Prodigal Son (Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, Book 1)

by Dean Koontz

2005

Status

Checked out

Publication

Bantam (2005), 512 pages

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the story, you know only half the truth. Get ready for the mystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of� Dean Koontz's Prodigal Son Every city has secrets. But none as terrible as this. His name is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who�s traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O�Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself�and that just may be where this case ends up. For the no-nonsense O�Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more�and less�than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn� t merely a homicidal maniac�but his deranged maker.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member cmwilson101

Light, fun, sometimes scary and always enjoyable take on the old Frankenstein story. Both Dr. Frankenstein and his first creation, Deucalion, have survived centuries of life on earth, and come together again in New Orleans where Dr. Frankenstein has set up residence. A serial killer is stalking New

Orleans, and Deucalion suspects that it may be Dr. Frankenstein's work. Deucalion aids the cops investigating the serial killings, Detectives O'Connor and Maddison. The relationship between O'Connor and Maddison is fun, and Deucalion is a very interesting and sympathetic character -- a very human monster. A good read.

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LibraryThing member Blazingice0608

Good start to the series, really love the concept behind the plot as well as all the different creations and their own individual strengths and weaknesses, unfortunatly the rest of the series went downhill from here imo.

LibraryThing member ct.bergeron

Every city has secret. But none as terrible as this. His name is Decalion, a tattoed man of mysterious origin. A sleight of reality artist who's traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalkes the streets, a killer who's carefully selects his victims for

the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O'Connor is cool, cynical and every bit as tought as she looks, her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself, and that just may be where this case ends up. For the no nonsens O'Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more and less - than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn't merely a homicidal maniac - but his deranged maker.

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LibraryThing member bradsucks

read because my father liked it. it was okay but a lot of the writing bugged me and the characters were extremely shallow. premise was sort of interesting and i got through it.

LibraryThing member pink123

Who knew Frankenstien's monster had a heart. Great series. I loved the characters and the internal termoil. Awaiting the third and final book. A must read for Koontz fans.

LibraryThing member readingrat

This book and City of Night comprise Koontz's musings on the premise of "What would happen if the Frankenstein legend were true?" He brings the man and the monster into present times and lets his imagination run free. I really enjoyed this first volume and am interested to see how well everything

is resolved in volume 2.

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LibraryThing member thoss

Modern version of Frankenstein. A fun tale.

LibraryThing member kellidiane

This is the first book I've read in a very long time. I like the new take on the Franenstein legend. I also like how one of the detectives in this story is named Jonothan Harker. If any of you are familiar with Bram Stokers Dracula, this in the same name as the young lawyer that goes to

Transylvania to visit Count Vlad in his castle.

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LibraryThing member Omrythea

Not Koontz's best work unfortunately. But still, it is easy to sink into the story to read.

LibraryThing member Marlene-NL

One of my favorite Dean Koontz books. I know lots of people prefer his Odd Thomas books but I like the Frankenstein books better.
Can't wait to finally be able to read book 3.

Re-read and finished Aug. 11 2009 because book 3 can arrive here any day now.

first read July 2005 4th

LibraryThing member crazycatlady35

I had stopped reading Dean Koontz a while ago because it seemed like he kept rewriting the same story. A friend gave me Frankenstein, which I just finished and really liked. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

LibraryThing member NKSCF

Deucalion, the newest name of the Monster from Frankenstein, is brought to America when he receives news that a ghost from his past is back and causing problems in New Orleans. Joining up with a young police officer, he sets out to fix his mistakes.

I'm under the impression that Koontz goes all out

when it comes to books that will inevitably have sequels, because they look like he has put a whole lot more work into them than his stand alone novels. Kevin J. Anderson's hand may have helped a bit in that area as well. This book was a lot of fun, and a good read.

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LibraryThing member dbhutch

i used to be a huge dean Koontz fan, and for a good while - about 8 years - I let it go. I'd seen this on the shelves many times and wanted to read it, and ended up picking it up at a local library fundraiser. Glad I did.
According to Koontz's intro, this really began as a project for USA network to

develop into a series for TV. Sounded like it had all the right backign and help to make it akiller series, and someone wanted to edit too much for Koontz. Typical network junk. Shame. Would have been great from what I've read.
Premise - Mary Shelley wrote that Dr. Victor Frankenstein died. well - he didn't. He is alive and well, and living in New Orleans. And he hasnt stopped his work on creating life - he's perfected it. No more lightning storms, and criminal body parts. He's cloning, bio-engineering, etc to make a New Race. And they have started getting out of hand, some actually killing people to try to find what is missing inside them.
2 detectives from New Orleans have been working the murders, and are getting more and more frustrated. Then the really bizzare happens - one of the lead detectives runs inot Victor's first creation from 200+ years ago at one of the crime scenes. And he (Deucalion) wants Victor stopped for good, and helps enlighten the detective as to what they are really facing.
An excellent thriller, with lots of unexpected twists and turns, Koontz delivers a new twist on an old classic with gusto.

