We are all obsessed with sex you know! (Night Chills - Dean Koontz)

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Product:	Night Chills - Dean Koontz
Date:	22.02.06 (606 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent idea for a novel, villain is a twisted character.

Disadvantages: Very violent, poorly characterised and roughly written.

Paul Annendale is taking his annual vacation from the rat race to the town of Black River. Visiting this backwater town he begins to notice that many of the residents are suffering from horrific nightmares nicknamed “Night Chills”. He begins to wonder why only he, his children and his friends Sam and Jenny are unaffected. His concerns are enhanced when. start acting very strangely following the visit of a Sociologist. What link does this Sociologist have with the town and why are people acting so out of character?

“Night Chills” uses the superb premise of subliminal advertising being used for mind control to draw the reader in. The reality of subliminal advertising is scary enough but the idea of them being as a form of total control is terrifying. Imagine having no control as someone tells you to drive a fork through your hand and smile while doing so! This very real fear of subliminal advertising does exist as Koontz explains in his foreword. This makes “Night Chills” an addictive read from the start unfortunately the writing and characters surrounding this unique premise is something of a let down.

Dean Koontz can create great characters and stories full of invention yet perhaps due to his prolific nature his novels often go for the formulaic. “Night Chills” certainly falls into the latter category. Why are writers so obsessed with protagonists being widows with a tortured past? Why are small town cops always hefty, cheerful but intelligent types? Why are all millionaires religious zealots? Why does the protagonist always against all odds and reasoning find true love again? Surely you only have one true love? All the above plot devices and character traits are in evidence here. It is this lack of imagination that turns “Night Chills” from a potentially great novel into merely a readable one.

This is not to say “Night Chills” is not without merit. As a story it is fast paced and chapters are punchy. Koontz’s style in this novel involves the use of flashbacks to the past alternating with accounts of current events and this works well in keeping the reader up to date as to why character are behave as they do. However, there is a lack of description and imagery particularly of the central town of Black River which is barely given a mention. A town so important to the plot should, to me have been better realised. I can only guess what a small town in America looks like and Koontz does little to help my imagination giving me the impression that everyone in small town America wears lumberjack shirts and frequents greasy spoon style cafes while laughing at the tourists.

Although there is an obvious lack of characterisation particularly of the central character Paul Annendale, the alleged Sociologist Ogden Salsbury is a superbly twisted character. Koontz spends more time explaining his past than on anyone else and his tortured psyche makes for some fascinating, if often disturbing reading. “Night Chills” is rare for a Koontz novel in that it is highly sexual in content and Koontz implies that it is what makes the world go round for good or bad throughout. There are several sex scenes littered throughout some graphic and violent but surprisingly well written considering the poor imagery in the rest of the novel. The violent nature of some of the scenes involving Salsbury are particularly vivid although Koontz does well to temper this with consequence. However, this could be considered one of Koontz’s more gory novels perhaps because there is no part to play for the supernatural. This is all about the perversion of humanity.

As a standalone novel this is certainly a decent psychological thriller/horror. It does however seem to be such a wasted opportunity as although it is a pacey, addictive read at 352 pages it is heavily flawed. The flashback chapters can get weighed down in scientific or psychological techno babble that may have you looking for a dictionary and this reminds me a lot of an average Michael Crichton novel. Nonetheless, I do hesitantly recommend this for fans of the genre. Koontz has produced better but just for the use of subliminal advertising it is worth the read.

NB: For those wondering what the bloody hell subliminal advertising is:

Rough definition: images that can only be seen by the sub-conscious that influence us. Used in the film “Fight Club” to demonstrate the power of advertising. Subliminal advertising was (and maybe still is) common in cinemas in small town America during the sixties. There are claims that it increased popcorn and soft drinks sales by over fifty per cent!

Cheapest price found at: Play.com £5.49 in paperback (delivered)
ISBN: 0747235228

Summary: A readable novel that is ultimately a wasted opportunity.