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From the Trade Paperback edition.
The specter of mental illness is frightening enough on its own. In the hands of the master of suspense, Dean Koontz, it's both epidemic and horrifying. Never has the saying "There is nothing to fear but fear itself" been more true. And never has fear been so, well, frightening.
In False Memory, a bone-chilling tale of fantasies, phobias, and false memories, Koontz has crafted yet another masterpiece of subtle terror, an all-too-plausible tale with the most powerful and devious of enemies -- one's own mind.
Martie Rhodes is married to a man she adores and has a successful career as a video-game designer and a life many would envy. But there are a few hitches. Once a week, Martie escorts her best friend, Susan, to a psychiatrist's office, where Susan receives treatment for the severe case of agoraphobia that suddenly took over her life 18 months before. And Martie's husband, Dusty, has a younger brother who is sweet, naive, and addicted to drugs.
Still, Martie's life is relatively stable until the morning she awakens with a sudden and inexplicable fear of her own. It is a fear unlike any she has ever encountered or even considered. It is a fear she may not be able to control. It is a fear of the one thing she should be able to master but can't. It is a fear of herself.
It begins innocently enough with a sense of disquiet that Martie experiences while walking the dog, an odd feeling of fright when she sees her own shadow. But things quickly escalate, and within hours, horrifying images fill Martie's mind, images of blood and violence committed by her own hands, committed against herself and the one person she loves most: her husband, Dusty.
Martie soon learns that her condition has a name: autophobia. When she shares her fears with her husband, Dusty finds himself torn. On the one hand he is desperate to be there for Martie, to learn the cause of her mental condition and try to find a way to fight it. On the other hand there is his brother, Skeet, whose recent backslide has led to a suicide attempt -- a harrowing scene that nearly costs Dusty his life as well.
It's while caring for his poor, drug-addled brother that Dusty accidentally stumbles upon a quirk, a quirk that suggests Skeet's problems may not all be of his own making. When Dusty discovers that the same quirk may be behind Martie's mental illness, he is thrown into a nightmare of astonishing proportions. To save those he loves, Dusty must confront a monster whose power over him, Skeet, and Martie is unthinkable, a monster who has already destroyed dozens of lives and thinks nothing of racking up a few more.
Koontz has tapped into the most fertile and terrifying source possible for psychological suspense -- the human mind. As the filter that defines all we see, all we experience, and all we are, it is what makes us most vulnerable to both harm and evil. But its capacity for love combined with the will to survive can also be a formidable weapon. The fear of madness lurks within us all. Leave it to the master of suspense to capitalize on that fear and turn it into yet another deliciously chilling and haunting tale.
—Beth Amos
Koontz has a lifelong love of writing that led him to spend much of his free time as an adult furiously cultivating his style and voice. However, it was only after his wife Gerda made him an offer he couldn't refuse while he was teaching English at a high school outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that he had a real opportunity to make a living with his avocation. Gerda agreed to support Dean for five years, during which time he could try to get his writing career off the ground. Little did she know that by the end of that five years she would be leaving her own job to handle the financial end of her husband's massively successful writing career.
Koontz first burst into the literary world with 1970's Beastchild, a science fiction novel that appealed to genre fans with its descriptions of aliens and otherworldly wars but also mined deeper themes of friendship and the breakdown of communication. Although it is not usually ranked among his classics, Beastchild provided the first inkling of Koontz's talent for populating even the most fantastical tale with fully human characters. Even at his goriest or most terrifying, he always allows room for redemption.
This complexity is what makes Koontz's work so popular with readers. He has a true gift for tempering horror with humanity, grotesqueries with lyricism. He also has a knack for genre-hopping, inventing Hitchcockian romantic mysteries, crime dramas, supernatural thrillers, science fiction, and psychological suspense with equal deftness and imagination. Perhaps The Times (London) puts it best: "Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler."
When Koontz was a senior in college, he won the Atlantic Monthly fiction competition.
Koontz and Kevin Anderson's novel Frankenstein: The Prodigal Son was slotted to become a television series produced by Martin Scorsese. However, when the pilot failed to sell, the USA Network aired it as a TV movie in 2004. By that time Koontz had removed his name from the project.
Some fun and fascinating outtakes from our interview with Koontz:
"My wife, Gerda, and I took seven years of private ballroom dancing lessons, twice a week, ninety minutes each time. After we had gotten good at everything from swing to the foxtrot, we not only stopped taking lessons, but also stopped going dancing. Learning had been great fun; but for both of us, going out for an evening of dancing proved far less exhilarating than the learning. We both have a low boredom threshold. Now we dance at a wedding or other celebration perhaps once a year, and we're creaky."
