Dean Koontz - Frankenstein Series

Recently I finished the Frankenstein series by Dean Koontz. Dean Koontz is my second favorite author. Robert Asprin is my all time favorite but specifically for the MYTH series. The rest of his work is mediocre. Dean Koontz on the other hand seems to within a fairly broad category of supernatural/mystery/thrillers. Within that genre however he writes on a broad range of topics. My favorite book of his is probably Lightning. This is in part due to the fact that it was the first book of his I read. Any ways I have enjoyed all of the Dean Koontz books that I have read so far.

The Frankenstein series is made up of five books. The story line is somewhat divided in two between books one through three and books four and five. The first three books were very difficult to put down. Every chapter I read just dangled the carrot out a little farther and made me want to read even longer. I struggled a little more with books four and five. The series could have easily ended at book three. I have still not completely decided, but I half way feel that might have been the better way. Book four was mostly forgettable but necessary for setting up book five. I feel that the best things about book five were the fringe characters that gave the story a fresh coat of paint and some new angles into the human condition. The ending felt a bit rushed and although I enjoyed the whole story I still feel it might have had a bit more graceful ending if done at book three.

My daughter Ms. Teen reads so many books that every time we pass a library she starts experiencing some kind of paroxysm brought on by the close proximity of so much un-read text. Originally she was reading this series with me. I got ahead of her during book two and was able to start book three well ahead of her. I was only about half way finished with book three when I made the decision to tell my wife that Ms. Teen was not allowed to read any more in the series. The contrast between good and evil is a central concept in the book. Further more the villain (Dr. Frankenstein) was obsessed with denying God as well as any moral right and wrong. These themes made the book very interesting to me but also were presented with such extreme graphic detail that I could no longer feel comfortable letting my daughter read these things. 

For adults I found this to be a great story that allowed for plenty of self reflection as well as examination of the world we live in that could very easily produce the same evil obsessions. For younger readers the violence which at times was extreme and grotesque was constant throughout the series. There were also frequent examples of sexual promiscuity including at times abusive and aberrant behavior. Finally there was enough profanity to make it noticeable throughout the series. In my mind, definitely not a series for younger readers.