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Sole Survivor Mass Market Paperback – July 25, 2006

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,928 ratings

A catastrophic, unexplainable plane crash leaves three hundred and thirty dead—no survivors. Among the victims are the wife and two daughters of Joe Carpenter, a Los Angeles Post crime reporter.

A year after the crash, still gripped by an almost paralyzing grief, Joe encounters a woman named Rose, who claims to have survived the crash. She holds out the possibility of a secret that will bring Joe peace of mind. But before he can ask any questions, she slips away.

Driven now by rage (have the authorities withheld information?) and a hope almost as unbearable as his grief (if there is one survivor, are there others?), Joe sets out to find the mysterious woman. His search immediately leads him into the path of a powerful and shadowy organization hell-bent on stopping Rose before she can reveal what she knows about the crash.

Sole Survivor unfolds at a heart-stopping pace, as a desperate chase and a shattering emotional odyssey lead Joe to a truth that will force him to reassess everything he thought he knew about life and death—a truth that, given the chance, will rock the world and redefine the destiny of humanity.
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About the Author

Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives with his wife, Gerda, and the enduring spirit of their golden retriever, Trixie, in southern California.


From the Hardcover edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter Two

Later Saturday morning, driving to Santa Monica, Joe Carpenter suffered an anxiety attack. His chest tightened, and he was able to draw breath only with effort. When he lifted one hand from the wheel, his fingers quivered like those of a palsied old man.

He was overcome by a sense of falling, as from a great height, as though his Honda had driven off the freeway into an inexplicable and bottomless abyss. The pavement stretched unbroken ahead of him, and the tires sang against the blacktop, but he could not reason himself back to a perception of stability.

Indeed, the plummeting sensation grew so severe and terrifying that he took his foot off the accelerator and tapped the brake pedal.

Horns blared and skidding tires squealed as traffic adjusted to his sudden deceleration. As cars and trucks swept past the Honda, the drivers glared murderously at Joe or mouthed offensive words or made obscene gestures. This was Greater Los Angeles in an age of change, crackling with the energy of doom, yearning for the Apocalypse, where an unintended slight or an inadvertent trespass on someone else's turf might result in a thermonuclear response.

His sense of falling did not abate. His stomach turned over as if he were aboard a roller coaster, plunging along a precipitous length of track. Although he was alone in the car, he heard the screams of passengers, faint at first and then louder, not the good-humored shrieks of thrill seekers at an amusement park, but cries of genuine anguish.

As though from a distance, he listened to himself whispering, "
No, no, no, no."

A brief gap in traffic allowed him to angle the Honda off the pavement. The shoulder of the freeway was narrow. He stopped as close as possible to the guardrail, over which lush oleander bushes loomed like a great cresting green tide.

He put the car in Park but didn't switch off the engine. Even though he was sheathed in cold sweat, he needed the chill blasts of air conditioning to be able to breathe. The pressure on his chest increased. Each stuttering inhalation was a struggle, and each hot exhalation burst from him with an explosive wheeze.

Although the air in the Honda was clear, Joe smelled smoke. He tasted it too: the acrid mélange of burning oil, melting plastic, smoldering vinyl, scorched metal.

When he glanced at the dense clusters of leaves and the deep-red flowers of the oleander pressing against the windows on the passenger side, his imagination morphed them into billowing clouds of greasy smoke. The window became a rectangular porthole with rounded corners and thick dual-pane glass.

Joe might have thought he was losing his mind—if he hadn't suffered similar anxiety attacks during the past year. Although sometimes as much as two weeks passed between episodes, he often endured as many as three in one day, each lasting between ten minutes and half an hour.

He had seen a therapist. The counseling had not helped.

His doctor recommended anti-anxiety medication. He rejected the prescription. He wanted to feel the pain. It was all he had.

Closing his eyes, covering his face with his icy hands, he strove to regain control of himself, but the catastrophe continued to unfold around him. The sense of falling intensified. The smell of smoke thickened. The screams of phantom passengers grew louder.

Everything shook. The floor beneath his feet. The cabin walls. The ceiling. Horrendous rattling and twanging and banging and gong-like clanging accompanied the shaking, shaking, shaking.

"Please," he pleaded.

Without opening his eyes, he lowered his hands from his face. They lay fisted at his sides.

After a moment, the small hands of frightened children clutched at his hands, and he held them tightly.

The children were not in the car, of course, but in their seats in the doomed airliner. Joe was flashing back to the crash of Flight 353. For the duration of this seizure, he would be in two places at once: in the real world of the Honda and in the Nationwide Air 747 as it found its way down from the serenity of the stratosphere, through an overcast night sky, into a meadow as unforgiving as iron.

Michelle had been sitting between the kids. Her hands, not Joe's, were those that Chrissie and Nina gripped in their last long minutes of unimaginable dread.

As the shaking grew worse, the air was filled with projectiles. Paperback books, laptop computers, pocket calculators, flatware and dishes—because a few passengers had not yet finished dinner when disaster struck--plastic drinking glasses, single-serving bottles of liquor, pencils, and pens ricocheted through the cabin.

Coughing because of the smoke, Michelle would have urged the girls to keep their heads down.
Heads down. Protect your faces.

