I've had HIDEAWAY sitting around the house for years. It's been on my stack of "eventual reads" and decided to get it out of the way (as in reading so it could be put). I haven't read anything by Mr. Koontz in ages...and ages. I got exactly half way through and realized that, although I had no difficulty turning pages, his style of writing was completely lacking in soul. Has his writing always been stilted? And he is WAY TOO wordy! Now don't get me wrong, Mr. K must be doing something right. His efforts have afforded him what is, undoubtedly, an ultra comfortable living and lifestyle. At one time, early in my reading career, I rather enjoyed him. But I can't recommend this one.

I have, at times, been pretty critical of Dean Koontz. Many of his novels have been heavy handed and preachy ("about as subtle as a hand grenade" I've said) and he has a tendency to `overwrite' (I've referred to the author as "Dean `He Never Met an Adverb He Didn't Like' Koontz"). I often find his killers pretentious (tediously so) and his reverence for man's best friend a little tiresome.

For me, Koontz has always been hit or miss. For every Odd Thomas (a good one) Koontz delivers The Taking (one of the worst novels ever written). Therefore, it is with some trepidation that I embark on any Koontz novel (I actually took The Darkest Evening of the Year out of the library, but have since decided not to read it - based in large part on reviews posted on Amazon, and the fact that nobility of dogs is clearly central to the plot).

But I quite enjoyed Hideaway. Yes, there are hints of the same peachiness that will overshadow many of Koontz's later novels, and he still uses more adverbs and adjectives than are warranted, but Koontz builds suspense well and I found some of the characters, particularly 10 year old Regina, to be quite engaging. (And this surprised me. A precocious child is not something that I would normally think of as a `good thing' in a novel, but Koontz makes this character very likable, quite charming, and remarkably funny).

The killer (sigh) is as pretentious as always. I'm not a hardcore Dean Koontz fan, but I've read enough of his novels to know that this killer could be switched with the killer from one of his other novels, and no one would notice the difference.

Hideaway starts off strong, sets up an intriguing premise, builds suspense effectively and provides some engaging characters. All in all, a very entertaining read. It bears similarities to other Koontz novels but it's a solid thriller, worth reading.

I have, at times, been pretty critical of Dean Koontz in the past. Many of his novels have been heavy handed and preachy ("about as subtle as a hand grenade" I've said) and he has a tendency to `overwrite' (I've referred to the author in the past as "Dean `Never Met an Adverb He Didn't Like' Koontz'). I often find his killers pretentious (tediously so) and his reverence for man's best friend a little tiresome.

For me, Koontz has always been hit or miss. For every Odd Thomas (a good one) Koontz delivers The Taking (one of the worst novels ever written). Therefore, it is with some trepidation that I embark on any Koontz novel (I actually took The Darkest Evening of the Year out of the library, but have since decided not to read it - based in large part to reviews posted on Amazon, and the fact that noble nature of dogs is clearly central to the plot).

I picked up Hideaway, and I quite enjoyed it. Yes, there are glimmers of the peachiness that will overshadow many of Koontz's later novels, and he still uses more adverbs and adjectives than are warranted, but Koontz builds suspense well and I found some of the characters, particularly 10 year old Regina, to be quite engaging. (And this surprised me. A precocious child is not something that I would normally think of as a `good thing', but Koontz makes this character very likable, very charming, and remarkably funny).

The killer (sigh) is as pretentious as always. I'm not a hardcore Dean Koontz fan, but I've read enough of his novels to feel like this killer could be switched with the killer from one of the authors other novels, and no one would notice the difference.

Hideaway is a solid thriller. It starts off strong, sets up an intriguing premise, builds suspense effectively and provides some engaging characters. All in all, a very entertaining read.

My wife loves reading Dean Koontz. She read Hideaway aready but it has been a while. So she asked for the book again and is loving it. She has read just about everything he has written at least once.

This Book kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved every minute of it.
If you like this, you may like Keith Ablow's Psychopath.

I've read quite a few of Dean Koontz's books, and they have all been good, but this one takes it to another level.

This is not the kind of book that I cannot put down. No, it is the kind of book I have to step away from, the kind of book that gives me nightmares.

The suspense comes in waves, and builds with each wave, until I think I am going to have to skip to the end, just to make sure there is the usual Koontz "OK ending." I say Ok because his endings are usually left open, with this particular challenge over and done, but with possibly overwhelming challenges ahead. I won't spoil the ending of this book, but I'm glad I forced myself to follow the story, rather than skipping over the rought stuff.

