Title: Night Chills
Publication Year: 1976
Number of Pages: 367
Opening sentence: The dirt trail was narrow. Drooping boughs of tamarack, spruce, and pine scraped the roof and brushed the side windows of the Land Rover.
Main characters: Paul, Mark & Rya Annendale, Sam & Jenny Edison; Ogden Salsbury, Leonard Dawson, General Ernst Klinger
Basics of the plot: Set in the fall of 1977 in Black River, Maine; 3 men (Salsbury, Dawson, & Ernst) have set up the town as a testing ground for a new subliminal "key-lock" program that essentially allows them to have complete control over anyone they encounter. When Salsbury starts using the program to his own sexual ends and get caught in the act, things quickly spiral out of control. The only five people in the town unaffected by the drug/subliminals (the Annendales & Edisons) soon find themselves having to fight to get out of town alive.Style: Sci-fi
My review: A very interesting/creepy look into the possibilities with subliminals - and this was written in the 70s! I can't imagine what someone can do with them now. (Even Koontz himself notes that not all of the science in the book is made up). This book moves along at fairly steady pace as it bounces back and forth between the three men setting up the experiment and the present day families in Black River, until their paths all converge. There are themes of trusting loved ones and a very strong theme against using science for one's own gain. I will note that this particular novel is very graphic in several places, as most subliminals use sexual images, and some of Salsbury's encounters are described in detail. Not for younger readers!
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