’’It?s a fear more paralyzing than falling. More terrifying than absolute darkness. False Memory Fear for your mind.
A paralyzing thought to begin a novel that has its main characters totally paralyzed by the manipulative puppet strings of a famous, trusted character. Quirky and masterful Koontz impresses readers with his book, FALSE MEMORY. A book that is revolves around, a woman who suffers from a rare and peculiar disease called auto phobia, which the author defines as the fear of oneself. Developed a chilled spine yet?
The Shakespeare of this epic is Martie Rhodes. She’s a married, successful video games designer who takes her friend Susan to ’ Agoraphobia ridding therapy sessions.’ One morning, Martie suddenly feels afraid of her own shadow. A bout of anxiety attacks it is discovered that she is suffering from auto phobia - a fear of oneself. Her life changes change, making her totally dependent on her husband Dusty. He starts to get close to the truth and discovers a horrifying secret. What is going on? Can they regain a grip on life, or is it too late?
The most vivid memory I have is Martie’s descent into phobic panic, the odyssey in her kitchen. How she tries to make her home a safer place A house that is beautifully decorated, serene, and welcoming, to her, contains a stunning array of fearsome weapons if one has even the most latent talent for homicide.
This is my first entry into the world of Dean Koontz. The characters are deep and constantly develop. The bad guy, whose identity is quickly revealed, is intriguing. The prose is rich and evocative Eg:- ’’The softly rustling fronds of a wind-stirred phoenix palm.’’ Excellent Haiku use is rather gripping. There are powerful similes and metaphors. The plot is good and at most times, taut.
Like Thomas Moore said ’’You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will, but the scent of the roses will hang round it still.’’
False Memory to me is a lingering scent...