I've not read all of Koontz, but I have read all of the Cristopher Snow books, and all of the Odd Thomas ones. This one has a character that is a virtual opposite of our good friends Mr. Snow and Thomas, and the comparison makes him all the more chilling.

There were times when I felt my head was going to explode from the tension. There were times when I left the book after feeling my heart pound, and feeling weak from it. I am happy that I have read it.

I consider this a must-read for the Koontz fan.

Koontz grabbed my attention and scared me at first, the characters are very real and kept my attention. This one keeps it place in my bookcase and not the consignment store!

Koontz grabbed my attention and scared me at first, the characters are very real and kept my attention. This one keeps it place in my bookcase and not the consignment store!

I really enjoyed this book. It's an easy read as are most of Koontz's novels are and is exciting throughout. Definately, one of his best!

I enjoyed this book,and how the author presented the personality of the little girl. Mr Koontz was able to mix drama, with both conflict, and a smiggen of comedy.

I have to say that this was the third Dean Koontz book I ever read. I remember vividly the excitement with which I devoured Shadowfires and Dragon Tears. Two very incredible books. Having gotten to Hideaway, I was a bit disappointed with it at first. It began very frightfully but then slowed for quite sometime. I felt lost here and there. It didn't live up to the standard of suspense set in the previous two books I'd read by this man.



However, by the time I reached the end, I must say I was RICHLY rewarded. The story itself is believable, even at its most fanciful moment. You are drawn into this world and it is only later, when the dust settles in your own mind, that you start to question the absurdity of some of the things you read.... THAT's good fantasy!



I wouldn't recommend reading this book after such a powerful book as Dragontears or Watchers. It will slightly pale in comparison. But it's a great book and one I think should be read by any diehard Koontz fan!

I have to say that this was the third Dean Koontz book I ever read. I remember vividly the excitement with which I devoured Shadowfires and Dragon Tears. Two very incredible books. Having gotten to Hideaway, I was a bit disappointed with it at first. It began very frightfully but then slowed for quite sometime. I felt lost here and there. It didn't live up to the standard of suspense set in the previous two books I'd read by this man.

However, by the time I reached the end, I must say I was RICHLY rewarded. The story itself is believable, even at its most fanciful moment. You are drawn into this world and it is only later, when the dust settles in your own mind, that you start to question the absurdity of some of the things you read.... THAT's good fantasy!

I wouldn't recommend reading this book after such a powerful book as Dragontears or Watchers. It will slightly pale in comparison. But it's a great book and one I think should be read by any diehard Koontz fan!

I first picked up Hideaway back in 1995, but being busy with school didn't have a chance to finish it before I had to take it back to the library. Now, more than ten years later I finally had the chance to pick it back up and finish it. Needless to say it was well worth my time.
As Hatch and Lindsey Harrison are on their way back from a weekend up at the lake where they tried and failed to recapture the magic that drew them together in the first place and was seemingly lost following the death of their only child to cancer, their car is knocked off the road and into a rushing river. Left alone with her seemingly dead husband, Lindsey struggles to fight her way to solid ground, but is rescued by a team of paramedics and born by helicopter to a hospital, where a brilliant cardiovascular surgeon manages to bring Hatch back to life. This brush with death has the effect that a weekend up at the lake didn't manage to achieve. After returning home, Hatch and Lindsey dcide to try again to start a family. Since Lindsey is incapable of bearing anymore children, they adopt a disabled girl named Regina, a delighful inncent who helps bring meaning and purpose back to their lives.
But things take a distubring turn as Hatch begins to experience surges of anger and hatred unlike hi usual placid manner. The targets, distrubingly enough, include the very drivr who forced the Harrisons off the road and is later found murdered. As these disturbing visions and sbsequent deaths continue, Hatch begins to question his own inocence and even his sanity. Becoming convincd that he somehow brought the killer back with him from the other side, Hatch only bcomes more determined to right his perceived wrong when Regina is sntched from under their very noses. But the true identity of the Harrisons' bizarre adversary is far more disturbing than a simple molevolent spirit brought back from the underworld, and its connection to the man who saved Hatch's life makes it even more so. A gripping tale of suspense, with a shocking twist worthy of Koontz.

This is one of the few books where I can honestly say that the movie was better... much better. I was not impressed with Koontz's bad guy who was not very well developed at all. The world is not so black and white, which makes things far more interesting.

