Product Description

To stop a brutal killer, the NYPD enlists the help of clairvoyant Graham Harris. He sees the murders in his mind--sometimes at the moment they are happening. Then he sees the most terrifying vision of all--his own murder...

"Real suspense...tension upon tension."-- New York Times

"Koontz puts his readers through the emotional wringer!"-- Associated Press

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4778245 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: School & Library Binding

Amazon.com Review
You and your friend Sarah are being chased by a homicidal maniac through an office building in the middle of the night. You take refuge in an empty office like frightened cockroaches, but the doors are forced open, revealing your antenna-quivering vulnerability. In desperation, you scramble up and down elevator shafts with one lame leg dangling helplessly behind, and try other life-threatening feats that seem to be more appealing than getting an ice-pick through your skull.

The most horrifying thing about this scenario: the person chasing you is not a disgruntled co-worker, and it's not your boss! It's a notoriously murderous rapist, and he's just about to get you or Sarah every turn of the way. And then you remember the terror of falling while climbing Mount Everest and you think you've figured out how to escape... but have you? You still haven't figured out who will be crushed by the monster snow-plow!

I've never read many thrillers before--much less Koontz--but I was trapped with this book in a strange hotel in a strange city, and was then kept awake the rest of the night wondering what those noises were outside my door. Koontz has, apparently, done it again. And I fear I may now be hooked on thrillers.

Review
Real suspense... tension upon tension! -- The New York Times

About the Author
Dean Koontz was born into a very poor family and learned early on to escape into fiction. He lives in southern California with his wife, Gerda and a vivid imagination.

Customer Reviews

mature but well-written
I am thirteen years old, and I read Face of Fear by Dean Koontz this year. I found it, in the end, to be a very suspensful and intiguing book. I must warn though, that this piece of literature is not for the faint-stomached, or the easily offened. It involves discusions and descriptions of very pornographic scenes, and has parts involving the mind of a phychopath and descriptions of murder. However, to get past these details to the story, this book is a quickly read, don't-want-to-put-it-down thriller. It may get a tad boring a chapter or two near the end (descriptions of rock-climbing techniques and equipment), but it makes up for these flaws in a wonderfully told, fast-paced tale of a hero, a villan, and a girl. The story is about a phychic who sees murders take place in his mind, discovers he is being stalked by the killer acting on these murders, and him getting trapped in a skyscraper which he and his girlfriend are forced to rappel down the side of. However, he is paralysed with fear from a climbing accident on Everest years ago... I rate this book with 4/5 stars, because of the minor flaws mentioned earlier. If you are a fan of any other Dean Koontz novels or like modern horror movies like Scream and H20: Halloween, read this book. I hope you enjoy it.

Another plot driven, suspense filled thriller from Koontz.
Having just finished reading "The Vision" when I picked up this novel, I was shocked to find that the main character once again has psychic powers which cause them to witness (experience) the murders of a serial killer as they occur. Not only that, the main characters in each story have also suffered a great trauma at some point in their life and the events that unfold within the stories force them to face the fears that have haunted them ever since. It's as though while writing the first book, he came up with what he thought was a better idea and started on it straight afterwards. "The Face of Fear" thankfully turned out to be quite a different book to "The Vision" though, being a far more action orientated, movie-like experience.

In "The Face of Fear", Graham Harris witnesses the murders of "The Butcher", as he rapes and slaughters women around New York City, through psychic visions. After it becomes apparent that Harris is able to give police information on the murders, "The Butcher" decides to go after him and his girlfriend Connie. What we end up with is a couple of hundred page climax where Graham and Connie are hunted from floor to floor of an office building, with occasional glimpses into the mind (or is that minds) of a murderer.

I enjoyed this book as much as any of the other Koontz books that I've read so far. His books are very plot driven and straight to the point. He never gets bogged down with long dialogues or character studies and instead chooses to focus on the action and the events that drive the plot forward. This can be seen as a good or a bad thing in my opinion. They're like Hollywood blockbusters where you leave your brain at the door. There are plot holes and bad decisions, yet you hardly have time to think about them as you turn the page to find out what happens next. Having read only 4 of his novels so far, I'm starting to tire of his formula though and hope that there are some added variations to my next choices.

Overall, "The Face of Fear" is a good, tense read and recommended for thriller / action fans. The ending is totally and terribly contrived and you'll know who the killer is early on, but that doesn't prohibit this book from successfully keeping you gripped and taking you on a suspense-filled ride.

Totally great work once again
Koontz's masterful spinning of two main characters leads to a rich and rewarding ending. This is definitely an action/mystery novel and it is a fairly short book by the Koontz standards.

Graham's palpable fear is key to the novel's rewarding ending.
In accurately describing not only Graham's fear but the madness of the killer's deep desire, we are forced to arrive at a variety of feelings which will strike readers with differing opinions.

The relationship between Graham and his girlfriend was also superb. Despite not being a well known novel, this is one worth picking up and reading a few times.