Billy's Weblog

Book Review: Seize the Night by Dean Koontz October 27, 2010

My first issue when I finished Seize the Night was figuring out where to put it on my Top Ten Dean Koontz Novels list.  I really liked the first Chris Snow book, Fear Nothing, (#2 on the list), so I had high hopes for the sequel going in (which is always dangerous because it sets me up for a major let down), but I was pleasantly surprised by Seize the Night.  It not only continued the story, but it also managed to surprise me, expanding the story arc in ways I didn’t see coming.

 Seize the Night takes place a month after the events of Fear Nothing, and although Chris and friends survived the monkey attack at Bobby’s beach house, things are not about to get better in Moonlight Bay.  The conspiracy has enveloped everything from the police department to the churches.  It’s only a matter of time until the trouble in Moonlight Bay spreads, and even if Chris and friends can unravel the conspiracy, that doesn’t mean there’s anything they can do to stop Chris’ mother’s retrovirus from infecting the world.

As if things aren’t bad enough in Moonlight Bay, the novel opens with Chris and Orson stumbling upon the abduction of an ex-girlfriend’s five-year-old son.  While on one of their nightly excursions, they come by right after the abduction and immediately take off to chase down the culprit.   

Where does the kidnapper’s trail lead?   Back to Fort Wyvern, the moth-balled military base where genetic experiments escaped in a way no one could have imagined.  Chris assumes the abduction is related to the genetic experiments at Wyvern, but Chris’ investigation leads him to the Mystery Train project and discoveries even more bizarre than the retrovirus and genetically altered monkeys from Fear Nothing, discoveries that will result in the death of one of Chris’ inner circle.   

Although I love this book, I do have a little bit of a Dean Koontz rant to get out of my system.  I promised myself I wouldn’t read Seize the Night until Koontz finally published the third (and final?) Chris Snow novel, Ride the Storm.  I was fine until I decided to write my Top Ten Dean Koontz Novels post.  Fear Nothing came in at #2, so how could I have it as my second favorite and not include a review?  (I hadn’t written a review because I read it before I started the blog.)  Knowing I needed to write the review, I didn’t want to go completely off memory, so I reread Fear Nothing.

This time, I had to find out what happened next, so I took Seize the Night with me on vacation.  Now, after finishing Seize the Night, I’m stuck in the same boat as many other Koontz fans who have already waited 10 years for Ride the Storm. 

Fear Nothing was published in 1998 with Seize the Night following in 1999.  The publish date for Ride the Storm?  2000?  No.  2003?  Guess again.  2005?  Nice try.  2007?  Nope.  2010?  Not looking good.  The question now isn’t when will Koontz complete the Moonlight Bay trilogy, but will he?

 We should all stage a boycott of Koontz until he gives us another Chris Snow book — and we don’t want a throw away novel that doesn’t really continue the story like he did with Odd Thomas (Forever Odd). 

 I know, it would never work.  I’m already excited about Koontz’ new ghost story, “What the Night Knows”.  I’m sure I’ll be checking that out sometime soon, but for now, see below for the rating of Seize the Night.

 Rating 9.5 out of 10