Dean Koontz is probably my favorite writer, and I have read most of his fifty or so novels. HIDEAWAY is a good Koontz novel, but I would say it ranks probably in the middle of his body of work.

The first 100 pages of this book are quite spectacular, with one of the major characters suffering a near death experience. Koontz' description of this experience, and the doctor's attempts to save him, are first-rate.

Unfortunately, the last 300 pages of this novel are kind of formulaic, if you've read Koontz' other novels. This novel eventually turns into another story about a depraved young serial killer stalking a young family. We get a lot of scenes from the psycho killer's point of view. HIDEAWAY then ends with a long chase scene and a big confrontation at the end between the heroes and the killer. I felt like I read variations of this story before, in novels like WHISPERS, SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT, MR. MURDER, DRAGON TEARS, THE FACE, and INTENSITY.

I also felt the characterization in this novel was a bit rushed. I wish that Koontz had spend more time developing the character of Regina, a young disabled ten-year old who plays a key role in HIDEAWAY. She is an attractive character, and I wish her role in this book was larger than it ultimately was.

Overall, this book is well done, but I would recommend several other Koontz books over this one, such as WATCHERS, ODD THOMAS, PHANTOMS, INTENSITY, FEAR NOTHING, COLD FIRE and the FRANKENSTEIN series.

what a great story! koontz has done it again with his depiction of the supernatural, twisted side of his characters, resulting in a suspenseful page turner. very interesting story line with a powerful ending. the quick changes between scenes toward the end of the book makes it a very difficult one to put down!

Dean Koontz's novels lead us to explore the truth of the world, the conflicts between evil and innocent, and the meaning of life. He showed his well-understanding between the innocent spirit and the sociopathic evil, the power of love, and the dark side of human beings. Hatch Harrison died in an accident of drowning. However, Dr. Jonas Nyebern resuscitated him after eighty minutes of being dead. This brought him and his wife, Lindsey, a second chance at life after their only son died of cancer. However, good thing never last long enough. Hatch Harrison brought back an Unknown from the hell who has a physical connection links to Hatch. The nightmares and the scenes of killing appeared more and more frequently in Hatch's mind even when he is not sleeping. The horrible events bring them to face the fact that there is a murder out there killing whoever Hatch sees or hates. Hatch can sense the Unknown is more than a murder, more dangerous and more likely to be an unkillable thing. He knew the Unknown followed him from the hell back to life and it will eventually come to him. He has to be prepared for his coming. He and Lindsey has to fight not only for their own survival but also for their Regina, the disable child they adopted who gave them the meaning and purpose of life after the resuscitation of Hatch. He has to keep the promise he made to give Regina a new life to love and to have a family again. With this desperation, Hatch and Lindsey followed the physical connection between the Unknown and Hatch and eventually leads them to an abandoned amusement park, where the Unknown put his all his collections as the ticket back to Hell. With Dean Koontz's skill, you will find yourself reading a book as watching a movie. Everything show up in front of you like you are a narrator. Every word gives the reader an deeper and more thrilling feeling.

1. Hatch is driving.
2. Watch out Hatch!
3. Hatch dies.
4. Hatch comes back to life, and drags an evil and violent entity back from the land of the dead.

=paragraph missing=

199. And they all live happily ever after.

I have just recently started reading Koontz novels. I am hooked! I am not one to write long reviews, so just let me say this is a must read. You are hooked from the first page and it is a thrill ride all the way. I loved the ending. If you are a fan of suspense and horror don't miss this one! Dean Koontz at his best. Enjoy!

The beginning hooks you. After the first part, it gets a bit dull, but the rest of the way is very entertaining. Get through the dull parts & read it al the way through!

I am not quite through reading this book, but I can tell you that the characters--Hatch, Lindsey, Regina, and the Kid are fully developed and have intriguing personalities. Evil runs rampant, and graphic murders are everywhere. I am finding that it is typical Koontz fare and I can't wait to finish it.

Hatch has just survived a car wreck. Well, actually, technically he DIDN'T survive it--Hatch was clinically dead for 80 minutes. When he comes back, there is SOMETHING with him, a presence in his head...a mysterious, murderous character who calls himself Vassago, and yearns for nothing more than death and destruction...

But Hatch is determined to continue his life. He and his wife adopt a child. They live happily. But Vassago is closing in. He, too, is aware of the connection with Hatch, and he would relish the opportunity to ruin Hatch's life, and kill everyone he loves...

