Books › By the Light of the Moon
By the Light of the Moon
737 pages
A frantic, supernatural road trip where the greatest discovery isn't the terrifying conspiracy chasing them, but the profound bonds of family.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like being strapped into a midnight car chase that unexpectedly warms your heart. It is a propulsive, adrenaline-fueled experience, driven by the sheer panic of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary, terrifying circumstances. Yet, beneath the paranoid, eerie atmosphere of a classic supernatural thriller, there beats a deeply sentimental core. The narrative balances its breakneck pace with moments of wry humor and earnest reflections on neurodivergence, brotherly devotion, and the unexpected strength found in outcasts. The prose is cinematic and accessible, keeping the pages turning while ensuring you care deeply about the quirky, vulnerable cast. It will delight readers who love their dark, suspenseful mysteries tempered with a profound, uplifting sense of wonder and found family.
- Mood
- urgent
- eerie
- paranoid
- hopeful
- Tone
- earnest
- suspenseful
- wry
- sentimental
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- brotherly devotion · found family · unwitting superpowers · running from the unknown · the burden of gifts
- The writing
- Accessible and cinematic, balancing rapid-fire action sequences with earnest, philosophical musings on human nature.
- The arc
- Plunges from sudden, disorienting terror into a frantic, bonding struggle for survival that culminates in awe and hopeful triumph.
- Who it's for
- Fans of supernatural thrillers who prefer their high-stakes chases grounded in deep, sentimental character bonds and quirky humor.
Content notes
- medical experimentation
- violence
- ableism
About the book
Dean Koontz has surpassed his longtime reputation as “America’s most popular suspense novelist”(Rolling Stone) to become one of the most celebrated and successful writers of our time. Reviewers hail his boundless originality, his art, his unparalleled ability to create highly textured, riveting drama, at once viscerally familiar and utterly unique.
Author of one after another, Koontz is at the pinnacle of his powers, spinning mysteries and miracles, enthralling tales that speak directly to today’s readers, balm for the heart and fire for the mind. In this stunning new novel, he delivers a tour de force of dark suspense and brilliant revelation that has all the Koontz trademarks: adventure, chills, riddles, humor, heartbreak, an unforgettable cast of characters, and a climax that will leave you clamoring for more.
Dylan O’Connor is a gifted young artist just trying to do the right thing in life. He’s on his way to an arts festival in Santa Fe when he stops to get a room for himself and his twenty-year-old autistic brother, Shep. But in a nightmarish instant, Dylan is attacked by a mysterious “doctor,” injected with a strange substance, and told that he is now a carrier of something that will either kill him...or transform his life in the most remarkable way. Then he is told that he must flee--before the doctor’s enemies hunt him down for the secret circulating through his body. No one can help him, the doctor says, not even the police.
Stunned, disbelieving, Dylan is turned loose to run for his life...and straight into an adventure that will turn the next twenty-four hours into an odyssey of terror, mystery--and wondrous discovery. It is a journey that begins when Dylan and Shep’s path intersects with that of Jillian Jackson. Before that evening Jilly was a beautiful comedian whose biggest worry was whether she would ever find a decent man. Now she too is a carrier. And even as Dylan tries to convince her that they’ll be safer sticking together, cold-eyed men in a threatening pack of black Suburbans approach, only seconds before Jilly’s classic Coupe DeVille explodes into thin air.
Description from Open Library.
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