Dean Koontz - Your Heart Belongs to Me

I've just finished reading one of my favorite books by Dean Koontz.  He is one of my favorite authors, I have not missed a single book of his.  I have found that Dean Koontz writes books that are not for everyone but he can weave a tale that takes you to places only he can imagine and takes the reader on an unbelievable journey.  Most of his writings are about suspense and thrills that take you to other dimensions and the characters wind up facing situations beyond their ability to cope.  Having said that I'd like to add that Your Heart Belongs to Me is actually believable.  Maybe I've been reading Dean Koontz stories a little too long. 

Your Heart Belongs to Me takes you into the life of the main character, Ryan Perry, who is all the things most humans wish they were.  Ryan is handsome, athletic, smart, rich and independent.  He also seems to have found a woman that fits into his life perfectly.  You can't help thinking that he's really lucky because each of his attributes blended together to form the perfect person.  He seems to have it all, but of course there has to be something wrong and for Ryan it is his health.  Just as Ryan's life seems to be perfectly balanced and going in the right direction he finds he has a rare heart problem that will require him to have a heart transplant.  He learns he has to go onto a waiting list and even with all his wealth he must follow procedures like anyone else. 

Of course there are situations woven into the storyline where Ryan needs to make some decisions and these decisions take him on a journey that he could never imagine.  He changes doctors and finds himself matched with a donor sooner than he ever thought possible and is happy that now, if he survives the operation, his life will return to normal, and perhaps he and Samantha, the love of his life, will be able to marry and live the life he always dreamed of. 

You have to remember in the back of your mind though, that this is a Dean Koontz book, certainly this can't be a story where they all live happily ever after.  There are situations in the first part of the book that all is not what it seems and you are about to go on a Dean Koontz journey of mystery and intrigue.  Surviving the operation is where the story turns and takes you through some twist and turns that will keep you turning the pages, holding your breath and even praying that Ryan survives to see a new day.  How can he come through a heart transplant with flying colors and then go through such horrors that he is facing.  But the horrors aren't of the usual unbelievable things Dean Koontz usually writes about.  This is where I can believe that Ryan's mind can actually come to the conclusions and paranoia Dean Koontz writes about. 

Dean Koontz weaves a wonderful tale and puts a perfect ending on a great tale of life, love and lessons to be learned through a person's experiences.  Ryan not only got a second chance at life with the gift of a heart transplant and learned that money just may be the root of all evil, but found out who he really is and how listening and paying attention to what your mind tells you is so very important.  He should have paid attention to things told to him by people who may or may not exist.

You may not be a Dean Koontz fan, but if you love suspense, terror, thrills and heartwarming stories I encourage you to read this book.  I not only found it hard to put down, but also totally believable and enlightening.  On a scale of one to ten, this is definitely a ten, well written, captivating, easy to read and understand, and a story that will make you think about life and the human psyche.