"On my desk is a photograph given to me by my mother after Gerda and I were engaged to be married. It shows 23 children at a birthday party. It is neither my party nor Gerda's. I am three years old, going on four. Gerda is three. In that crowd of kids, we are sitting directly across a table from each other. I'm grinning, as if I already know she's my destiny, and Gerda has a serious expression, as if she's worried that I might be her destiny. We never met again until I was a senior in high school and she was a junior. We've been trying to make up for that lost time ever since.
"Gerda and I worked so much for the first two decades of our marriage that we never took a real vacation until our twentieth wedding anniversary. Then we went on a cruise, booking a first-class suite, sparing no expense. For more than half the cruise, the ship was caught in a hurricane. The open decks were closed because waves would have washed passengers overboard. About 90% of the passengers spent day after day in their cabins, projectile vomiting. We discovered that neither of us gets seasick. We had the showrooms, the casino, and the buffets virtually to ourselves. Because the crew had no one to serve, our service was exemplary. The ship dared not try to put into the scheduled ports; it was safer on the open sea. The big windows of the main bar presented a spectacular view of massive waves and lightning strikes that stabbed the sea by the score. Very romantic. We had a grand time.
As she began the second verse, a sudden chill climbed the ladder of her spine, causing her to fall silent. She was not a woman given to premonitions, but as the icy quiver ascended to the back of her neck, she was overcome by a sense of impending danger.
Turning, she half expected to see an approaching assailant or a hurtling car. Instead, she was alone on this quiet residential street.
Nothing rushed toward her with lethal purpose. The only moving things were those harried by the wind. Trees and shrubs shivered. A few crisp brown leaves skittered along the pavement. Garlands of tinsel and Christmas lights, from the recent holiday, rustled and rattled under the eaves of a nearby house.
Still uneasy, but feeling foolish, Martie let out the breath that she'd been holding. When the exhalation whistled between her teeth, she realized that her jaws were clenched.
She was probably still spooked from the dream that awakened her after midnight, the same one she'd had on a few other recent nights. The man made of dead, rotting leaves, a nightmare figure. Whirling, raging.
Then her gaze dropped to her elongated shadow, which stretched across the close-cropped grass, draped the curb, and folded onto the cracked concrete pavement. Inexplicably, her uneasiness swelled into alarm.
She took one step backward, then a second, and of course her shadow moved with her. Only as she retreated a third step did she realize that this very silhouette was what frightened her.
Ridiculous. More absurd than her dream. Yet something in her shadow was not right: a jagged distortion, a menacing quality.
Her heart knocked as hard as a fist on a door.
In the severe angle of the morning sun, the houses and trees cast distorted images, too, but she saw nothing fearsome in their stretched and buckled shadows--only in her own.
She recognized the absurdity of her fear, but this awareness did not diminish her anxiety. Terror courted her, and she stood hand in hand with panic.
The shadow seemed to throb with the thick slow beat of its own heart. Staring at it, she was overcome with dread.
Martie closed her eyes and tried to get control of herself.
For a moment, she felt so light that the wind seemed strong enough to sweep her up and carry her inland with the relentlessly advancing clouds, toward the steadily shrinking band of cold blue sky. As she drew a series of deep breaths, however, weight gradually returned to her.
When she dared to look again at her shadow, she no longer sensed anything unusual about it. She let out a sigh of relief.
Her heart continued to pound, powered not by irrational terror anymore, but by an understandable concern as to the cause of this peculiar episode. She'd never previously experienced such a thing.
Head cocked quizzically, Valet was staring at her.
She had dropped his leash.
Her hands were damp with sweat. She blotted her palms on her blue jeans.
When she realized that the dog had finished his toilet, Martie slipped her right hand into a plastic pet-cleanup bag, using it as a glove. Being a good neighbor, she neatly collected Valet's gift, turned the bright blue bag inside out, twisted it shut, and tied a double knot in the neck.
The retriever watched her sheepishly.
"If you ever doubt my love, baby boy," Martie said, "remember I do this every day."
Valet looked grateful. Or perhaps only relieved.
Performance of this familiar, humble task restored her mental balance. The little blue bag and its warm contents anchored her to reality. The weird incident remained troubling, intriguing, but it no longer frightened her.
From the Hardcover edition.
Anonymous
Posted December 22, 1999
This is an unbelievable read...totally fascinating and truly scary.Cannot believe how well written it is.I stayed up late at night to finish it.I could hardly put it down..One of KOONTZ'S best, and a great tale
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted September 4, 2008
When i first started reading it I thought it was boring but since i like to finish what i start i kept going...eventually the story got good and i finished. The story was a little disturbing yet eye opening.I dont regret reading it but have agreed this is my last dean koontz novel....
