mix of suspense and fantasy.. wish he was still writing in this same vein.
Tara L. from DURHAM, CT wrote on 10/29/2006...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Great Dean Koontz book; great character development and a thriller, too!
Lindsay R. (KoontzJunkie) from CORONA, CA wrote on 8/30/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Although I'm a Koontz fan, this is my least favorite of his books...it was too "heart warming" for me. But if your into that stuff, read it.
Rick M. (giebeman) from APO, AE wrote on 2/9/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Makes one kinda wonder what's really going on???
Katt S. (Katt) from FULTON, MO wrote on 11/25/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Horrormeister Koontz looks heavenward for inspiration in his newest suspense thriller, which is chock-full of signs, portents, angels, and one somewhat second-rate devil, a murky and undercharacterized guy named Junior Cain who throws his beloved wife off a fire tower on an Oregon mountain and spends the rest of the novel waiting for the retribution that will surely come. But not before a series of tragedies ensues that convince Junior that someone or something named Bartholomew is out to exact vengeance for that crime and the series of other murders that follow.
Bartholomew's own troubles begin with his birth, which transpires moments after his father is killed in a traffic accident as he is taking his wife to the hospital, and continue with the loss of his eyes at the tender age of 3. Young Bartholomew has visionary gifts, though to his mother, a nice lady who's renowned for her pie-making abilities as well as her sweetly innocent nature, he's just a particularly smart kid who can read and write before his second birthday. Eventually, Bartholomew regains his sight, Junior Cain gets his comeuppance, and fate conspires to bring love into the Pie Lady's life, reward the faithful, and put a happy ending on this genre-bending tale.
Amanda S. (pandabear) from CENTRALIA, WA wrote on 4/1/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Gripping story!
Christine H. from PLYMPTON, MA wrote on 3/15/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
An older Koontz book, but very gripping. I couldn't put it down, until I finished it.
Magnificent characterizations and some flashes of humor in unexpected places!
Rate These Member Reviews
Brittni H. (venus) from BATON ROUGE, LA wrote on 10/31/2008...
I enjoyed the first half of this book, but by the 3/4's and 4/4's I was struggling to even finish it. I kept expecting more, and got less. I know some people truly love this book, and though I understand why, I don't agree. It leads to an ending that it doesn't deliver upon, leaving you feeling as though you were cheated of the proper climax. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
Denise G. (DeniseG) from JACKSONVILLE, FL wrote on 10/8/2007...
This is one of my favorite books. The story line and the evilness of humans, amazes me. Get this book if you was a heart stopping, mindnumbing thriller. Do you beleive that this story has a maniac that kills husbands or wifes at the request of their spouses, and slowly by using cancers.... EWWWWW!
Michele H. (MicheleLee) from BUSHNELL, FL wrote on 2/15/2007...
full of suspense.
Tammy P. (bookluver-in-sc) from LANDRUM, SC wrote on 12/9/2006...
The classic Koontz horror tale.A boy is born with unusual eyes and across the world a man learns that he has an enemy with the same.
Sarah W. from CHICAGO, IL wrote on 10/23/2006...
Found in a box of my boyfriends stuff. He got it at a garage sale and never read it. It looks unused.
Pamela C. (mattsmom) from HUNTSVILLE, AL wrote on 9/13/2006...
Great book!
Amanda B. from SPELTER, WV wrote on 8/23/2006...
Never read it.
Debbie E. (Debbieeohio) from SHEFFIELD VLG, OH wrote on 8/5/2006...
Love all his books
Linda F. (Lindalou) from PORT EDWARDS, WI wrote on 8/2/2006...