Review: The House of Thunder

The House of Thunder by Leigh Nichols
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m a big Dean Koontz fan, and for a long time I’ve been interested in his books written as Leigh Nichols. With The House of Thunder, I found myself unsure. It was a typical Koontz read in the fact I read it in a single sitting, but it failed to wow me in the way I had hoped.

The House of Thunder had me curious throughout, happy to devour it in a single sitting due to my need for answers. It was unclear where the story was going, how everything would come together, and this had me powering through to see what would happen. I had so many ideas, I wanted to see if I was right.

Then the end hit, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. It was… well, strange. It wasn’t at all what I expected. As much as I enjoy the unexpected, this was not the kind of unexpected I enjoy. It was the kind that had me questioning what I had read, looking over the book for details I had missed. In some ways, the ending felt as though it belonged to another book.

Add in there were plenty of things I could not buy into, and this one was lacking in the magic of other Koontz reads. I remain curious about some other books written as Leigh Nichols, but The House of Thunder has left me unsure if I will enjoy them as much as I enjoy the standard Koontz read. Sure, it was addictive, but it’s not a favourite.

If nothing else, it’s worth a read if you’re a Koontz fan in search of something a wee bit different.

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