The Key to Midnight

Written by Dean Koontz

Narrated by Caitlin Kelly

A spine-tingling nightmare reawakened with a new recording & new narrator.

Joanna Rand left the U.S. ten years ago to sing in a Japanese nightclub. Ever since, she’s been haunted by the same horrifying nightmare. Each time she awakens, she feels violated, used, and scared. The only man who can help her is Alex Hunter. Ten years ago, he saw her picture in the papers as a senator’s daughter who’d disappeared. Now he has to bring her memories back to her—memories of a past more terrifying than they dreamed possible…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Nov 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713625278

Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz is the author of more than a dozen New York Times No. 1 bestsellers. His books have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, and his work is published in 38 languages. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania and lives with his wife Gerda and their dog Anna in southern California.

Reviews for The Key to Midnight

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 starsAlex is a private detective and recognizes Joanna when he walks into her club in Kyoto. He recognizes her as Lisa, who went missing 12 years ago and disappeared without a trace. Joanna insists she is not Lisa, but as they look further into it, they are convinced she is, but she really doesn’t remember being Lisa. She has memories of her life (as Joanna) before Kyoto and before 12 years ago. What happened? I thought this was pretty good. At first, I thought Alex was not a good person, but that turned out to be wrong (it wasn’t long before we figured this out, so it’s not a spoiler). The nightmares that Joanna had were creepy. This was originally written under a pseudonym, as it was a different genre than Koontz usually writes. He rewrote parts of it to update it in 1995 (from the original 1979), though a lot of the subject matter still felt a bit 70s. Overall, though, it was good.

[sharonmariabidwell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A re-read for me after many years. The opening mystery drew me in as much this time around as it did before. Though I want to love this book, the sexual violence seems to be a product of its time — I couldn't help feeling the book could have easily been as threatening without it. Still the reveal is big enough and logical and there are enough twists to make this an excellent thriller. I was pleased to discover an early kick-arse heroine, although she has flaws, and, in places, a naivete that's questionable (can't say more without spoilers).

[mrsrjd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the Dean Koontz I am used to. Glad it wasn't my first Koontz because it wouldn't have inspired me to read more of his work. "Just OK"

[thebooknerd · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a decent effort by Koontz, one of his better ones -- but far from his best. I found the plot largely boring, but the characters were interesting.

[blazingice0608 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good thriller, had a good fast pace like most Koontz novels, kept me guessing with some good twists and turns. However, like most of his older novels, there isnt quite as much depth that i have come to expect from him as usual.