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By the Light of the Moon  By  cover art

By the Light of the Moon

By: Dean Koontz
Narrated by: Kate Rudd, Seth Podowitz
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Publisher's summary

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 #1 New York Times bestseller 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 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.

Now the three are on the run together, but with no idea whom they’re running from--or why. Meanwhile Shep has begun exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior. And whatever it is that’s coursing through their bodies seems to have plunged them into one waking nightmare after another. Seized by sinister premonitions, they find themselves inexplicably drawn to crime scenes—just minutes before the crimes take place.

What this unfathomable power is, how they can use it to stop the evil erupting all around them, and why they have been chosen are only parts of a puzzle that reaches back into the tragic past and the dark secrets they all share: secrets of madness, pain, and untimely death. Perhaps the answer lies in the eerie, enigmatic messages that Shep, with precious time running out, begins to repeat, about an entity who does his work “by the light of the moon.”

By the Light of the Moon is a novel of heart-stopping suspense and transcendent beauty, of how evil can destroy us and love can redeem us—a masterwork of the imagination in which the surprises come page after page and the spell of sublime storytelling triumphs throughout.

©2002 Dean Koontz. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Perhaps more than any other author, Koontz writes fiction perfectly suited to the mood of America post-September 11: novels that acknowledge the reality and tenacity of evil but also the power of good; that celebrate the common man and woman; that at their best entertain vastly as they uplift. By the Light of the Moon is one of those best, exciting and deeply moving.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Koontz seems to know us, our deepest foibles and fears.”—USA Today

“Surefire plotting and a roster of characters built out of painful tragedies make the pages move…. Koontz has a touching faith in the human spirit.”—People

What listeners say about By the Light of the Moon

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Good story

More like his older work. I liked the characters and the story. Kept me interested for sure.

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8 people found this helpful

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Loved it! CAKE!

I love the Koontzian style! I know there are some readers who have become a bit snobbish over the years, but a good story that can bloom in your imagination for a few hours (with excellent prose and even alliteration!) is something sorely missing these days.

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7 people found this helpful

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This one can be skipped

I usually enjoy Dean Koontz very much but this was a miss. I only finished it because I paid for it. The concept was interesting but it seemed as if the time wasn't taken to really flesh out a good way to tell the story. If Koontz' name wasn't on this, no one could have convinced me he wrote it. The narrators made the dialogue sound like two petulant children, half the age of what the characters were supposed to be, on a Scooby Doo adventure. I'm still a big enough fan of Koontz to shake this one off and look forward to other/better stories by this author.

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6 people found this helpful

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Tedious repetative and frankly annoying.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Dean koontz, but when a character repeats the same word 75 times in 2 min. it really starts to get annoying, then everything, and I mean everything has some over-blown meaning and takes over 20 min. to finish, a scene that would take 30 seconds in a move is a 20 min. overblown diatribe drawn out into infinity. With out a doubt the worst book I've ever read by Koontz. And yep, I am a fan that would stand in line for 2 hours to get an autographed copy of dozens of his other books.

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6 people found this helpful

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Wonderful

I hope that this is not a stand alone. That instead, we have a start of another series of unlikely heroes, that have come together under circumstances that may still have room to unfold.
Lots of plot directions to go in for a series, overall a great read!

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5 people found this helpful

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I am an avid reader of this author. Check all his books out. There are great.

I loved this book. The synonyms that he added was awesome. Got a few chuckles on them. Got a read this book. Can't wait to see if he's going to do another one To match.

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Dean does it again!

I’ve been reading books by this author since I was in high school. Im 59 now and still an avid fan. A wonderful story filled with characters you care about. Great action and story as per usual.

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4 people found this helpful

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Usual Koontz, for better and worse

Good story, decent narration, wordy and morally judgmental per usual. initial meeting scene between protagonists is cringy af. And Koontz's "50's guy" moral preaching is here though not as bad as in more recent works. If you can ignore the flaws though it's got good themes and execution.

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4 people found this helpful

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Koontz man did you &/or the reader get bored?

Good gravy the only reason I tried to finish this book was it is Dean friggin Koontz, I even preordered it the first day it was available for preorder. I have loved everything (before this book that is) even collect your books in hardback when I find a good clean edition. Now seriously it may be the reader it may be the story or s combo of both but the only reason by chapter 2 o had not returned it and MADE myself listen to it was the author. This storyline/storyteller moved sooooo slooow I wanted to give up may many times. Story is semi interesting but not worth wasting $/or a credit for.

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3 people found this helpful

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Struggling with this audio book.

I'm only on chapter three and I have a headache. I'm usually a fan of Koontz but he takes being verbose to a whole new level. Every little thing takes five minutes to describe. it's like he ate a thesaurus and is now puking out every word of it into this book. Also the female narrator's voice reminds me of Siri, robotic.
If I manage to finish this I'll update the review. Wish me luck.

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2 people found this helpful