Dean Koontz: A Writer's Biography
Fans of writer Dean Koontz will welcome this full-length biography. Koontz, not known for giving extensive interviews, cooperated in the writing of the book, although it is not an authorized biography. Ramsland, who has previously written studies of Anne Rice (Prisms of the Night, Plume, 1994), presents Koontz's troubled childhood with an alcoholic father and ailing mother, follows him through his years as a teacher, and relates his struggling beginnings, and eventual success, as a writer. In addition to the facts of his life, Ramsland analyzes his fiction extensively, drawing parallels between his life and his fiction. Her central idea is that Koontz's traumas as a child are exorcised, to some extent, in his novels. Some readers may find the extensive summarizing tiresome and would prefer to know more of what makes Koontz tick. Yet libraries should expect heavy demand from diehard Koontz fans.?Ronald Ray Ratliff, Chapman H.S. Lib., Kan.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.