• What the Night Knows

  • By: Dean Koontz
  • Narrated by: Steven Weber
  • Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (4,909 ratings)

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What the Night Knows  By  cover art

What the Night Knows

By: Dean Koontz
Narrated by: Steven Weber
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Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In the late summer of a long-ago year, Alton Turner Blackwood brutally murdered four families. His savage spree ended only when he himself was killed by the last survivor of the last family, a fourteen-year-old boy.

Half a continent away and two decades later, someone is murdering families again, re-creating in detail Blackwood’s crimes. Homicide detective John Calvino is certain that his own family - his wife and three children - will be targets, just as his parents and sisters were victims on that distant night when he was fourteen and killed their slayer.

As a detective, John is a man of reason who deals in cold facts. But an extraordinary experience convinces him that sometimes death is not a one-way journey, that sometimes the dead return.

©2010 Dean Koontz (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Dean Koontz... has the power to scare the daylights out of us.” ( People)
“Koontz seems to know us, our deepest foibles and fears.” ( USA Today)
“Koontz writes first-rate suspense, scary and stylish.” ( Los Angeles Times)

What listeners say about What the Night Knows

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,126
  • 4 Stars
    1,457
  • 3 Stars
    850
  • 2 Stars
    271
  • 1 Stars
    205
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,316
  • 4 Stars
    1,003
  • 3 Stars
    348
  • 2 Stars
    77
  • 1 Stars
    57
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,698
  • 4 Stars
    1,063
  • 3 Stars
    641
  • 2 Stars
    220
  • 1 Stars
    185

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the better Koontz books

Yes, he's wordy and overly descriptive. It's his style. If you don't like it, don't read a Koontz book. But if you do like his style and his books, you will love this book. I didn't find it predictable at all. The narrator was perfect and drew me into the story and kept me totally entertained. I'm ready to start listening to it all over again.

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61 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Koontz is back!

I have read all of the Koontz books,new and old, and was disappointed in the last few but "What the night knows" brought back the Koontz I love to read or listen to. Very enjoyable.

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57 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

As Ambitious as a Dung Beetle

Some authors scare you by having things jump out at you and sometimes Koontz does that. This is another one of those books where the victim knows ahead of time he is going to be a victim, he even knows the time and place, yet he can't seem to do anything about it. What could be more agonizing then the expectation of horror?

Koontz develops characters that you love and root for. Three children are in this book, a thirteen, Eleven and Eight year old. Koontz remembers the perfect love of a 13 year old boy, before he knows lust. The eleven year old girl, who fantasizes about being a princess and how children seem to think that good things are just going to happen to them. The hero of the story is the eight year old, who has more common sense then any of them. It seems also that Koontz is mourning the lost of a favorite dog in this story. There is a conversation on faith and the enemy within.

A voice is given to evil and Koontz explores again inbreeding.

The important thing about Koontz is that he entertains, first and foremost. With most of his books you will not get bored. There seems to be two types of Koontz fans, those who love the Odd series and those who love his other works best. I fall in the latter.

Here are my favorite Koontz books in order: The Bad Place, Lightning, Frankenstein: Lost Souls, Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, What The Night Knows, Phantoms, Darkness Under The Sun, Dragon Tears, By the LIght Of The Moon, and Life Expectancy.

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36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Finally, a Dean Koontz that reads as a Dean Koontz

I have been a Dean Koontz fan for more years than I can count. I had been disappointed in some of his newer stuff, and preperred to re-read his older stories.
Finally! Here is a new one that was suspensful, great storyline and the dialog was believable. However, in some places in the story, I did get a little confused but was able to catch up quickly.

I felt this was Vintage Koontz and it was very enjoyable. I may read it again next week!

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34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Koontz fan... but....

I really love this author, he has written some of my all time favorite mysteries. This time however, I must agree with some of the other disappointed reviewers. Although the plot was fairly interesting on it's own, I agree that this story has some of the same aspects of the more recent novels, perfect marriage, perfect kids, rich rich family, fancy house with extra security, etc, etc. The novel lacked depth and intrigue for me, sorry. I too found it all too predictable and would be happy to welcome back Odd Thomas or something new that would remind us all of why we love this author so much. This novel pales in comparison to From the Corner of his Eye in my opinion. Still, I'm glad to have listened.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I LOVED it!

This was a very good book. If you have read a lot of Dean Koontz books then you are used to the super-natural aspect that they sometimes have. I would suggest not reading them if you can not free up your mind a little because some on them, like this one, require an open mind for a part or two! If you can do that just a little then this book won't disapoint, but if you have to understand the science behind every aspect of a book then you will have a moment or 3 that will have you unhappy. Again, I loved this book and I look forward to the next one.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

nice surprise

Although I know Koontz can be somewhat redundant in his plots, I thought this was an entertaining and fresh approach to his supernatural narrative. I have been disappointed by some of his recent work, but thoroughly enjoyed this story. Wordy, yes at times, but not irrelevantly so. Kept my interest, and not particularly predictable, in my opinion, except for the "good will win out over evil" theme that is Koontz's trademark. If you want something else, something less traditional good/evil, read Stephen King.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

What the Night Knows - predictable

Dean Koontz's novel, "What the Night Knows" although entertaining is somewhat predictable. Mr. Murder and Darkfall, both about families with children in danger. Father and partner (Wife or girlfriend) work to gether to save children. All contain a phsycopath out to kill the family for something the father has done or is preceived to have done.

Enjoyable read? Yes
Filled with the unexpected - Absolutely not.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

He's back

What a disturbing book. I wonder how he thinks up story lines like this. The old Dean Koontz is definitely back. It is well written and narrated. If you want to be terrorized, this book is for you.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

What the Night Knows

Don't bother. I hate the fact that I wasted money on this. Listened to the first hour and thought it was the biggest bore ever. Darn, I've got a long drive ahead and nothing to listen to,

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20 people found this helpful