Dean Koontz is a publishing phenomenon, having sold over 450 million books since his first novel, Star Quest, was published in 1968.
The American author has written across a number of differenct genres, from horror and sci-fi, to fantasy and crime, and under a number of pen names, including David Axton, Deanna Dwyer, K.R. Dwyer, Leigh Nichols and Brian Coffey.
To date he has published over 105 novels, along with numerous novellas and collections of short stories.
With so many books to choose from, it’s hard for a Dean Koontz (or Dean R. Koontz, as he is sometimes styled) beginner to know where to start.
To help out, we’ve had a look at how the millions of readers of book website Goodreads have rated his books.
Here are the top 10.
1. The Night Window
With an average rating of 4.42 (out of five) from 11,100 ratings, The Night Window is Dean Koontz highest-rated book. It's the fifth in his Jane Hawk series and was published in 2019. "Rogue FBI agent Jane Hawk is living in a world of danger. Her battle to expose a global conspiracy risks her own life and that of her five-year-old son, whom she has sent into hiding. Jane is meticulously gathering evidence to bring a terrifying organization to justice – one that threatens humanity with technologically imposed slavery. Now she has no choice but to expose the unimaginable truth, even if it changes her life – and the lives of everybody around the world – forever…" | Contributed
2. The Forbidden Door
Another Jane Hawk book comes second -The Forbidden Door is the fourth in the series and scores an average rating of 4.21 from 11,227 reviews. "Rogue FBI agent Jane Hawk is on the trail of the members of a murderous organization who drove her husband – and scores of other fine individuals – to commit suicide for no explicable reason. Now the secret cabal behind the plot is closing in on her beloved five-year-old son, whom she sent into protective hiding with her dearest friends. Jane will stop at nothing to save him. But even if she can get to him in time there's still the risk that the forbidden door will be opened and an unimaginable terror unleashed." | Contributed
3. Watchers
Third place goes to Watchers - the 1987 novel has an average rating of 4.18 from 164,984 reviews. "On his thirty-sixth birthday, Travis Cornell hikes into the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. But his path is soon blocked by a bedraggled Golden Retriever who will let him go no further into the dark woods. That morning, Travis had been desperate to find some happiness in his lonely, seemingly cursed life. What he finds is a dog of alarming intelligence that soon leads him into a relentless storm of mankind’s darkest creation..." | Contributed
4. Elsewhere
The 2020 sci-fi crime story Elsewhere has an average rating of 4.13 from 20,710 reviews. "Since his wife, Michelle, left seven years ago, Jeffy Coltrane has worked to maintain a normal life for himself and his eleven-year-old daughter, Amity, in Suavidad Beach. It’s a quiet life, until a local eccentric known as Spooky Ed shows up on their doorstep. Ed entrusts Jeffy with hiding a strange and dangerous object—something he calls “the key to everything”—and tells Jeffy that he must never use the device. But after a visit from a group of ominous men, Jeffy and Amity find themselves accidentally activating the key and discovering an extraordinary truth. The device allows them to jump between parallel planes at once familiar and bizarre, wondrous and terrifying. And Jeffy and Amity can’t help but wonder, could Michelle be just a click away?" | Contributed