(no subject)
James Milne, Class E Lightning, Dean Koontz, 355 pgs, Fiction, Berkley Books, NY
-“Blurb” -
Everything in Laura Shane’s life has been a struggle, from her birth on she has dealt with destiny wanting the worst for her, but Laura’s faithful guardian is there many times to rescue her from fate. Laura’s worst nightmares become reality several times, and the only one that can make things right is considered a traitor in his own time because of his meddling in Laura’s life. Nothing could have prepared Laura for the events that take place, or even have prepared her angel-like guardian for the threat of the Secret Police. But as Laura looses more and more loved ones, she becomes more and more determined not to let go of her son Chris, even as trained killers close in. Laura has every right to be as protective as she is which includes keeping enough guns and ammunition hidden around the house to fight off a small army, and keeping herself and Chris well trained in martial arts. Her best friend Thelma is worried about the lengths Laura has gone to protect her son, but she doesn’t care, as long as nothing happens to her and Chris, nothing can go wrong. But even with as much training as Laura and Chris have, one deadly surprise after another threatens to cause disaster at every turn, if it weren’t for her guardian being one step ahead of everything that happens, Laura would have lost a long time ago.
James Milne, Class E Lightning, Dean Koontz, 355 pgs, Fiction, Berkley Books, NY
-Book Review-
Lightning is a story told for someone who wants to be entertained, not for someone just looking for another book to pass the time. Published in 1989, Lightning is a fiction novel that instantly grips the attention of younger adults and teens, and holds on to it for the entire duration of the book. Whether you’re reading it at the moment or not, it will still be the main thing on your mind. Lightning is a story more aimed towards younger adults and teens because it is so fast paced and filled with action, never boring, or relaxing. It’s a story about the life of Laura Shane, at first a young girl who has run into problems before she was even old enough to realize what was happening, then a woman who is trying to figure out why these problems always happen to her. But whether she is old enough to realize it or not, her “guardian” Stefan has been watching her life, and is determined to stop the many terrible things that are in store for her.
When Laura’s’ mother is in the hospital, and Laura is about to be born, the families doctor proves to be incapable of performing a successful delivery for Laura. So Stefan, Laura’s “guardian angel”, steps in to set things right. As Laura gets older, she runs into more and more problems, involving her Father’s life, her own life, and the lives of those who care about her being at risk. Every time something comes up though, Stefan does the best he can to prevent at least Laura from being in harms way. But with people like Kokoschka and other members of the secret police trying to kill Stefan because of his meddling in Laura’s life, Stefan causes much more serious problems in Laura’s life while he is trying to fix all the others. After losing one person after another though, Laura comes to realize the she needs to start defending her self if she wants to keep herself and her son Chris alive.
I found this book to be an extremely good piece of literature because it was a much interesting as it was entertaining and memorable. The story was based on things that could happen today, nothing was too unrealistic or fake. I find it’s a lot more interesting to read about something that could happen to you because you can connect with it more and relate to it a lot easier. The way the story was written also made it a lot more interesting, it made you really become attached to characters like Laura and Chris, which kept you on edge when something bad was possibly going to happen to them, and made you breathe a sigh of relief when Stefan stepped in to help. It was also very entertaining to read Lightning because there is always something happening that you wouldn’t have expected and things that you thought you had predicted end up being something completely different from what you expected. It’s the kind of book that you think you have all figured out, but as events continue and situations change, the outcome is always completely unpredictable. A lot of the things that happen to Laura are very shocking too, and are things that most people don’t really dare to talk about, so when you read about them it grabs your attention and really makes you connect with Laura.
