Phantoms

I saw the movie before I read the book. I hate when that happens, but it is what it is. But because of that I am going to compare the changes in the book to the movies. I loved the movie because it was so damn creepy and I had a bit of a crush on Liev Schreiber, I still think he is a fine looking man, but I'm too old to crush on anyone, save Jason Statham. Both the book and the movie embraced the creep feeling of a deserted town especially one in which the departure of all the characters was abrupt. Rose Mcgowan's character, Lisa Pailey, made no sense in the movie, her actions were that of a spoiled teen. This makes much more sense when one realizes that, in the book she is 14 years old.

The Ancient Enemy is the name given to the creature responsible for the disappearance of the town. I will not go into much detail to avoid spoilers, but there is a Lovecraftian element to the creature in the book. I found this a compelling aspect to the story.

This book is not perfect. I spent the entire book thinking the male lead was black because the characters were so interchangeable and , I sometimes confused her with her adult sister at one time, Koontz described one of the other deputies as black. Unless they were talking about how old Lisa was. Plus there was this whole storyline with an escaped prisoner and a biker that just did not make sense and had an abrupt unsatisfactory ending.

In spite of all that, the creature was so well written, it made up for it and that is why it was a 3.5 star review for me.