You tweak the author (i.e., me) as needed (“even if the book sometimes feels like a contractual obligation by a writer looking to pay the bills in-between more weighty projects”). But I laughed out loud because you obviously “got it”!!

As you point out, HOT STUFF wasn’t meant to be a scholarly work (unlike Victory Deferred, which is just out in late 2011 in a new updated edition–check out http://www.victorydeferred.com).

And as you also point out, the disco era gave the world not just great dance music–but it also inspired that four-on-the-floor beat that Lady Gaga and Ke$ha and others know is sure to get everyone shakin’ their booties (and buying their records).

Good times…even in the bad times. That’s what “disco” was about.

Darn! So many good things in the novel that I forgot some of them!

Amusingly enough, I once found excerpts of my review cited wihtout attribution in PR documents prepared for the LNG industry. (Try Googling the most alarmist snippets of the review –maybe the document is still indexed.)

I enjoyed watching the film while I was in Australia –I hope the film eventually finds a North American audience, even if it’s through streaming or video on demand (The only way to legally see the film in America at the moment seems to be by importing the expensive Blu-Ray version.) Looking around, I also see that a second and third installment have been announced for 2012-2013. Not bad!

This book is not too far from the mainstream of what he’s written before, politically or thematically – or future-historically. The style is different, and it’s not as engagingly characterized as usual, but the relationships and politics fit very well.

I get the feeling that this story could perfectly well be about the beginning of a not too different set of meme wars. The way Ysabel keeps blacking out when she tries to say certain things, and the part about Daybreakers playing tapes that keep them calm and focused, sounds very meme-like (in the Barnes sense).

And the disdain for people who don’t think, and who play up ideological divides and prejudices, is only slightly hidden by being applied to real world political parties instead of the fictional ones from World Made of Glass.

I suppose the seeming lack of characterization will pay off in the long run as it may be due to the female protagonist. I can’t remember a particularly well characterized viewpoint woman character from one of his books, so he may be trying to broaden his range here.

I am enjoying it, but it’s not as good as the Giraut series. I may be in the minority in actually liking the relationship between Heather and Lenny though. Barnes finally found a way to write the kind of relationship he likes without making it off-putting to people who don’t share his turn ons.

I agree that the Koontz “formula” (like many other formulas in genre fiction) can easily be described, but not as easily replicated. Up to a certain point, that’s what distinguishes best-selling genre fiction authors from the others: Not only the ability to come up with a formula, but execute it so well that it appears quite a bit easier than it actually is. As I’ve said –I may not find Koontz’ fiction to my liking, but I admire his success and wish him the best. (The same goes for his readers!)

I’ve written a couple of blogs myself:
http://www.jagerfoods.com/uncategorized/the-evolution-of-dean-koontzs-icebound/
and
http://www.jagerfoods.com/books/catching-up-with-dean-koontz/
Drop me a line!