In the beginning of the story, Laura has a dependency on her “guardian” and every time trouble comes up, she pretty much just sits and waits for him to help her and set things right. I disagree with this concept because when you depend on someone all the time, if something goes wrong, you don’t know what to do, and end up in a worse situation because of your dependency. This happens when Laura figures that Stefan will take care of “The Eel” but Stefan only badly beats him and warns him to stay away from Laura. This causes “The Eel” to come back for Laura at an unexpected time, and Laura is caught off guard with no way out. Towards the middle of the story though, Laura starts to believe that if she is going to be ok then she is going to have to start defending herself and Chris. I agree much more with this idea, because if people learned to defend themselves instead of always counting on a “superior being” to help them, they would be much better off in the situation. At the end of the book though, Laura is talking to her best friend, Thelma, about how “Fate is” and people just have to accept it. I believe this is true to a certain degree, but people can’t go through their whole lives just accepting every thing that happens to them as their destiny, or they’ll never try to succeed further than they are told they can.
This book is also more geared to people my age because it talks a lot about time travel and scientific achievements that people today would believe impossible, but the time travel takes place from the past to the future, instead of some futuristic society examining our society. A lot of ideas, like paradoxes, are explained which really makes the idea of time travel almost seem believable, to a certain limit. People around my age generally want to read things that are more down to earth, but Lightning has the perfect combination of unbelievable concepts and realistic concepts. The ending circumstances suggest that much more is going to happen to Laura, Chris, and Stefan and it doesn’t really make sense that everything just magically works out in the end. But if Dean Koontz kept going with the story, he could never really stop and have the perfect ending because of all the unknown possibilities caused by time travel.
I found that this book really changed my outlook on stories based on unrealistic things like time travel and secret police chasing around an armed celebrity. But all the details work out every time, and everything is explained in a way that makes sense because it is usually explained by Chris, who is very smart for such a young kid. The story related to my life because some things have happened along the way of growing up that weren’t exactly my favorite times, but I always had the idea that Laura had when she was talking about how no one can really help you more than you can help yourself. I always believed in those kinds of ideas because experience showed me how as much as you can depend on people like your friends and family, but when it comes down to it, you have to help yourself to make the right decisions.
Over all I found this book very good because the way it’s written, the characters, the plot, and the theme all would appeal to a younger adult or a teen looking for a thrilling book. The style of writing uses profanity occasionally and many adult situations that are exactly the type of reading that most high school students are interested in. The characters are based on people just like people around my age deal with every day, the plot is based on the world that we live in and the time we live in. Also the theme is very fast paced and appealing to the younger reader who is looking for a fiction thriller.
James Milne, Class E Lightning, Dean Koontz, 355 pgs, Fiction, Berkley Books, NY
-Most Important Event-
The event that I found to be the most important in the book, and highlighted as the most important on the time line was the sequence of events during the death of Danny, Laura’s husband. Laura has been going through a fairly good time in her life, well deserved after such a troubled childhood. Somewhat recently married to Danny, and had her first and only son Chris, Laura has established a family. She has become very successful with her career as an author, and owns two homes in California. One of her homes is in the snowy climate of northern California, and she is on her way to the other, in southern California, with her family, when Stefan has to step in again.
A truck carrying two snowmobiles loses control and kills the three in a head on collision in Laura’s near future. Stefan has to go to the future, stop Laura from being killed along with Danny and Chris, and continue his sabotage of Hitler’s master plan. Meanwhile Kokoschka is given the order to find Stefan, Laura, Chris, and Danny and kill every one of them. This causes many more problems because as Stefan saves Laura and her family, Kokoschka steps in and opens fire on the four of them. Danny and Kokoschka are killed in the gunfire and Stefan leaves Laura and Chris devastated with the loss of Danny, with a promise to return very soon and explain everything.
This is a turning point in Laura’s life because she decides that Danny’s death will be the last time that she will loose someone that she loves and becomes extremely protective of her self and Chris. Up until now, Laura has been somewhat dependent on her “guardian” to save her when she needs it, but now learns to be self dependent and ready for anything. It almost seems like Laura has become too defensive, with hidden guns all over the house, and martial arts training. But her fears are justified later on in the story. Thelma is a little worried about Laura at first, but after spending a weekend with her and Chris, she realizes Laura is just worried and doesn’t want to lose her son. As it turns out, Laura, Chris, and Stefan would have been killed later on if it hadn’t been for Laura’s weapons, training, and quick thinking.
