Do I love me a creepy pencil-sketch! The stark simplicity of it is a terrific contrast to the usually colorful and garish cover art of the day. Artist unknown, however...
Outstanding cover! Whoever the art director was for this editorial must have had some guts for going for such a bold choice. This just goes to prove that to stand out you do not need to be louder than every one else on the book rack/shelf. The simple but effective design catches the eye much better than yet another garish skull.
Although I have since come to rather despise the slick, heartless, prolific, formulaic production of what he's done over the past couple of decades, I did, for quite a stretch there, enjoy Koontz's work. Beginning with this particular paperback of his novel, THE VISION. Which I discovered one weekend afternoon at a supermarket near my home in 1979. My then - 17 year old self loved the faced paced, lurid thriller/chiller. And, when his WHISPERS & PHANTOMS folled in quick succession, I became a HUGE fan. Straight up through INTENSITY & a wee bit beyond. With TWILIGHT EYES standing out as my all time fav of his stuff. When & why did I stop being a fan of his work? Not to be crass, but honestly, I think it was around the time that he became the silliest looking client of The Hair Club For Men since Elton John. When his "image" & his corporate persona apparently became more important than his actual work. When he became "The TOM CLANCY of Horror". Eh, better redact that, because he doesn't ever really write horror anymore. I suppose "The TOM CLANCY of Thrillers" is more fitting. What with his now doing those Big name/little name author collaborations now. His having become a helluva lot more like his creation in his novel DEMON SEED than I'll bet he ever imagined possible.
Psychics are problematic. If they know too much, the plot's resolution will be too easy.
Instead, a lot of writers make the power sort of random. The psychics know some things, and don't know others, and there's no specific reason why, except that it keeps the story going.
I just saw the old movie "The Eyes of Laura Mars" and her psychic ability was almost completely useless. She could see killings only as they were happening, so she had no advance warning, and she saw everything from the killer's point of view, so she could never see what he looked like.
The Vision is actually pretty good. I used it to get back into Koontz after a long break.
I'd followed two great novels ("Intensity" and "Fear Nothing") with two I didn't like so much (False Memory and From the Corner of His Eye), and that put me off Koontz for several years.
The Vision was my attempt to start a new Koontz streak. I wasn't too fired up by the premise; I picked it because it was short.
It's always interesting to see which threads will get revived here, Will. This one's only three years old, though, not quite one of your "golden oldies", but it'll do. LOL. I still have fond memories of this book. Though, I likely wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much if I were to re-read it. Which, I wouldn't be able to do even if I wanted to because somewhere along the line this one turned up missing. Which, is really too bad, because I absolutely love this cover. Something tells me that although I'd be able to find countless copies of the novel's subsequent printings, I'd probably have to do some deep searching for this specific edition & since, as I recall it, this was the first edition of the paperback, it would be expensive. So, I'll just have to cope with being without this one on my shelves.
Funny, I've always liked psychic/occult detectives. Some of my favorite stuff to read, but then, I'm also partial to private eye stories. It's been a while, but I remember reading this one a couple of times. Although he disowns them now, I liked his sf novels pre-Whispers.
11 comments:
Outstanding cover! Whoever the art director was for this editorial must have had some guts for going for such a bold choice. This just goes to prove that to stand out you do not need to be louder than every one else on the book rack/shelf. The simple but effective design catches the eye much better than yet another garish skull.
Yes, I bought the book back when it came out just for that cover. The contents sadly, did not live up to the visuals.
It's about a psychic helping police find a killer, right? That's like one of my least fave horror scenarios. I'm not a Koontz fan.
No, me neither. He's a hack.
I don't like anything involving psychics. Always feels like a cheat.
Not real big on voodoo, either.
Although I have since come to rather despise the slick, heartless, prolific, formulaic production of what he's done over the past couple of decades, I did, for quite a stretch there, enjoy Koontz's work.
Beginning with this particular paperback of his novel, THE VISION. Which I discovered one weekend afternoon at a supermarket near my home in 1979.
My then - 17 year old self loved the faced paced, lurid thriller/chiller. And, when his WHISPERS & PHANTOMS folled in quick succession, I became a HUGE fan. Straight up through INTENSITY & a wee bit beyond. With TWILIGHT EYES standing out as my all time fav of his stuff.
When & why did I stop being a fan of his work?
Not to be crass, but honestly, I think it was around the time that he became the silliest looking client of The Hair Club For Men since Elton John. When his "image" & his corporate persona apparently became more important than his actual work. When he became "The TOM CLANCY of Horror". Eh, better redact that, because he doesn't ever really write horror anymore. I suppose "The TOM CLANCY of Thrillers" is more fitting. What with his now doing those Big name/little name author collaborations now. His having become a helluva lot more like his creation in his novel DEMON SEED than I'll bet he ever imagined possible.
Psychics are problematic. If they know too much, the plot's resolution will be too easy.
Instead, a lot of writers make the power sort of random. The psychics know some things, and don't know others, and there's no specific reason why, except that it keeps the story going.
I just saw the old movie "The Eyes of Laura Mars" and her psychic ability was almost completely useless. She could see killings only as they were happening, so she had no advance warning, and she saw everything from the killer's point of view, so she could never see what he looked like.
The Vision is actually pretty good. I used it to get back into Koontz after a long break.
I'd followed two great novels ("Intensity" and "Fear Nothing") with two I didn't like so much (False Memory and From the Corner of His Eye), and that put me off Koontz for several years.
The Vision was my attempt to start a new Koontz streak. I wasn't too fired up by the premise; I picked it because it was short.
"Psychic" anything is like my least favorite anything. I hate them even in fiction usually, THE DEAD ZONE is one exception.
It's always interesting to see which threads will get revived here, Will. This one's only three years old, though, not quite one of your "golden oldies", but it'll do. LOL.
I still have fond memories of this book. Though, I likely wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much if I were to re-read it. Which, I wouldn't be able to do even if I wanted to because somewhere along the line this one turned up missing. Which, is really too bad, because I absolutely love this cover.
Something tells me that although I'd be able to find countless copies of the novel's subsequent printings, I'd probably have to do some deep searching for this specific edition & since, as I recall it, this was the first edition of the paperback, it would be expensive.
So, I'll just have to cope with being without this one on my shelves.
Funny, I've always liked psychic/occult detectives. Some of my favorite stuff to read, but then, I'm also partial to private eye stories. It's been a while, but I remember reading this one a couple of times. Although he disowns them now, I liked his sf novels pre-Whispers.
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