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LibraryThing member jcmontgomery

Book 1 of a trilogy, well trilogy 1 as I hear Koontz has continued and started a second trilogy, I couldn't wait to read the remainder. I downloaded the rest onto my eBook from the library and am now on Book 3, Dead and Alive.

If you love Koontz, you will LOVE this series. Run, don't walk, to your

nearest library or book store and get yours. Now.

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LibraryThing member mrtall

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son is consistently enjoyable and occasionally more than that.

The premise here is good fun: Frankenstein’s monster – plus the not-so-good doctor himself – turn out to be still around, and they’ve not exactly kissed and made up. A New Orleans setting

is good place for both to surface, just as a weird serial killer is at work. Our protagonists – in addition to our patched-together main man, of course – are a team of off-the-shelf homicide cops. They’re both young, good looking and have the suppressed hots for each other, but they’re serviceable leads.

More interesting are some of the other stories swirling around the murder mystery plot. One member of our cop duo has an autistic brother whose presence is mirrored by an autistic creation of Dr F. And just what else has he created? It turns out he’s been busy over the past couple of centuries, and the revelation of his plot and its functionaries increasingly take center stage as the story goes on. Clearly, there is much more to come in the books that follow.

The unexpected pleasure here was Koontz’s contemplation of quite profound questions of existence and its meaning. This isn’t a consistently ‘deep’ book – it’s still a page turner – but its premise and the issues it raises have some sticking power.

Recommended.

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LibraryThing member sereq_ieh_dashret

Possibly the highest concentration of psychos in a book ever

LibraryThing member meags222

This book was an interesting murder mystery/horror book. It was centered on Frankenstein and his monster who are both still alive and well in modern day society. I found it to be an interesting concept but I wouldn't say the book is brilliant. It is the first in a series and the book doesn't have a

clear ending. I guess I will have to go out and buy the next two. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars

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LibraryThing member marysneedle

This was a cannot put it down kind of book. Koontz and Anderson really took the Frankenstein story into our century while still maintaining the old story.

I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

LibraryThing member israfel13

I've never really been the biggest Koontz fan, and although this book is far from changing my opinion my biggest complaint so far is how long I've had to wait for the third installment. Anyone know when or if it's coming?

LibraryThing member kat32969

This is Frankenstein with a modern twist. It's written in a way that almost makes you believe it's real.

LibraryThing member Mrdrewk

really cheesy dean koontz book. Nice trash reading IMO

LibraryThing member wispywillow

Koontz is sometimes hit-and-miss for me, but so far I'm enjoying his take on Frankenstein. As usual his characters sometimes engage in mundane-but-amusing dialogue that I find charming. And the token golden retriever? I'm sure there was one, but it's been a couple months since I've read this.

LibraryThing member Rumpeltje

The book started promising, fast and funny. But it didn't last long. Only in the last 50 pages or so does the pace pick up a bit again.
This is the first book of the series and it introduces all the characters, establishes their background and personality. But I feel that's it's only function. Of

the three storylines only one is resolved at the end of the book. To me it feels like the story is originally longer and it's been cut in two.
I did like the characters, because Koontz takes the whole book to introduce them the main characters are well rounded. The story itself is okay, nothing special but I think this book's function is to introduce the characters.
What I did find annoying is how often Koontz tells the reader, explicitly, that the members of the New Race heal very fast when hurt. After a couple of times I knew and didn't need constant reminders that way.
I might get the second book of the series to see if it improves, because the concept of the series seems promising.

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LibraryThing member Sarah_Buckley

I almost didn't finish this one. It was just so boring and convoluted for me. I sighed and rolled my eyes constantly. I pushed through to the end only because I hate to leave a book unread.

LibraryThing member bke

I don't ordinarily care for Dean Koontz's writings, but I found this series to be a cleaver and engaging retelling of the Frankenstein monster story.

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