Seize the Night

by Dean Koontz

1999

Status

Available

Publication

Bantam (1999), 480 pages

Description

Fiction. Horror. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:There are no rules in the dark, no place to feel safe, no escape from the shadows. But to save the day, you must...Seize the Night. At no time does Moonlight Bay look more beautiful than at night. Yet it is precisely then that the secluded little town reveals its menace. Now children are disappearing. From their homes. From the streets. And there's nothing their families can do about it. Because in Moonlight Bay, the police work their hardest to conceal crimes and silence victims. No matter what happens in the night, their job is to ensure that nothing disturbs the peace and quiet of Moonlight Bay.... Christopher Snow isn't afraid of the dark. Forced to live in the shadows because of a rare genetic disorder, he knows the night world better than anyone. He believes the lost children are still alive and that their disappearance is connected to the town's most carefully kept, most ominous secret�??a secret only he can uncover, a secret that will force him to confront an adversary at one with the most dangerous darkness of all. The darkness inside the human heart. From the Paperback edition.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member melydia

This is the second Chris Snow book, after Fear Nothing, and the character has finally found his own voice. One of my complaints in the previous novel was Chris's lack of a personality: he acted differently depending on who he was talking to. This time, however, he's far more consistent, as are the

other characters. Unfortunately, the plot surrounding him is far weaker. Koontz can't decide what to use as the Big Bad, so he throws in a little bit of everything: sociopathic serial killer, genetic engineering, time travel, evil government/military types, etc. It gets a little silly after a while. Chris's XP (a genetic disorder which means he can't handle UV light) is almost forgotten for most of the story, which is a little strange considering how many times there are talks about fluorescent lights blinking on and, more importantly, the infrared goggles. Perhaps Koontz doesn't know this, but IR goggles require a digital screen, meaning that Chris basically put a small computer monitor against his eyeballs which are supposedly so sensitive he can't sit too close to a television. But oh well, that's certainly the least of the inconsistencies in these books. Chris Snow is a great character, as are his buddies (Sasha, Bobby, Roosevelt, Doogie, Orson); I just wish they'd been given a better plot to play in.

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LibraryThing member lewispike

This is a hard review to write. I started reading this book, then had a week of migraines which meant at best I read it in short bursts if at all. This is NOT a book to read that way, but once I'd recovered from the migraines and could read for longer periods I found I really enjoyed it.

It is,

purely in terms of the story, much longer than it needs to be. In fact it is fair to say that, as stories go, almost nothing happens. It is spread over two nights and there is a limit to what can happen in such a period of time.

The reason you will probably want to be able to read in longer bursts? There are lots of diversions, literary curlicues and flourishes and digressions. At one point they are walking through a deep underground tunnel and feeling rather ill-at-ease. There is a page long digression about Dante's Inferno - the first sentence would normally be enough, but in this book the character rambles about which circle they might be on, how the lake of Burning Blood is probably not contained within green-painted walls and the like. It makes the central character far more interesting than your typical horror or sci-fi story character, and if you are reading in big chunks the diversions and the advancement of the character work well together.

I will probably look out the other two books when I get the chance. I can say, with certainty, that although this is the middle of a trilogy, it works as a stand alone book perfectly well. I know I've missed stuff in book one, but it's not essential to book two, and the few bits that matter are handled seamlessly. The final couple of paragraphs seem to lay the ground work for book three, but they also round off this book nicely, so no complaints there.

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LibraryThing member krysteria

The second book in the series about Christopher Snow, the 28-year old with XP. This book takes place a month after FEAR NOTHING. In some ways, it’s just as good, in others, it is not.

I think the reason it is not as good as the first one is because with the first one, everything is still a mystery

to you. Chris’ life, how his parents died, etc. By the second one, you at least know HIS background and where he comes from, so that takes away a little of the excitement of reading a new book for the first time and knowing nothing about what is happening.
What makes this book better is that is picks up on what I thought was one of the best things about the first book, Chris’ relationship with his best friend Bobby. The dialogue these two partake in is BRILLIANT! And where Bobby was only in the first book a little bit, he is thru-out this book. Most of the book, in fact, is Chris and Bobby working together and the dialogue is top-notch. There are a few intense scenes I can so easily picture on the big screen, it’s amazing! My favorite 2 scenes being the scene with the birds flying into the building! Pock, Pock, Pock. I can see and hear that so clearly. And the scene when they first encounter the big monkey and they are in the jeep in the tall grass and the monkey screams. Bobby jumps out of the jeep, Chris jumps up in the jeep and they don’t see the monkey. Bobby says it was close and Chris say something like, "Yeah, up my ass!" and they both turn to look UNDER the jeep! Priceless scene! Those are two scenes I would have loved to have written!