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 13, 1999
This book pulls you in from the first page right through to the ending! It completely interrupted my sense of 'reality' and kept me turning pages well into the night! I am a true Koontz fan and must say that this is his finest work yet.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 12, 1999
Dean Koontz is my favorite author. I have read every single one of his books, and I have loved all of them. I love Stephen King too, but King has nothing on Koontz. His books keep me riveted until the very end.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 9, 2012
This was one of the first Dean Koontz books I ever read. I loved his style in writing. I felt like I was following 2 stories at once and never got bored. Its been a while. I think I have to read it again!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.mrsgoldman
Posted December 29, 2011
I Also Recommend:
I didnt really read saw this book and gave it a chance i have been so addicted to koontz since this is an amazing book that pulls you in right from the start and keeps you to the end
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Posted December 3, 2011
This is book is one of my favorite books from Dean. However, I love them all. He has the ability to keep his readers on edge and leaves you wanting more. Def. reccomend this book to anyone who loves to read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lulu70LB
Posted May 12, 2011
Good reading, not his best work, plot was so so and the ending was predictable. But nonetheless, not a bad read
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.7121373
Posted April 26, 2011
couldn't put this down. this book turned me into a fan and i've been reading koontz ever since
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.5999912
Posted January 16, 2011
Very interesting, keeps you wondering what else could happen to these charicters.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.kristaleighbird
Posted September 23, 2010
This book was a little slow to start off...didn't star out with all the action that most of his works do. I actually had to come back to it once or twice. But then all of a sudden you're thinking "what the heck is going on with these people?!" And then, in chapter 30, you realize that you know the answer, right before he reveals it. And then Koontz just keeps your thinking wheels spinning and spinning all the way to the end.
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Posted August 7, 2010
I Also Recommend:
I am an avid reader of Koontz and I have read over 30 of his books so far and this is one well worth reading. The plot is very gripping and with all the twists that Koontz loves to throw in and makes you have to read on to find out what's next. I highly recommend.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.False Memory was a really good book, but after the first 200 pages. Its like, wow!! Please end.
But if you can get to chapter 60 you can get the understanding of the whole entire story.
So please don't judge Dean Kootnz just by this one lengthy, not very well written book. LOL. His novels are usually really great!!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 14, 2010
Lost my attention after 5 chapters. Too much detail, repititious.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 9, 2009
This book was a very entertaining read. Good character development early on. Intriguing subject matter, but the ending was not nearly as climactic as was lead throughout the book to expect. Yes, its a surprise ending and a couple of nice plot twists but... eh...
I give this book three stars because it is still better that he average droning of many novels found in bookstores today but not this author's best work.
This book was okay, with the exception of the fact that it could have told the same story in two-hundred less pages. Seemed to drag on at times. While the story was interesting, it seemed to be very unrealistic.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I started reading this book about 9 months ago but put it down around page 306 because it was very slow in the beginning. Needless to say I ran out of books to read a month ago so I decided to give this book another shot and I am very glad I did. Like a few other people said here if you can get past the first 300 pages then trust me it is definately worth the read. This book reminds me of another older book dean wrote in 1976 called "night chills". It's along the same lines of brainwashing/throwing coded messages out and turning people into personal slaves or zombies. It is really worth the read even if it is 752 pages long....
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.amy9432
Posted March 13, 2009
I read it and Loved it! Didn't want to finish it cuz it was too good to put down! I bought it for my nephew and his soon to be wife and they are both still reading it. They both said they can't get enough it!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.KoontzKrazy
Posted January 13, 2009
The topic/plot of this book is a very interesting & intriguing one if you can survive reading the first 300 hundred or so pages. This book starts out s-l-o-w and stays that way for the majority of the book. It is captivating if you are patient enough to read the first part in order to get to the last of this book. I LOVE Dean Koontz! He is my absolute favorite author and unfailingly keeps me enthralled, but this was just not one that grabs you at the beginning and keeps you until the plot finally thickens. I actually began this book 3 years before I ever finished it because it didn't keep my interest enough, but when I picked it up again I stuck with it and got to the good stuff.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 15, 2008
I am a life-long Koontz fan. I really enjoyed this book, however, I did get a bit bored with parts and then other parts seemed a bit to far fetched. But If you got time to read it, I recommend this book. But I think it would be a wiser decision to look for a different Koontz book, like the Good Guy or The Husband. But like I said. its pretty good. If your running out of Koontz to read lol.
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Overview
On the heels of his critically acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Fear Nothing and Seize the Night, "America's most popular suspense novelist"* will stun readers with a deeply sinister and endlessly surprising tale of a rare and terrifying phobia: autophobia - fear of oneself.Martie Rhodes is a young wife (happily married to Dustin for three years), a video game designer, and a compassionate woman who takes her agoraphobic friend Carol to therapy sessions. Carol is so afraid of leaving her apartment that the trips are grim ordeals for both women - but bonding experiences as well.
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