Frankenstein book One: Prodigal Son  2005

I was weary about reading a co-written book. I was afraid that it would be choppy and hard to read -this was not the case. This is a very well written book. I was also nervous about ‘a new spin to a well known tale.’ Again, I was pleasantly surprised. Most have heard one story or another of Frankenstein, but this is a totally different take on the story. First, it is not set over two hundred years ago, but in present day. Second, Frankenstein’s monster (a.k.a. Deucalion) is not the main theme of the story, but one of many in an exciting collage of characters.

The characters are a mixing of regular humans and a ‘New Race’ created by none other than Frankenstein. The New Race is bred to be superior beings, but we see that they have their own problems and challenges with their emotions and evolution. I simultaneously feared and felt sorry for these characters as I read and the story developed. In the character of Deucalion, I saw a bit of the main character from the television show ‘Angel,’ maybe it’s just me. If you have seen the show and read the book you will have to tell me if you see similarities as I have.

Once again, I saw shades of other novels in this tale. I think the biggest being a nod to ‘From the Corner of His Eye’ which I think, will develop more in further novels. My hope of hopes is that this series will conclude a lot faster than the only other Koontz series (the infamous Christopher Snow series). If these stories turn into another ‘Ride the Storm’ I will go crazy. I will warn you that the ending does leave you hanging, but my only real complaint is that I have to wait until summer to read the next installment.

Frankenstein book Two: City of Night  2005

This is the second of three books in the Frankenstein series. The first book was more an intro and backround (although it still had plenty of action). This book had a lot more action and a few twists to the story. I am really enjoying this series, it’s a shame that USA screwed around Koontz on the TV deal, this would have been great to watch. 

One thing that was new in this book, was all of the modern references. I think this is more Ed Gorman (the co-author) than Koontz. In this novel you have Blackberries, internet sites, Desperate Housewives, even someone saying ‘That was hot!’ I’m not used to this in Koontz novels and each time I saw one of these references it caught me off guard. I’m not saying that Koontz writes in the dark ages, but he usually doesn’t include references to modern culture (except that he has finally given cell phones to some of his characters). It doesn’t bother me that these references were in the book –although, I DID roll my eyes at the ‘That was hot’ comment, but it was new. 

We meet up with the same characters from the first novel, and a few new ones. The battle of the New race verses the Old Race has begun. Deucalion meets up with Victor for the first time in this novel. All of the stories from the first novel are continued in this second one, so you won’t be left hanging too long. 

Again, the co-writing of the novel was well done and virtually seamless. I can’t wait for the third book in the series, I think it will be great. Make sure you read this series in order though, they do not do a lot of reminiscing at the beginning, it just delves right in. If you don’t remember the first one well, you may want to give it a quick read before starting this one.

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