I somehow missed the last few posts in this thread. Thanks for the recommendation of The Kitchen House, Kelley -- I'll have to look for that.
I ended up putting down 77 Shadow Street; it started off so great, but then it started to drag, and drag, and.....drag. I finally put it on the shelf and started I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark.
Kaleidoscope_Eyes, not sure if you were directing your query about Dean Koontz at anyone in particular, but in my own opinion, Dean Koontz is a great author, although his endings tend to be a bit disappointing. Although I didn't care for 77 Shadow Street, most of his other ones are pretty good. His books are easy reads and interesting as well as creepy. I can recommend some specific titles, if you like.