"Hideaway" is one of Koontz's all-time best...and also, as he points out in the new afterword, the first to receive hate-mail. Still, don't let a few letters get you down; "Hideaway" moves along at breakneck speeds, like most of Koontz's books, and features characters that are so real, you are genuinely afraid for--or of--them. This is one of the best books by one of the best authors out there, and shouldn't be passed up by suspense fans.

Hideaway is an interesting book to say the least. It has moments of greatness and moments that are not all that great. In most of Dean's books I fall right into the story and the lives of the characters. This just did not happen here. Though the story was good and the characters as well, there just seemed to be something missing. For one I think part of the problem was that there was not enough back story. That might explain why it was so hard to get into the characters. I will say this, even though the bulk of the book was just average, the ending was great. If the rest of the book had been that good I would have given 4 stars.

After being a Stephen King fan for years and loving all that I had read, I decided to check out Dean Koontz, and Hideaway was my first. At first I was dissapointed, trying to get used to this new style of writing. It took me awhile to get into it, but when I did it hit HARD.

Hatch and his wife are traveling during a snow storm and they end up in a terrible car accident, rolling the car down the side of a cliffand into a freezing river. Hatch dies and after being worked on in the emergency room, is brought back to life after being dead for a record shattering amount of time. After his accident, the couple begin to learn to love life and are having a great time, but they miss their son who died of cancer years ago and decide to adopt a child-a crippled, spunky girl named Regina. She's lived a hard life of rejection and tries to turn them off by acting like a little brat, but she soon puts down her defenses and accepts their love and shows the sweet girl that she really is.

But it seems that Hatch's time in the land of the dead has done something to his mind. He's now seeing visions of murder and mayhem that terrify him and make him fear for his sanity. And now a vicious young killer is aware of Hatch's presence and is determined to track him down and kill him and his family.

The hellish setting at the amusement park was truly captivating, as was the killer's gruesome memory of pushing his friend off of an indoor roller coaster at a young age. It really sends shivers up your spine. The entire book was captivating as is the killer. He's young, handsome, and eerily polite, but he's a crazed demon man.

All in all, it's definetely one of my favorite books ever, an excellent introduction to Koontz, and I do look forward to reading it again. Intensity was my favorite, though.

If you’re a serial killer lover, a thriller chaser, a supernatural addict, or just another Koontz fan, Hideway is definitely worth your time. The characters are well written, the suspense is tight, the pacing swift, the ending brutal, and the middle never lags one bit. As always, Koontz injects moral lessons in his work, and they're hard to miss, but never preached to you. This novel is not as dark as some of Koontzs other stuff, but the atmosphere fits the plot. Another Koontz for the shelf!

This book does display Koontz at his best.

While the topic isn't exactly likely to happen, somehow Koontz pulls you in & makes you believe it CAN happen. When you're near death & almost die, what does that do to you? Can it change you, change who you are- does it open a door to another world? While the thought of dying is scary enough, imagine if you survived, but you were changed. And not for the better. What would you do?

This book is full of suspense, mystery, terror, horror, astonishment & heart-pounding moments! Go get it & read!

Hideaway is one of those books which start out great, with a big bang, and goes downhill from there. The start of the book starts with Lindsey and Hatch, the main characters, in a major auto accident that sends their car toppling down an embankment and into a river. Koontz illustrates the excruciating details of this accident beautifully. He really puts the reader rigth into the car with his characters.

After that, however, the book slowly slides downhill. It begins when Hatch starts experiencing 'visions' of horrible things that he soon realizes aren't nightmares, but actual events. Hatch has apparently carried back the ability to psychicly link-up with a serial killer, who also happens to be possesed by an evil spirit. It also just happens that the serial killer was also brought back from the dead by the same doctor who brings Hatch back from the dead. It also happens that this serial killer was that doctor's son. It also happens that this serial killer wants Hatch's wife Lindsey and their newly adopted daughter for his 'collection' of bodies that he is dedicating to Satan in an attempt to earn his way back into hell. Have all of the 'it also happens' gotten to be as ridiculous to you as they did to me?

A word about the characters in this book. Usually, Dean Koontz comes up with believable characters that I like and can root for (or against). In this case, I think he really screwed up. I began to hate the main characters in this book, Hatch and Lindsey, as soon as they decided to go ahead with their adoption even though they knew they were likely putting the child in the way of a serial killer. What kind of people are they? Who wants to root for someone like that? After that point in this book I kept hoping that the two main characters would 'get it' while the child was somehow spared.

This is not a great Dean Koontz. I seriously hope that people do not pick this up as their first DK book. I can't imagine that they would read another after that.