Book
Fear nothing : a novel / Dean Koontz.
While investigating the death of his mother who was a scientist, Chris Snow discovers she was engaged in secret experiments on a nearby military base, experiments which went wrong and which produced monsters. The next he knows, the monsters come visiting and they are not friendly.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780345533302 (pbk.)
- Physical Description: 432 p. ; 19 cm.
- Publisher: New York : Bantam Books, 2012, c1998.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Human experimentation in medicine > Fiction. Genetics > Research > Fiction. Photosensitization, Biological > Fiction. Allergy > Fiction. |
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- 1 of 1 copy available at BC Interlibrary Connect.
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- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
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| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anahim Lake Branch | PB KOO (Text) | 33923005094648 | Horror | Volume hold | Available | - |
- BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 1998 March
Dean Koontz delivers a tour-de-force nail-biter of a thriller made all the more effective by its narrow frame of focus - the action takes place mostly throughout one night in the never-ending night-life of Christopher Snow.Chris is the first-person narrator who is restricted to the night and low light because of his rare disease, xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), in which any exposure to ultraviolet rays can kill him with skin cancers. Chris lives by candlelight and must wear protective sunblock even under fluorescent lighting. The son of a professor and a scientist, his life in Moonlight Bay has been quiet and careful.Now 28, Chris Snow accepts "freakdom" and his lifestyle, thanks to friends like his lover Sasha, surfer king Bobby Halloway, and Orson, his faithful Labrador. But on this, the night his father succumbs to cancer, Chris's life spins into yet another strange direction when he accidentally witnesses the theft of his father's body - it is switched with that of a grotesquely mutilated vagrant by hospital attendants. The conspiracy involves the local funeral director and the police chief, both people Chris respected. At home, Chris finds a 9mm pistol he didn't know his father owned, left for him by a mystery caller. Summoned by his old friend and nurse, Angela, who wants to unburden herself ofsome horrifying knowledge, Chris learns about her attack by what "was and wasnot" a monkey, an incident which eventually led to her husband's suicide.Angela begins to tell Chris about his parents, but is brutally murdered before she can finish her story. As Chris takes to the night to continue investigating, he and his dog become the quarry in a cat and mouse game with shifting rules. The pieces of the puzzle come together slowly, each bringing additional pain for Chris as each signals another betrayal, another truth about his parents and, indeed, his own origins.The prolific Koontz (Phantoms, Sole Survivor) writes a convincing SF-flavoredspine-chiller with great economy. There's enough humor in the young man's voiceto smooth over any lumps of language (like Chris and Bobby's over-the-top surfer lingo). There's a cautionary tale about science and responsibility. And there's also a neat philosophical undercurrent as Chris Snow, already unfairly challenged, faces an uncertain future with loyal friends who must learn to "fear nothing" or succumb.You'll read this novel in one sitting - guaranteed. Reviewed by Bill Gagliani. Copyright 1999 BookPage Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1998 February
Koontz (Sole Survivor, LJ 2/15/97) presents a masterly tale of one night in the California coastal town of Moonlight Bay as experienced by Chris Snow. Saddled with a genetic defect that makes direct sunlight toxic to him, Snow is a nocturnal creature whose father has just died. When he discovers that his father's corpse has been stolen, he begins pursuit. Koontz expertly illuminates Snow's nocturnal world and friends, and incrementally, cleverly, the crises erupting in Moonlight Bay take shape. The plot is wonderfully unpredictable, and though the surfer slang wears thin after a while, the narrative remains taut. Although the ending leaves some questions unanswered, this is still good entertainment. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/97.]?Robert C. Moore, DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals, Framingham, Mass. Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1997 November
Bantam brags that it is launching the biggest Koontz campaign ever with this thriller, whose protagonist lives by night (he has a genetic order that makes him highly sensitive to light) until he witnesses a murder. Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1997 November #3
