Top 10 best novels by Dean Koontz

Dean R. Koontz is an extremely hardworking American writer. He published dozens of novels, short stories, graphic novels and how-to books. That's why it's worth to know where to start with books written by Koontz to come to like him like I do :)

I have great respect for Koontz and I'm full of admiration for his work. Of course, I did not read everything he wrote. Maybe when I will be retired, I manage to do that :). But I have read his novels with pleasure for years.

I think Koontz as a writer is quite uneven. He writes either a bad novel or a great one. So many of my friends says that they don't like Koontz at all. During the conversation, it turn out that they simply read one of his weak novels, and that's why they have such opinion about him. So I decided to create a list of my favorite novels, to help all of you read Koontz's books and have fun. The choice was really difficult, because he wrote so many good novels, that it's hard to pick only ten. But after much thought, I have finished the list.

This is my list of top ten great novels by Dean Koontz:
1. Lightning (see description)

2. Watchers (see description)

3. Whispers (see description)

4. The Voice of the Night (see description)

5. Hideaway (see description)

6. The Face (see description)

7. Velocity (see description)

8. The Vision (see description)

9. Cold Fire (see description)

10. The Bad Place (see description)

From the list you can see that I like older novels by Koontz from ones published recently. I think it is so, because they have more action, better plots and less journalism. Characters are also more interesting (e.g. I didn't like Ryan Perry, the main character in novel Your Heart Belongs to Me, the book itself is also not very good in my opinion).

So if you don't read Koontz and you're wondering where to start, take into consideration the titles listed above. Certainly you won't be disappointed!

Shutter Island – should you read a novel or watch a movie first?

Recently a friend of mine asked me what to do first - read a book by Dennis Lehane or watch the movie by Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role? Since I know both, I could honesty advise him.

I answered - read the novel and then watch the movie. Why? First of all, because you won't be limited in any way. You will be able to create in your own imagination everything what Lehane portrayed in his writing. Otherwise the film will eclipse the novel, because it's simply great, with superb creations of actors Leonardo DiCaprio (as Teddy Daniels), Mark Ruffalo (as Chuck Aule) and Ben Kingsley (as Dr. Cawley).

Of course, adaptation is not 100% perfect. But if anyone of you watched the movie first, don't be discouraged. You won't be surprised by unexpected changes in plot, but you will certainly appreciate the language, scenes which are missing in the film, and generally - the climate of the novel.

In my opinion this is one of those movies and books to remember and reminisce for many years. Definitely you will give thought about the story and ending.

If someone doesn't know anything about Shutter Island, I publish some brief information below:

Shutter Island is a novel by Dennis Lehane, published in April 2003. A film adaptation was released in February 2010. Laeta Kalogridis wrote a screenplay of the movie and it was directed by Martin Scorsese, who in my opinion is one of the best directors alive today.

Description from Amazon.com: "The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new ­partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple-murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems".

In a nutshell – it's a great novel and a good psychological thriller :).

Best legal thriller ever

I recently wrote about the top ten legal thrillers by John Grisham. I think he is the king of this genre, but in my personal ranking best title in this category does not belong to any of Grisham's novels, but to Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow.

Scott Turow is a writer, a practicing attorney and author of eight novels and two nonfictional books. Presumed Innocent, published in 1987, was his first fiction book. It tells the story of Rozat "Rusty" Sabich - chief deputy prosecutor of Kindle County. One day he must deal with the brutal murder of Carolyn Polhemus - prosecuting attorney, who was once his mistress. His boss, Raymond Horgan, who is going for re-election, wants the case to be closed quickly since he believes that it will score on it  political capital. So Sabich starts to work on finding Polhemus' killer, but with poor results. There is no evidence nor idea who could do it.

During this time, Horgan discovers the truth about Sabich's relationship with Carolyn, and he pulls him from the case. From that moment evidence begin to turn up that Sabich may have killed Polhemus. Sabich is accused and suddenly the hunter becomes the hunted. Even his wife, who knew about the affair, begins to suspect his guilt.

Sabich has to battle to prove his innocence. He hires lawyer Alejandro "Sandy" Stern to defend him. In this way prosecutor participates in the process from the "other side".

It is interesting to see how a prosecutor thinks and how a defender acts, the methods they use and what is their attitude to work. While reading you can clearly see that Turow has a law degree and wast experience in this profession (he prosecuted several high-profile corruption cases as the Wikipedia states). He created world full of evocative descriptions, great dialogues (especially in the courtroom) and realistic characters.

I remember that while reading Presumed Innocent every moment I was impressed by things that I've learned, turn-based literary workshop, as well as the development of history, because he invented it very credible, it was logically drawn, probable and ends with a surprising finale.

I won't write a detailed review of this book, I would just like to encourage everyone to - if you haven't done it already – to read this book. Certainly you won't regret it! You can buy Presumed Innocent on Amazon.

PS. The novel was adapted for the screen with the same title in 1990 directed by Alan J. Pakula with Harrison Ford in the main role. See description and reviews.

Top 10 best books by John Grisham

When I talk with someone about legal thrillers the first name that always comes up in the discussion is John Grisham. And no wonder. He is one of the most popular writers in the world!

What I like in Grisham's career is his determination  - he didn't get discouraged by the rejection of his first novel - A Time to Kill. It was rejected almost 30 times (!) before Wynwood Press decided to take the risk and publish a novel of an unknown author.

This is another example of a writer, who believed in his work and did not give up easily. As you can see, his hard work and determination paid off :). Up till now he has published over 25 titles! If someone does not know Grisham's biography, you can read it e.g. on Wikipedia.

Earlier I wrote about the ten best novels written by Deaver, this time here is my list of ten favourite and best novels by John Grisham.

One note: I didn't read all Grisham's book. When I'll have more free time - you know this explanation, don't you? :) - I'll definitely read The Street Lawyer, The Innocent Man, The Confession or The Chamber.

I have read about fifteen of his books and I choose ten novels, which I think anyone who wants to know John Grisham's talent should read. You can do it on the bus, train, airplane, in bed, lying on the beach or sitting in the comfortable chair :).

Here is my top ten:
1. The Firm (see description)
2. The Runaway Jury (see description)
3. A Time to Kill (see description)
4. The Pelican Brief (see description)
5. The King of Torts (see description)
6. The Rainmaker (see description)
7. The Client (see description)
8. The Testament (see description)
9. The Brethren (see description)
10. The Partner (see description)

The latest Grisham's book was publish in October - The Litigators (see description). If you know someone who loves Grisham - this is a good title for a Christmas gift! You can find other suggestions for presents in my previous post.

What are your favorite books by Grisham?