751 pages
English language
Published July 9, 2000 by Bantam Books.
On the heels of his critically acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Fear Nothing and Seize the Night, "America's most popular suspense novelist" will stun readers with a deeply sinister and endlessly surprising tale of a rare and terrifying phobia: autophobia - fear of oneself.Martie Rhodes is a young wife (happily married to Dustin for three years), a video game designer, and a compassionate woman who takes her agoraphobic friend Carol to therapy sessions. Carol is so afraid of leaving her apartment that the trips are grim ordeals for both women - but bonding experiences as well. Then one morning Martie experiences a sudden fear of her own, a brief but disquieting terror of...her shadow. The episode it over quickly. It leaves her shaken but amused. Then, as she is about to check her makeup, she realizes she is terrified to look in the mirror and confront her own face.As the …
On the heels of his critically acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Fear Nothing and Seize the Night, "America's most popular suspense novelist" will stun readers with a deeply sinister and endlessly surprising tale of a rare and terrifying phobia: autophobia - fear of oneself.Martie Rhodes is a young wife (happily married to Dustin for three years), a video game designer, and a compassionate woman who takes her agoraphobic friend Carol to therapy sessions. Carol is so afraid of leaving her apartment that the trips are grim ordeals for both women - but bonding experiences as well. Then one morning Martie experiences a sudden fear of her own, a brief but disquieting terror of...her shadow. The episode it over quickly. It leaves her shaken but amused. Then, as she is about to check her makeup, she realizes she is terrified to look in the mirror and confront her own face.As the episodes of this traumatic condition - autophobia - build, the lives of Martie and her husband change drastically. Frantic to discover the trigger for her descent into hell, Dustin begins to look into the background of a respected therapist. As he comes closer to the truth about this strange and troubled "healer," Dustin finds himself afflicted with a condition even more bizarre and terrifying than Martie's.No fan of psychological suspense will want to miss this extraordinary novel of the human mind's capacity to torment - and destroy. Dean Koontz once more reveals why he has, as People put it, the "power to scare the daylights out of us."From the Trade Paperback edition.
Another good read from Koontz. My only issue with him so far, aside from the occasional excess of metaphors, is that his antagonists are always completely evil, which can make them one-dimensional.
I can't say much about this book because I didn't finish it. I managed to make it to chapter 50, about half-way through the book, but stopped there and returned it to the library.
The story started well. It held my interest and I read several chapters the first night. The plot began to slow down, however, enough so that I had trouble focusing on it. I think that the plot itself is probably a good one and could be a gripping story. The author just took too long to tell it.
This is the first Koontz book that I've read (or started reading), so maybe this is just his style.