-“Blurb” -
Everything in Laura Shane’s life has been a struggle, from her birth on she has dealt with destiny wanting the worst for her, but Laura’s faithful guardian is there many times to rescue her from fate. Laura’s worst nightmares become reality several times, and the only one that can make things right is considered a traitor in his own time because of his meddling in Laura’s life. Nothing could have prepared Laura for the events that take place, or even have prepared her angel-like guardian for the threat of the Secret Police. But as Laura looses more and more loved ones, she becomes more and more determined not to let go of her son Chris, even as trained killers close in. Laura has every right to be as protective as she is which includes keeping enough guns and ammunition hidden around the house to fight off a small army, and keeping herself and Chris well trained in martial arts. Her best friend Thelma is worried about the lengths Laura has gone to protect her son, but she doesn’t care, as long as nothing happens to her and Chris, nothing can go wrong. But even with as much training as Laura and Chris have, one deadly surprise after another threatens to cause disaster at every turn, if it weren’t for her guardian being one step ahead of everything that happens, Laura would have lost a long time ago.
James Milne, Class E Lightning, Dean Koontz, 355 pgs, Fiction, Berkley Books, NY
-Book Review-
Lightning is a story told for someone who wants to be entertained, not for someone just looking for another book to pass the time. Published in 1989, Lightning is a fiction novel that instantly grips the attention of younger adults and teens, and holds on to it for the entire duration of the book. Whether you’re reading it at the moment or not, it will still be the main thing on your mind. Lightning is a story more aimed towards younger adults and teens because it is so fast paced and filled with action, never boring, or relaxing. It’s a story about the life of Laura Shane, at first a young girl who has run into problems before she was even old enough to realize what was happening, then a woman who is trying to figure out why these problems always happen to her. But whether she is old enough to realize it or not, her “guardian” Stefan has been watching her life, and is determined to stop the many terrible things that are in store for her.
When Laura’s’ mother is in the hospital, and Laura is about to be born, the families doctor proves to be incapable of performing a successful delivery for Laura. So Stefan, Laura’s “guardian angel”, steps in to set things right. As Laura gets older, she runs into more and more problems, involving her Father’s life, her own life, and the lives of those who care about her being at risk. Every time something comes up though, Stefan does the best he can to prevent at least Laura from being in harms way. But with people like Kokoschka and other members of the secret police trying to kill Stefan because of his meddling in Laura’s life, Stefan causes much more serious problems in Laura’s life while he is trying to fix all the others. After losing one person after another though, Laura comes to realize the she needs to start defending her self if she wants to keep herself and her son Chris alive.
I found this book to be an extremely good piece of literature because it was a much interesting as it was entertaining and memorable. The story was based on things that could happen today, nothing was too unrealistic or fake. I find it’s a lot more interesting to read about something that could happen to you because you can connect with it more and relate to it a lot easier. The way the story was written also made it a lot more interesting, it made you really become attached to characters like Laura and Chris, which kept you on edge when something bad was possibly going to happen to them, and made you breathe a sigh of relief when Stefan stepped in to help. It was also very entertaining to read Lightning because there is always something happening that you wouldn’t have expected and things that you thought you had predicted end up being something completely different from what you expected. It’s the kind of book that you think you have all figured out, but as events continue and situations change, the outcome is always completely unpredictable. A lot of the things that happen to Laura are very shocking too, and are things that most people don’t really dare to talk about, so when you read about them it grabs your attention and really makes you connect with Laura.
