The Dean R. Koontz reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Dean R. Koontz

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Dean Ray Koontz, born July 9, 1945 in Everett, Pennsylvania, is a fiction author. He grew up in desperate poverty under the tyranny of a violent alcoholic father. Despite his childhood, he put himself through university and in 1967 he worked as an English Teacher at Mechanicsburg High School where in his spare time he wrote his first novel, Star Quest, which was published in 1968. From there he went on to write over a dozen more science fiction novels. In the 1970s, he moved over to suspense/horror, under his own name as well as pseudonyms such as K.R. Dwyer and Leigh Nichols. His breakthrough novel was Whispers (1980). Several of his books have reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

He is renowned for his skill at writing suspense. His strengths also include memorable characters, original ideas, and ability to mix horror, fantasy and humour. His weaknesses include a tendency to include too many similes and therefore to drag out descriptions, frequent use of similar plot structures, and a tendency to moralize heavily.

Koontz also has a very interesting way of adding his own little quirks...such as adding simple quotes from a book by the name of ''The Book of Counted Sorrows After serious events.... The Book of Counted Sorrows" of course, being a book of poetry that he wrote himself, and has yet to publish.

Koontz currently resides in Southern California, where most of his stories take place, with his wife Gerda.

Partial bibliography: '' *The Face (2003)