Any writer who is willing to review a previous book, especially a successful one, deserves a lot of respect, and I read this book because I saw the explanation from the writer himself that he reviewed The Key to Midnight, one of his early novels, cutting 30,000 words and adding 5,000 thousand.

The Key to Midnight may be a different kind of Koontz novel, but it is just as exciting and suspenseful as his later work. It’s beautifully written with skillful character drawing, internal and external conflict, and car chases galore. The pacing is impeccable as it makes the reader gobble up every word and the excitement builds as the plot progresses.

The story begins with the introduction of the owner of the Moonglow Lounge nightclub in Kyoto, Joanna Rand, and her recurring nightmare that terrifies her. The nightmare is about a man with metal fingers, appearing somewhere in Joanna’s background or haunting her mind as her false name and identity, causing Joanna to act irrationally at times.

When private detective Alex Hunter is attracted to Joanna while on vacation in Kyoto, the knots begin to unravel. Alex Hunter determines that Joanna’s memory is false and her mind is controlled by a formidable enemy who uses hypnosis. Alex begins to help Joanna, only to find out in the end, that he too is manipulated by the rival side. The ending, however, is happy, and Alex and Joanna find solutions to their problems by outwitting the international intelligentsia that still fight as if the cold war will never end.

The author, Dean Ray Koontz, was born on July 9, 1945 in Everett, PA. The son of an alcoholic father, Koontz consoled himself with books and writing. He sold his first book at the age of 23, initially using a variety of pseudonyms. After his first hit with “The Key to Midnight”, Koontz created many suspense stories and attracted a large following. Although his writing is sometimes pushed into the horror genre due to thrillers with supernatural overtones, Koontz shouldn’t be considered a horror writer. Koontz is a prolific and innovative thriller writer whose talents are widely respected.

Koontz influenced many writers with the quality of her work and fascinated her readers with her productivity, which never imitates herself. In other words, each book has unique characters and an exciting plot that engages the reader in a different way.

Some of his many books are: Odd Thomas, The Mask, Intensity, The Eyes of Darkness, Mr. Murder, Hideaway, One Door Away from Heaven, The House of Thunder, Dark Rivers of the Heart, Winter Moon, Fear Nothing, Desde the corner of the eye, the face, the book of counted sorrows, in the light of the moon, speed, always strange.

The Key to Midnight, 1995 edition, has 419 paperback pages with ISBN: 0425147517.

Once you start reading it, The Key to Midnight is a book that you can’t easily close.