In the beginning of the story, Laura has a dependency on her “guardian” and every time trouble comes up, she pretty much just sits and waits for him to help her and set things right. I disagree with this concept because when you depend on someone all the time, if something goes wrong, you don’t know what to do, and end up in a worse situation because of your dependency. This happens when Laura figures that Stefan will take care of “The Eel” but Stefan only badly beats him and warns him to stay away from Laura. This causes “The Eel” to come back for Laura at an unexpected time, and Laura is caught off guard with no way out. Towards the middle of the story though, Laura starts to believe that if she is going to be ok then she is going to have to start defending herself and Chris. I agree much more with this idea, because if people learned to defend themselves instead of always counting on a “superior being” to help them, they would be much better off in the situation. At the end of the book though, Laura is talking to her best friend, Thelma, about how “Fate is” and people just have to accept it. I believe this is true to a certain degree, but people can’t go through their whole lives just accepting every thing that happens to them as their destiny, or they’ll never try to succeed further than they are told they can.
This book is also more geared to people my age because it talks a lot about time travel and scientific achievements that people today would believe impossible, but the time travel takes place from the past to the future, instead of some futuristic society examining our society. A lot of ideas, like paradoxes, are explained which really makes the idea of time travel almost seem believable, to a certain limit. People around my age generally want to read things that are more down to earth, but Lightning has the perfect combination of unbelievable concepts and realistic concepts. The ending circumstances suggest that much more is going to happen to Laura, Chris, and Stefan and it doesn’t really make sense that everything just magically works out in the end. But if Dean Koontz kept going with the story, he could never really stop and have the perfect ending because of all the unknown possibilities caused by time travel.
I found that this book really changed my outlook on stories based on unrealistic things like time travel and secret police chasing around an armed celebrity. But all the details work out every time, and everything is explained in a way that makes sense because it is usually explained by Chris, who is very smart for such a young kid. The story related to my life because some things have happened along the way of growing up that weren’t exactly my favorite times, but I always had the idea that Laura had when she was talking about how no one can really help you more than you can help yourself. I always believed in those kinds of ideas because experience showed me how as much as you can depend on people like your friends and family, but when it comes down to it, you have to help yourself to make the right decisions.
Over all I found this book very good because the way it’s written, the characters, the plot, and the theme all would appeal to a younger adult or a teen looking for a thrilling book. The style of writing uses profanity occasionally and many adult situations that are exactly the type of reading that most high school students are interested in. The characters are based on people just like people around my age deal with every day, the plot is based on the world that we live in and the time we live in. Also the theme is very fast paced and appealing to the younger reader who is looking for a fiction thriller.
James Milne, Class E Lightning, Dean Koontz, 355 pgs, Fiction, Berkley Books, NY
-Most Important Event-
The event that I found to be the most important in the book, and highlighted as the most important on the time line was the sequence of events during the death of Danny, Laura’s husband. Laura has been going through a fairly good time in her life, well deserved after such a troubled childhood. Somewhat recently married to Danny, and had her first and only son Chris, Laura has established a family. She has become very successful with her career as an author, and owns two homes in California. One of her homes is in the snowy climate of northern California, and she is on her way to the other, in southern California, with her family, when Stefan has to step in again.
A truck carrying two snowmobiles loses control and kills the three in a head on collision in Laura’s near future. Stefan has to go to the future, stop Laura from being killed along with Danny and Chris, and continue his sabotage of Hitler’s master plan. Meanwhile Kokoschka is given the order to find Stefan, Laura, Chris, and Danny and kill every one of them. This causes many more problems because as Stefan saves Laura and her family, Kokoschka steps in and opens fire on the four of them. Danny and Kokoschka are killed in the gunfire and Stefan leaves Laura and Chris devastated with the loss of Danny, with a promise to return very soon and explain everything.
This is a turning point in Laura’s life because she decides that Danny’s death will be the last time that she will loose someone that she loves and becomes extremely protective of her self and Chris. Up until now, Laura has been somewhat dependent on her “guardian” to save her when she needs it, but now learns to be self dependent and ready for anything. It almost seems like Laura has become too defensive, with hidden guns all over the house, and martial arts training. But her fears are justified later on in the story. Thelma is a little worried about Laura at first, but after spending a weekend with her and Chris, she realizes Laura is just worried and doesn’t want to lose her son. As it turns out, Laura, Chris, and Stefan would have been killed later on if it hadn’t been for Laura’s weapons, training, and quick thinking.