dragonfire88's Full Review: Dean R. Koontz - Night Chills
Dean Koontz is one of my favorite authors. I get his new books as soon as they are released. I pick up his older books that I haven’t read yet or don’t own yet when I find them. I found Night Chills several years ago and picked it right up. I’m glad I did because I haven’t seen it since.
The plot of Night Chills was a bit complex. It did jump back and forth in time some at the beginning of the book. It was clearly marked when a chapter was taking place in the past. The date was given at the beginning of each chapter. It wasn’t hard to keep track of when things were happening. It was a bit disruptive when the plot jumped back or forward.
Late one night, two men dumped something in a lake near the small town of Black River Maine. The men went their separate ways after that. Each received a phone call and then killed themselves. Over the next week, almost everyone in Black River came down with some kind of illness. People had chills and horrible nightmares at night. During the day they didn’t have much energy.
A week after something was dumped into the lake, Paul Annendale arrived in Black River with his children. His wife had died, and Paul was raising Mark and Rya by himself. They had been spending vacations in Black River for many years and had friends in the town. Paul and the children would spend a day or two with Sam Edison and then go out camping. They did return to the town at different times. The children thought of Sam as a grandfather. Paul and Sam’s daughter Jenny had started to date, but she was hesitant about getting more serious. Sam was the pharmacist for Black River. He had been filling prescriptions for people all week. He and Jenny were two of the few who weren’t sick. Paul was worried about the kids getting whatever was going around, so they stayed away from most people. They spent some time at Sam’s and then headed for their campsite. Paul and Jenny did spend some time together.
A sociologist turned up in Black River asking a lot of questions. He said he was doing a study on the town, but he never really explained what the study was. Sam was bothered by something about the man. Some people in town received some strange phone calls. The caller used a certain phrase and was able to get the person called to answer any question and do whatever they were told. Some people, especially attractive women, received visits at home. Some horrible things happened around town. Sam, Paul, and Jenny were very worried about what was going on.
Night Chills is one of Dean Koontz’s older books. It was published in 1976 and set in 1976 and 1977. I have only seen this book once in a store, so it seems to be harder to find. This is one of the older Koontz books that hasn’t been reissued recently. I have seen several of his other older books reissued lately, so perhaps that will happen with this one as well. I am interested to see if the book remains set in same time, or if it will be set in more modern times. Some things like computers and cable television could have an impact on the plot if the time of the book was changed. Black River was a secluded town, and that did have something to do with what was going on. Dean Koontz books are in the fiction section of my local bookstore. I have seen them in that area of other bookstores as well.
Night Chills was a thriller. There were suspenseful moments throughout the book. There were some strange things going on in Black River. It wasn’t completly clear what was going on at first, but it did become clear a bit later in the book. There were a few men behind what was going on. They did a lot of planning before anything started. Some of the planning was shown through a few flashbacks. The planning started two and a half years earlier. The flashbacks did help to explain better what was going on.
Some strange things happened in Night Chills. There were also some violent and disturbing tings that happened. Some readers will probably be offended by some of what happened. There was violence in the book as well. Some of the violence was described as it happened. There were some graphic scenes in the book that weren’t pleasant to read. Overall the book wasn’t extremely violent. The violence was just in a few scenes.
Paul’s wife died before Night Chills took place. Jenny got a divorce and returned home to Black River. She and Paul met about a year before the events in the book took place. They did start to date. Jenny even went to visit Paul and his kids, but she wasn’t ready for them to make their relationship more serious. She didn’t want to talk about their relationship, and she kept changing the subject when Paul brought it up. Paul was ready for their relationship to become more serious, but he didn’t push her. Most of the book was focused on what was happening in Black River, but there was a little bit of romance between Paul and Jenny. There were a few sexual situations between the two of them. Those scenes weren’t graphic and I don’t think they would offend anyone.
Dean Koontz books aren’t for everyone. Some are different are just downright strange. There have been monsters of some kind in some of his books. Other books featured people that were just twisted in some way. There were no monsters in Night Chills, only men who did some horrible things. There was a short introduction by Koontz. He said that some of the things from the book were really possible. Koontz added his own touches, but the basic idea is possible and some things in the book have been done. There was a reference list of the books that Koontz used for research included at the end of the book. Some things that happened in Night Chills were somewhat similar to things that happened in other Koontz books, but things did work out differently. There was enough different to keep it interesting for me. Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to stop. I’m not going to say which Koontz book Night Chills shared some things because I don’t want to give away too much about the plot for people who haven’t read the book yet.
CHARACTERS
Paul - He was a vet that spent his vacations camping near Black River with his two children. Paul lost his wife, and was protective of his children. He had to deal with horrible things.
Mark and Rya - Paul’s children. Rya was mature for her age. She was trying to push Paul and Jenny together.
Sam - The Pharmacist for Black River. He and Paul had been friends for years. Sam and the kids were close as well. Sam was interested in all kinds of things.
Jenny - Sam’s daughter. She moved back to Black River after her divorce. She was involved with Paul, but wasn’t ready for a more serious relationship. She was worried she would end up making some of the same mistakes that she made with her ex-husband. She liked Paul’s kids. She was a kind woman.
I really liked Night Chills. It is an older book, but it still holds up. I think that people who like Dean Koontz books would also like this one.
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