such are the images that Koontz plants throughout his latest novel to stress the bond between his narrator, Christopher Snow, and the night world that Snow must embrace. Snow suffers from xeroderma pigmentosum, a rare skin disorder that hampers cell repair from sun damage. Few who have it survive as long as the 28 years Snow has endured. Two years earlier, his mother died. Now his father has passed away from cancer, leaving him with the enigmatic directive: "Fear nothing." Snow and his dog, Orson, join forces with his surfer pal, Bobby Halloway, to solve the mystery of what happened to Snow's father's corpse, which has vanished, and of why his father's nurse, Angela Ferryman, was murdered after babbling about rhesus monkeys and a clandestine experiment that involved his mother. Snow soon discovers unusual intelligence in the local animals, encounters further riddles from an eccentric "animal communicator" and comes to realize that he can trust only his closest friends as he investigates past activities inside a nearby abandoned military base. As usual, Koontz presents a unique fictional world grounded in convincing detail; even the surf-lingo banter between the main characters plays its part, adding an ironic note that heightens tension. This is only the second book Koontz has written from a first-person point of view, and the ploy works well: readers will be riveted to the narrative as Snow anticipates a genetically engineered Armageddon. Koontz's familiar theme of life's victims defying the odds emerges here as forcefully as it does in Sole Survivor and Intensity, but Snow's physical limitation gives it a more dangerous and intriguing edge. BDD audio. (Jan.) FYI: While not releasing specific figures on the first printing or the promotional budget, Bantam is saying that Fear Nothing will be backed by "the largest Dean Koontz Consumer Marketing Campaign Ever." Copyright 1998 Publishers Weekly Reviews - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 1998 June
YA-Christopher Snow understands the night. He, like the owl, is nocturnal, living on the mysterious darker edge of society. Snow is afflicted with xeroderma pigmentosum, a rare and often-fatal genetic disease that makes ultraviolet rays-even those from lamps and televisions-deadly. His condition makes him a pariah in the isolated small town of Moonlight Bay where the ignorant and insensitive fear what they do not know. As the action begins, Snow's father dies, leaving him with only a handful of offbeat but fiercely loyal friends to turn to for understanding. At the morgue, Snow accidentally witnesses his father's body being replaced with the mutilated corpse of a vagrant. Before he can find out what is behind this scandal, he receives a frantic summons from a friend who is brutally murdered before she can finish explaining a strange story about monkeys and a secret project at the government compound at the edge of town. What begins as a disturbing puzzle quickly becomes a sinister conspiracy as Snow uncovers evidence of uncanny intelligence in many of the local animals and inhumanely vicious tendencies in some of the human residents of the Bay. They are "becoming" he learns, but becoming what? Chilling chase scenes steadily increase the breakneck pace as Snow, assisted by his remarkable dog, is pursued through the night by unseen forces. Despite some clunky and unnecessary surfer slang, fans will go wild for this well-plotted thriller.-Robin Deffendall, Prince William Public Library System, VA Copyright 1998 School Library Journal Reviews - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 1998 June
"Monkeys. The end of the world by monkeys." These words from Koontz's new book describe, to a limited extent, its plot. There are monkeys, certainly, and the world as we know it does come to an end, certainly, but little else is for certain in the town of Moonlight Bay, California. This is the little seacoast town where Christopher Snow lives. The town's name is an apt one, for Chris lives by necessity in a world of moonlight and darkness. He suffers from an extremely rare genetic disorder that makes him dangerously vulnerableto light. He must live out his life when most people are asleep. Nearly the entire plot takes place over the course of one particularly eventful night. During this extraordinary night Chris uncovers a government conspiracy, witnesses several murders, and commits one. He has to run for his life from scary, unseen pursuers and is forced to defend himself; his girlfriend, Sasha; his best friend,Bobby; and his dog, Orson, from a crazed pack of genetically altered Rhesus monkeys. He will watch his father die and will learn that his dead mother was much more than she seemed to be.Chris will discover during his long night's journey into day that there is much to fear in sleepy little Moonlight Bay. People and animals are not always what they seem. Even the night, which has until now served as Chris's shield against thedaylight, will come to be seen as a potentially lethal enemy. Chris must uncover his town's undeniably deadly secret if he is to save his friends, his dog, and his world. This book is highly recommended. Koontz thinks this is his best work to date, and he may just be right. The action is nonstop, and the characters, both good and bad, are entirely believable. So lock all the doors, turn on all the lights, and getready to spend a wild night in Moonlight Bay. Tom Pearson. Copyright 1998 Voya Reviews
