Cold Fire

By: Dean Koontz

Narrated by: Carol Cowan, Michael Hanson

Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Reporter Holly Thorne is intrigued by Jim Ironheart, who has saved 12 lives in the past three months. Holly wants to know what kind of power drives him, why terrifying visions of a churning windmill haunt his dreams, and just what he means when he whispers in his sleep that an enemy who will kill everyone is coming.

"A master storyteller, sometimes humorous, sometimes shocking, but always riveting. His characters sparkle with life. And his fast-paced plots are wonderfully fiendish, taking unexpected twists and turns." ( The San Diego Union-Tribune)

©2004 Dean Koontz (P)2004 Brilliance Audio

Meh

Stupid ending. I just was expecting more but saw the end coming. blah blah

Phenomenal story!

I have read several books by Dean Koontz and they have all been great. I love his writing and story lines, they always keep my attention and leave me wanting to read the next book! The narrators are great as well!

It was good, more God than I’d like, but..

.. still a good story. Narration is really good and the details are excellent. It’s worth your time.

Above average Koontz

Cold Fire is a pleasant little Koontz. It has good amount of weirdness and two nice primary characters. There are not as many developed characters as I like in a great Koontz novel and there is no dog (bummer). There are really only 2 and a half characters, which is unusual for Koontz. Not one of the greats but above average Koontz.

Cold Fire

Any additional comments?

Narrated by Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan, Cold Fire is approximately fifteen hours of listening. The original novel was published in 1991. When I first heard the stigmata issue, I rolled my eyes and thought I was in for a boring, religious diatribe. Fortunately, my initial fears were unfounded, and I kept listening simply because the story was so intriguing. Koontz is an amazing story teller, and as has been said, story trumps all.

The lead character, Jim Ironheart, has a gift; call it clairvoyance. He knows when someone is in danger, and goes to whatever measures are necessary to save lives. Early in the tale a struggling journalist, Holly Thorne, witnesses this mysterious heroism. Holly smells a story that may salvage her career, and before long, the two become lovers. However, the love affair is secondary to the fact that together they journey through the macabre (It’s Dean Koontz, after all.) details of Jim Ironheart’s past to understand his amazing powers. Great plane crash scene.

The most wonderful aspect of this story is the audio reading by Carol Cowan. Just terrific. The male voices are read by Michael Hanson, and are nice … but Carol does an incredible job with the voice and thoughts of Holly Thorne. Both readers jockey through dialogue and narrative very smoothly. An enjoyable listen, well worth the credits.

Pleasantly surprised

I am a long time fan of Dean Koontz writing; especially the edgier "Book of Counted Sorrows" era. I was hoping that I'd find some of those prior thrilling moments in this book and am glad that I had, even though not as much as I had hoped. I did take issue with Holly's inexplicable insights into Jim's psychological state and the causes behind it, what with only a journalistic background and one interview session with a quack psychologist, however, eventually accepted it as authorial license.

I also enjoyed both Carol Cowan and Michael Hanson performances where Michael provided the solemn serious tone and Carol the occasional jocular reflections on her history and current experiences.

Cold Fire Review

I enjoyed most of the story line. It seemed a little strange that they used 2 people who were obviously older when the story line was about 2 younger people. Just didn’t sound right.

typical (excellent) Dean Koontz! narrators great!

Dean Koontz at his best! some of the most enjoyable narration ever. Nice plot twists.

classic Koontz with 2 narrators

What made the experience of listening to Cold Fire the most enjoyable?

It offered lots of questions, interesting developments and, in the end a satisfying resolution

What other book might you compare Cold Fire to and why?

Classic Koontz

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I like the use of 2 narrators, each alternating chapters as seen from the male then the female viewpoint. I did not like the male performance, too dramatic. Sounded like a television announcer.

Scary at times

I enjoyed this sometimes scary Koontz novel, it was well written. A very troubled little boy finds help and love after many years. The narration was excellent.