Book Review: Strangers

A few caveats before the review. My wife bought the book, brand new, as a Christmas gift with the explanation that when she read it, she “really really liked it, especially the end”. As such, I felt compelled to finish the book, at all costs.

Secondly, this book was published in 1986. I read many books published in that, early to mid 80s period when I was much younger, and I recall that most of them were written in a similar way. Long paragraphs. Lots of words. Less fast-paced than today’s popular titles. This was a trend of the time, so that is being taken into account for the review.

Lastly, I read the Afterword by Mr. Koontz, and learned that this book was very much a labour of love for him. It took a while and was a battle, but he got to publish the book he wanted, and that’s a victory regardless of any opinion of the book.

Okay lets get into it.

Strangers is a convoluted, sprawling story. There are twelve, twelve, main characters. Okay, maybe ten main and two ancillary that are still important to the proceedings. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. You can’t be right! Twelve? No. You’re wrong. Sadly I am not.

Having so many characters and perspectives really slows down the pace of the book, even by 1986 standards. I wont list them all, as I’d like to keep this as short and sweet as possible but suffice to say, there are too many.

Each character is very well defined. You know who each are, they all have their own voice and appearance, which is no small feat, especially with twelve of them (though near the end, one is relegated to “asleep” for most of it). So what’s the problem? Why did it take me five months to finish it? Frustration.

The idea is quite clever actually. Eighteen months before the events in the book ten of these people, plus more but they aren’t really in the book, had a terrible experience in a Nevada desert. Eighteen months later, slowly each of them begin to have variations of similar nightmares. Arming themselves. Hiding away. Fugue states. Fear of the dark to paralysis. Motorcycle helmets that create panic. All of them are spread out across the country and have no recollection of having ever met. Slowly, with a little nudging from a whistleblower, they all are drawn back to the Nevada desert.

What actually happened in that desert all those months ago is the most intriguing thing in the book and is saved for the end, which is good. However, all of the different perspectives and stories about how each character is drawn to the motel, are not intriguing, and generally, as I, the reader began to “get it”, they become more frustrating than anything. Little things are dropped that only deepen the mystery till I was screaming at the book, “WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?! Why won’t you tell me!?” Then I’d have to slog through more boring character stuff with strange things happening. These seemingly supernatural events are glossed over for more and more breadcrumbs. You’re thinking, this sounds great, how is it frustrating? Because there are twelve of them! We get each and every one. Nothing is revealed, nothing is really clear until the last 100 pages, and at that point I was a) convinced I would never find out what happened a year and a half earlier to these characters and b) I kind of didn’t care anymore. Finishing the book became a war of attrition for me, and since the book would just sit there, taunting me to finish it, I did.

Another thing that irked me greatly was, characters, whose perspective I was in, would learn things, but they were hidden from me still. That feels like cheating to me. Maybe I’m wrong, but I felt at that point the author was just stretching things out by doing that, which made me more frustrated and angry.

Over 681 pages, Mr. Koontz leaves small crumbs everywhere for you to guess at what happened, but because so much information is missing, you can’t ever be sure, and hiding things characters learn just makes it worse. Was it worth it in the end?

The ending was good, but, for me, it lacked the real revelatory punch I think the author was looking for. What happened to them and what it means for humanity on the whole is pretty great, but it took so long to get there, so much was simply flexing writing muscle that I didn’t care anymore.

Throughout the book, sentences are overwritten to such an extent they are actually entire five or six line paragraphs. There is a character of Jewish decent who routinely uses Yiddish words, then stops to explain to everyone what those words mean. Once or twice is fine, but couple that with over-written, boring character perspective of events that do little to move the plot forward and I was left feeling … tired and annoyed.

That being said, I totally get how people could love this book. It is not badly written. The story idea is unique and interesting. The villain is a GD crazy person who I felt no remorse for, and actually hate his comeuppance, it feels, hollow. There’s no sense of satisfaction. More of a “oh. well, I hated that guy, so whatever.” In fact I think I said that out loud at the time. Still, for some the mystery of what happened to the characters, and the trials and events they go through could be enthralling for another reader. For me, I need my plot a little faster, and sub plots to be a bit more intriguing to keep me along for the ride. Also, twelve character perspectives is too many. It just is. This book could have been great with half that cast I think.

Recommend? If you you are a fan of the writing style of the early-mid 80’s horror and fantasy, this book will not disappoint. If you’re more of a creature of 21st century writing styles, this one might be a skip for you.