Strange Nightmares Haunt Joanna in The Key to Midnight by Dean Koontz
Written: Jul 13 '04 (Updated Sep 07 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Interesting plot and likable characters
Cons: Not the most original plot
The Bottom Line: The Key to Midnight is one of Dean Koontz's earlier books, but I still think it is enjoyable. Fans of Dean Koontz may enjoy the book.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: Dean R. Koontz - The Key to Midnight: Library Edit... |
Every so often, I decide to read one of the books I’ve had for a while instead of reading one of the newer books I have piled all around the place. I have a lot of books, and I do enjoy reading some of them again. I just finished reading The Key to Midnight by Dean Koontz again.
Joanna Rand had lived in Japan for twelve years. For the last eight years, she’s been in Kyoto where she owned the Moonglow Lounge, a successful nightclub. She sang in the club nightly. Joanna had strange dreams every night that caused her to wake up feeling afraid. She’d had the dreams for years. All she can remember from the dream was a man with a mechanical hand reaching for a syringe. Joanna was friends with Mariko, the manager of the club, but she did keep some distance from her. Joanna didn’t get close to people. In the past, when she’d had a relationship that was getting stronger, something happened. She’d have some kind of panic attack and would then end the relationship.
Alex Hunter ran a very successful security company out of Chicago. He was on vacation in Kyoto and he ended up at the Moonglow Lounge a few nights in a row. He seemed to be drawn to Joanna. They spoke a few times and agreed to meet for lunch. Alex realized that Joanna looked just like the missing daughter of a senator he had been hired to look for. Lisa, the senator’s daughter, had vanished twelve years before. After their lunch, they visited some spots around Kyoto. Joanna had a panic attack when she saw a man missing a hand. She imagined that it was the man with the mechanical hand. Alex was very concerned and managed to get her to share some things with him, including her nightmare. Alex was convinced that Joanna was Lisa. He brought that up and Joanna said she had never heard of Lisa before. Alex said he was getting his files about the case, and Joanna agreed to talk to Alex about it later that night. When he got there that night, she refused to see him, claiming she didn’t even know him. Alex talked to Mariko who did tell Alex that Joanna had done this before. Mariko liked Alex and was going to try to convince Joanna to see him.
Joanna was very depressed after cutting Alex off. She always got that way when she ended a relationship, but it was worse this time. She didn’t understand why she seemed compelled to end relationships like she did. She ended up doing something drastic, but she came to her senses in enough time to go to Mariko for help. She did see Alex the next day and was more open to hearing about Lisa. The pictures of Lisa really upset Joanna because she could see they were her. She started to feel paranoid and trapped again. To her it looked like the walls and ceiling were closing in on her. She felt that if she got Alex to leave, the feeling would leave. Alex didn’t leave, and helped Joanna work through the attack. After that, she didn’t feel as paranoid, but she was still wary of digging into what might have happened to her. Alex and Joanna started to piece together what had happened to her. People were watching them, and not happy that Joanna seemed to be figuring things out.
The Key to Midnight was originally published in 1979 with the pen name of Leigh Nichols. Koontz also wrote other books with that name that have been republished under his own name. The Key to Midnight was released in 1995 with Koontz’s name and he did update the story some. I have only read the version that was released in 1995, so I’m not sure what was changed. A few things that happened would have been more relevant in the earlier version I think. The book is available as a paperback.
I have read The Key to Midnight several times since I first got the book. It is one of the several books by Koontz that I do own. It had been a few years since the last time I read the book, and I had forgotten some things, such as why things happened to Joanna. I did remember what had happened to Joanna and why she had the nightmares. Since I had forgotten some things, the book was still suspenseful to me at times. It would be more suspenseful to people who haven’t read the book before though. There was mystery in the book related to Joanna’s past and why she had the nightmares.
