Koontz, Dean (1945-…), is one of the most popular and productive American authors of suspense fiction. Since becoming a full-time author in 1969, he has written an average of two novels per year. His best thrillers combine elements of horror, suspense, and romance, and sometimes science fiction. There is a strong presence of hostile moral forces in his works, and his central characters often must overcome enormous difficulties to survive. He has also published literary novels and poetry.
Koontz earned widespread attention with Whispers (1980), a story about a psychopath stalking a woman. Strangers (1986) mixes mystery and the supernatural. Dark Rivers of the Heart (1994) is a fast-paced mystery that involves computer technology and a fascist, secret government agency. Intensity (1995) portrays the battle between a psychology student and a vicious killer.
Koontz has written a series of novels based on the Frankenstein character in horror fiction. They consist of Frankenstein: Prodigal Son and Frankenstein: City of Night (both 2005), Frankenstein: Dead and Alive (2009), Frankenstein: Lost Souls (2010), and Frankenstein: The Dead Town (2011).
Koontz has written a popular series of novels about Thomas, a short-order cook in a desert town who can communicate with the dead. The series began with Odd Thomas (2003) and continued with Forever Odd (2005), Brother Odd (2006), Odd Hours (2008), Odd Apocalypse (2012), Deeply Odd (2013), and Saint Odd (2015). Koontz has also written three graphic novels in the series: In Odd We Trust (2008), Odd Is on Our Side (2010), and House of Odd (2012). A graphic novel is a book-length story that combines pictures and text. In The Silent Corner (2017), Koontz began a new series about Jane Hawk, an FBI agent who battles a mysterious conspiracy that causes unexplained suicides.
Koontz’s other novels include Watchers (1987); Lightning (1988); The Bad Place (1990); Cold Fire (1991); Hideaway (1992); Dragon Tears and Mr. Murder (both 1993); Sole Survivor (1997); Fear Nothing (1998) and its sequel, Seize the Night (1999); False Memory (2000); From the Corner of His Eye and One Door Away from Heaven (both 2001); By the Light of the Moon (2002); and The Face (2003). Koontz also wrote The Taking and Life Expectancy (both 2004); Velocity (2005); The Husband (2006); The Good Guy and The Darkest Evening of the Year (both 2007); Your Heart Belongs to Me (2008); Relentless and Breathless (both 2009); What the Night Knows (2010); 77 Shadow Street (2011); Dark Rivers of the Heart (2012); Innocence (2013); The City (2014); Ashley Bell (2015); Devoted and Elsewhere (both 2020); The Other Emily (2021); and Quicksilver (2022).
Koontz’s shorter fiction is collected in Strange Highways (1995). He wrote the screenplay for the 1998 motion-picture adaptation of his horror novel Phantoms (1983). Koontz wrote two Christmas books for young readers, Santa’s Twin (1996) and Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa’s Twin (2004). Koontz wrote the nonfiction work A Big Little Life (2009), a memoir about his pet golden retriever dog. Koontz also has written under a number of other names, including Deanna Dwyer, Brian Coffey, Leigh Nichols, and Owen West.
Dean Ray Koontz was born on July 9, 1945, in Everett, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania in 1966. He worked as a high school English teacher from 1967 to 1969, when he became a full-time author. His earliest novels were science-fiction stories, beginning with Star Quest (1968). His first suspense novel was Chase (1972).