The disappointing thing is that they actually solved one of the many riddles of Moonlight Bay. Of course, that still leaves others, but one of the many mysteries from the first book is actually solved here. While others continued.

The book ended with a setup for a third book, and I’ve heard recently it is supposed to be a trilogy and the third one is already underway and should be out soon! Awesome! But I want more than a trilogy!

On a scale of 1 to 10, still a 10!! Still up there with the first book! I still love the character of Christopher Snow!

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LibraryThing member Prop2gether

Absolutely LOVE this series--would like to see more!

LibraryThing member jayne_charles

This was an absolute turkey. I heard it was supposed to be the second of a trilogy - never fancied reading the third (if there ever was one) if this effort was anything to go by. Following on from Fear Nothing (which I thought was quite good) this follows Christopher Snow, XP sufferer and

night-time wanderer, trying to solve the mystery of some missing children, along with his laid-back surfer-dude pal who talks and acts as though his batteries are running down. The story descended into such dreary time-consuming nonsense towards the end that I convinced myself it couldn't get any worse.....except that Koontz then executed perhaps the most dire denouement of all time. He really does blow hot and cold and this was near freezing.

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LibraryThing member MaryWJ

Have listened to this book numerous times, but this is just a great story. So sad he seems to have dropped this series.

LibraryThing member jonwwil

When I read Fear Nothing, the first book in this series, I called it a spiritual sequel to Koontz's Watchers and Midnight. This book continues along those lines, throwing in hints also of Lightning and Hideaway.

While I liked all of those books, including Fear Nothing, this one fell a little flat to

me. For one thing, the offhand and frequently smartass humor that was generally pretty well done in the first book was more widespread in this one, and felt forced a good deal of the time - it showed up often in situations that didn't call for it. And the character of Christopher Snow mentions often how deeply he is affected by the events happening in the book, but he never acts like it until the end. As is fairly common with Koontz, characters and dialogue are pretty flat. And there are some pretty ridiculous plot points.

All that said, this was a fairly entertaining read, and I'm sure I'll probably pick up the third book in the series if Koontz ever gets around to putting it out.

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LibraryThing member presto

Koontz maintains the suspence in this second part of the trilogy which started with Fear Nothing. How long must we wait for the final part?

LibraryThing member Jammies

Sequel to "Fear Nothing," in which Christopher Snow, his girlfriend Sasha Cohen, best friend Bobby Holloway and dog Orson confront the evil past of Christopher's mother and the evil future of Moonlight Bay.

Again, Koontz has created some fascinating characters that are nevertheless people I could

meet, and would enjoy meeting, and put them into a plot full of horror, pain and labyrinthian twists. I re-read this every few years, and it's never lost its savor for me.

*Spoiler* The dog lives.

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LibraryThing member NickHowes

The second in an unfinished trilogy featuring Christopher Snow, Moonlight Bay's best known celebrity because of the disease that forces him to stay inside all day and come out only at night, because exposure to sunlight will mean death by cancer in mere days. A child disappears and Christopher, who

has discovered he can't trust the police, is hot on the trail, a trail that leads him into Fort Wyvern where experiments once took place, and may still be even though the base is supposedly closed. Even as other kids disappear, Christopher closes on the kidnapper who is more than just a kidnapper. Great suspenseful writing by Dean Koontz, terrific characters and a truly evil foe. Recommended.

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LibraryThing member Rockhead515

Almost as good as Fear Nothing, which if a 10 would make this a 9 1/2.
However, I've learned that part 3 has not been written yet.
This is unconscionable, it's been over 20 years!!!
If Koontz or me dies before it's published, I'm not gonna be happy, maybe haunt his remaining family.
Something to think

about Dean.

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