I did think that some things that happened in The Key to Midnight were scary, though he has written some that are scarier. In many of Koontz’s books some unbelievable things happened. I did think that the things that happened in this book were more believable. Certain things happened that I think are possible, though maybe not to the extent that they did in the book. The fact that I found some of what happened in the book to be more likely to happen is what made it scary for me. There were no weird monsters in this book like there have been in other Koontz books. There were some villains in the book, but they were human beings, not some weird monster. Parts of the plot weren’t the most original, but they were entertaining. When I first read this book, I hadn’t read or heard of anything else like this. Since then, I have heard about some other books, and even read another Koontz book that has similar things going on in the book. I’m not going to say which Koontz book this one is like because that could spoil this book for people who have read the other book and know what goes on in it. People who have read that other Koontz book will probably be able to figure things out faster, though things do happen for different reasons. I think there are some other books, and even a few movies, that deal with some things that were in this book.
There was some violence in a few scenes of The Key to Midnight. There were a few fights, and some shootings. The violence wasn’t too extreme or descriptive. Some disturbing things did happen during the book. Joanna did eventually remember some things from her past that were disturbing. It could be a bit upsetting to some people to read those scenes. Some things that happened to her were described, and other things were left more to the imagination, though it was clear that something did happen. It just wasn’t described in detail. Which, for what happened, was fine with me.
Alex and Joanna met early in The Key to Midnight. He was drawn to her when he first saw her. He seemed to only want to figure out if she was Lisa at first, but that changed as the book continued. Joanna was attracted to Alex, though she fought it for a while. She always tried to keep people at a distance. When she got too close to people, she suffered horrible panic attacks. They would stop once she cut the person out of her life. She tried to get rid of Alex that way, but it didn’t work. He helped her work through an attack, and then helped her figure out what happened to her in the past. They did end up involved. There were some sex scenes featuring them. There weren’t many of those scenes, and they weren’t that descriptive. It seemed that most of what was going on was left to the imagination.
Alex and Joanna were the main characters in The Key to Midnight. At least one of them was in almost every scene of the book. The book was fairly fast paced, but those two characters still ended up being well developed. Mariko turned up some, but she wasn’t as developed. Some other characters turned up too, including the villains. They also weren’t developed that much. There were a few minor characters involved in what happened to Joanna. Those characters were flat. I did like Alex and Joanna. She did act irrational at times, but that was because of what happened to her.
The Key to Midnight is one of Koontz’s older books. It is a bit different from some of his newer books. The book was still suspenseful, and descriptive, though I do think some of his other books have been more suspenseful. There was a lot going on, though a few of his books have had more complicated plots. The book wasn’t simple or easy to figure to out. The book was fairly fast paced, but that is normal for many of his books. Many of the chapters were very short though, some only two pages, which isn’t normal for a Koontz book. His newest book, The Taking, did have some shorter chapters as well, but most of his books have longer chapters. The book was a bit different, but Koontz books in general are different. His books aren’t for everyone. People need to keep in mind going into one of his books that they are different. Readers should have an open mind when reading his books to really enjoy them.
CHARACTERS
Alex Hunter - He ran a security company and was on vacation in Kyoto. He slept little and worked hard. Once he realized that Joanna reminded him of the missing daughter of a senator, he was determined to figure out what was going on.
Joanna Rand - She owned a popular night club in Kyoto. She was a talented singer. She had horrible nightmares, and later realized that something horrible had happened to her in the past. She was normally a very kind woman, but she acted irrationally at times.
Mariko - She managed Joanna’s club and really her only friend. Mariko was a very kind woman. She worried about Joanna and wanted to help her.
I really liked The Key to Midnight. I have read it a few times now and I still enjoy it. It was a bit different from some of his other books, but his fans should read it and will probably enjoy it.
Related Reviews
False Memory ~ One Door Away From Heaven ~ Shadowfires ~ By the Light of the Moon ~ The Face ~ Phantoms ~ Odd Thomas ~ Night Chills ~ The Taking ~
Recommended:
Yes
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