Dean Koontz

Dean Ray Koontz (born 1945 in Everett, Pennsylvania) is an American author whose novels became some of the best-selling suspense fiction of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. His books often blend horror, fantasy, science fiction and satire, which makes them hard to file under a single label.

He grew up in a household shaped by his father's alcoholism, an experience he has said influenced his writing. While studying at Shippensburg State College he won a fiction competition sponsored by The Atlantic Monthly. After graduating he taught English and, in the 1960s, worked on a federal program for disadvantaged children that disappointed him. The episode left a lasting mark on his political outlook, which he later described as a deep distrust of government combined with shifting positions on other issues.

His first novel, Star Quest, came out in 1968, and for a time he wrote mostly science fiction. In the 1970s he turned to suspense and horror, often under pen names such as David Axton or Leigh Nichols, sometimes publishing several books in a single year. His breakthrough came with Whispers in 1980 and, above all, with Demon Seed, his first bestseller. Koontz has said that the pseudonyms helped him avoid the damage that, in the view of some editors, befalls writers who switch genres.

His novels usually feature troubled characters, relentless chases and endings that tend toward hope, a trait he sets against the bleaker tone of Stephen King. Some of his early output remains disputed, since texts have been attributed to him that he says he never wrote. His legacy lies in enormous sales, numerous film and television adaptations and a long, steady presence on bestseller lists.