Tattle Tale: 77 Shadow Street by Dean R Koontz

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

77 Shadow Street by Dean R Koontz - The boy is back in town.

77 Shadow Street by Dean R Koontz

Click on the pic to get your copy from Audible

An Audio Book review

77 Shadow Street written by Dean R Koontz narrated by Peter Berkrot

Running time 14 hours, 9 min

Book description via Amazon

Publication Date: January 19, 2012

Heart-stopping thriller from the master of suspense. Bad things are starting to happen at the Pendleton, an eerie building with a tragic past.

The Pendleton stands on the summit of Shadow Hill, a palace built in the late 19th century as a tycoon’s dream home. But its grandeur has been scarred by episodes of madness, suicide and mass murder. Since being converted into luxury apartments in the 70s, however, the Pendleton has been at peace. For its fortunate residents – among them ex-marine Bailey Hawk, songwriter Twyla Trahern and her young son Winny – the Pendleton is a sanctuary, its dark past all but forgotten.

But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, elevators plunge into unknown depths. It seems that whatever drove past occupants to their unspeakable fates is at work again.

As nightmare visions become real, a group of extraordinary individuals hold the key to humanity’s destiny. Welcome to 77 Shadow Street.

Count the pups to see my rating

My review

I am totally flabbergasted by the star rating on this book from other reviewers. Maybe it is because I listened to it on audio, giving the pacing that more punch. Or giving the characters a dimension they do not obtain from the readers imagination, I do not know.

All I know is that I adore this book. It kept me glued to my pc, then my kindle, then I reread it right after I finished the first few segments so that I could cement the characters into my mind. Either way.

The pace is like a manual wind up clock that has not been wound up in decades, at first it does not want to really move forward [note though that the hook right from the start makes the reader oblivious of the fact that the pace in the beginning is so much slower than it is near the end] then it gives some and some more until the pace leaves you panting for breath.

The characters, especially the children is a large part of the charm. What I also loved is that for the most part, all the characters are accomplished, educated and successful. Survival is no longer the object, instead it is replaced with thriving and in this is where the theme of the book plays so masterfully in with the plot. When thriving - the demons standing next to your bed before you go to bed at night has more time to play with the whips of your hair….

I loved this. The narrator added so much to the story. I would love to listen to more books narrated by him. Koontz, a long time childhood favourite of mine, has for some time confused me with his writing style…no longer, I am again his biggest fan after listening to this production.

WaAr