Darlene's Book Nook: #Book #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz @deankoontz #BantamBooks @penguinrandom

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

#Book #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz @deankoontz #BantamBooks @penguinrandom

TITLE: Your Heart Belongs to Me

AUTHOR: Dean Koontz

PUBLISHER: Bantam

PUBLICATION DATE: October 27, 2009 (first published 2008)

FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 364 pages

GENRE: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

ISBN: 9780553591712

From the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense comes a riveting thriller that probes the deepest terrors of the human psyche—and the ineffable mystery of what truly makes us who we are. Here a brilliant young man finds himself fighting for his very existence in a battle that starts with the most frightening words of all…

At thirty-four, Internet entrepreneur Ryan Perry seemed to have the world in his pocket—until the first troubling symptoms appeared out of nowhere. Within days, he’s diagnosed with incurable cardiomyopathy and finds himself on the waiting list for a heart transplant; it’s his only hope, and it’s dwindling fast. Ryan is about to lose it all…his health, his girlfriend Samantha, and his life.

One year later, Ryan has never felt better. Business is good and he hopes to renew his relationship with Samantha. Then the unmarked gifts begin to appear—a box of Valentine candy hearts, a heart pendant. Most disturbing of all, a graphic heart surgery video and the chilling message: Your heart belongs to me.

In a heartbeat, the medical miracle that gave Ryan a second chance at life is about to become a curse worse than death. For Ryan is being stalked by a mysterious woman who feels entitled to everything he has. She’s the spitting image of the twenty-six-year-old donor of the heart beating steadily in Ryan’s chest. And she's come to take it back.

MY REVIEW:

Ryan Perry has it made. He's a young, good-looking guy in his early 30s with everything he could ever want including a beautiful girlfriend. He struck it rich as the CEO of a social networking site, and now he's living the dream. While out surfing one day, he gets chest pain and his heart races and attributes it to an anxiety attack. When it happens again, he takes it seriously and contacts his doctor who arranges for tests. He is stunned when he is told that he needs a heart transplant. After a few months, a donor is found and Ryan undergoes surgery. Everything goes well, and then the timeline moves ahead one year. Someone is gaining access to his home, bypassing his security, and leaving trinkets and gifts for him with an ominous message. Ryan believes that his new stalker is somehow tied to the donor heart that he received.

When Koontz describes Ryan's heart episodes, he is so descriptive and convincing that it gave my heart sympathy pains! I wonder if Koontz has first-hand experience with this, or whether it's just good research. I really was so caught up in this story, the first half of which was like a medical mystery and the second half was like a creepy stalker thriller. This was a fast read for me, and I really enjoyed it! I'm a big Koontz fan, generally preferring his older work, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this newer (to me) novel.

MY RATING: