But when she inadvertently learns the identity of Vess’s intended next victim, waiting for him far from Napa Valley, Chyna is gripped with concern for this other person, who is as innocent as Chyna, and as endangered. Trapped in Vess’s deadly orbit, Chyna thinks only of getting out alive. Edgler Vess is a self-proclaimed “homicidal adventurer”: On this night, his adventure–murdering everyone in the house–becomes Chyna’s long nightmare. One of his favorites, GOD FEARS ME, is sometimes the last thing he whispers to his victims. He likes to make words with the letters from his name–GOD, DEMON, SAVE, RAGE, ANGER, FEAR, FOREVER, are just a few of them–and then makes sentences with the words. A man has entered the house, a man who lives for one purpose: to satisfy all appetites as they arise, to immerse himself in sensation, to live without fear, remorse, or limits–to live with intensity. And in this case her most disturbing instincts prove reliable. Suspicions she learned in childhood still make her uneasy in unfamiliar houses–even this one, where her closest friend is sound asleep down the hall.

Now rare trust has blossomed for Chyna into friendship with the woman whose family home she is visiting for the weekend: a farm in the Napa Valley surrounded by vineyards and hills, which Chyna can see from the guest-room window where she sits at one o’clock in the morning, fully dressed, unable to sleep. We earn a small commission if you purchase the book through this link.Ĭhyna Shepherd is a twenty-six-year-old woman whose deeply troubled childhood taught her the hard rules of survival, and whose adult life has been an unrelenting struggle for self-respect and safety.

This ranking proves the popular author has been no slouch when it comes to big-screen adaptations either.Published June 2006 by Random House Audio McGinley is widely believed to have influenced Alexandre Aja’s unbearably tense Haute Tension, for example. Related: Stephen King: Every Skeleton Crew Story Adapted So FarĪ television movie adaptation of Intensity starring Scrubs' John C. However, it may surprise some fans of Koontz to discover the writer’s work has actually been adapted to the screen numerous times, to varying degrees of success. Koontz’s first novel was published back in 1968, and since then he has churned out dozens of standalone books as well as numerous novel series. Perhaps part of what makes King the more popular creator in the eyes of the public, despite Koontz sharing his status as a bestseller, is the fact Koontz’s work has not produced as many blockbuster adaptations as Stephen King’s (although King does have some flops to his name like 2003’s Dreamcatcher).

Intensity by Dean Koontz