Such faces. Beloved faces. Seven-year-old Chrissie had her mother's high cheekbones and clear green eyes. Joe would never forget the flush of joy that suffused Chrissie's face when she was taking a ballet lesson, or the squint-eyed concentration with which she approached home plate to take her turn at bat in Little League baseball games. Nina, only four, the pug-nosed munchkin with eyes as blue as sapphires, had a way of crinkling her sweet face in pure delight at the sight of a dog or cat. Animals were drawn to her—and she to them—as though she were the reincarnation of St. Francis of Assisi, which was not a far-fetched idea when one saw her gazing with wonder and love upon even an ugly garden lizard cupped in her small, careful hands.

Heads down. Protect your faces.

In that advice was hope, the implication that they would all survive and that the worst thing that might happen to them would be a face-disfiguring encounter with a hurtling laptop or broken glass.

The fearsome turbulence increased. The angle of descent grew more severe, pinning Joe to his seat, so that he couldn't easily bend forward and protect his face.

Maybe the oxygen masks dropped from overhead, or maybe damage to the craft had resulted in a systems failure, with the consequence that masks had not been deployed at every seat. He didn't know if Michelle, Chrissie, and Nina had been able to breathe or if, choking on the billowing soot, they had struggled futilely to find fresh air.

Smoke surged more thickly through the passenger compartment. The cabin became as claustrophobic as any coal mine deep beneath the surface of the earth.

In the blinding blackdamp, hidden sinuosities of fire uncoiled like snakes. The wrenching terror of the aircraft's uncontrolled descent was equaled by the terror of not knowing where those flames were or when they might flash with greater vigor through the 747.

As the stress on the airliner increased to all but intolerable levels, thunderous vibrations shuddered through the fuselage. The giant wings thrummed as though they would tear loose. The steel frame groaned like a living beast in mortal agony, and perhaps minor welds broke with sounds as loud and sharp as gunshots. A few rivets sheered off, each with a piercing
screeeeek.

To Michelle and Chrissie and little Nina, perhaps it seemed that the plane would disintegrate in flight and that they would be cast into the black sky, be spun away from one another, plummeting in their separate seats to three separate deaths, each abjectly alone at the instant of impact.

The huge 747-400, however, was a marvel of design and a triumph of engineering, brilliantly conceived and soundly constructed. In spite of the mysterious hydraulics failure that rendered the aircraft uncontrollable, the wings did not tear loose, and the fuselage did not disintegrate. Its powerful Pratt and Whitney engines screaming as if in defiance of gravity, Nationwide Flight 353 held together throughout its final descent.

At some point Michelle would have realized that all hope was lost, that they were in a dying plunge. With characteristic courage and selflessness, she would have thought only of the children then, would have concentrated on comforting them, distracting them as much as possible from thoughts of death. No doubt she leaned toward Nina, pulled her close, and in spite of the breath-stealing fumes, spoke into the girl's ear to be heard above the clamor:
It's okay, baby, we're together, I love you, hold on to Mommy, I love you, you're the best little girl who ever was. Shaking down, down, down through the Colorado night, her voice full of emotion but devoid of panic, she had surely sought out Chrissie too: It's all right, I'm with you, honey, hold my hand, I love you so much, I'm so very proud of you, we're together, it's all right, we'll always be together.

In the Honda alongside the freeway, Joe could hear Michelle's voice almost as if from memory, as though he had been with her as she had comforted the children. He wanted desperately to believe that his daughters had been able to draw upon the strength of the exceptional woman who had been their mother. He needed to know that the last thing the girls heard in this world was Michelle telling them how very precious they were, how cherished.

The airliner met the meadow with such devastating impact that the sound was heard more than twenty miles away in the rural Colorado vastness, stirring hawks and owls and eagles out of trees and into flight, startling weary ranchers from their armchairs and early beds.

In the Honda, Joe Carpenter let out a muffled cry. He doubled over as if he had been struck hard in the chest.

The crash was catastrophic. Flight 353 exploded on impact and tumbled across the meadow, disintegrating into thousands of scorched and twisted fragments, spewing orange gouts of burning jet fuel that set fire to evergreens at the edge of the field. Three hundred and thirty people, including passengers and crew, perished instantly.

Michelle, who had taught Joe Carpenter most of what he knew about love and compassion, was snuffed out in that merciless mome...

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam (July 25, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553589490
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553589498
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.3 x 1.19 x 6.79 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 3,928 ratings

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Dean Koontz
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Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
3,928 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers enjoyed the book and found it readable. They found the storyline exciting and thought-provoking, with interesting circumstances and action. The concept was intriguing for them, and they found the book gripping and entertaining until the very end. The characters were well-developed and believable, with outstanding dialogue between them. However, some readers felt the content was too depressing and sad, with too much death and dying.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

74 customers mention "Readability"69 positive5 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They describe it as one of Dean Koontz's best novels and a page-turner. The story is well-written and has an engaging plot.

"...As a novel? Very good." Read more

"I often turn to Koontz when I want a deliciously sharp, satisfying read that has mystery, horror, thrill of a good chase, a possible supernatural..." Read more

"One of my favorite books of all time and one of Koontz' best written books...." Read more

"...Yet despite the flaws, this book is still a page turner. The pace is rocking along, and the ending gives you a wonderful lift...." Read more

56 customers mention "Storyline"42 positive14 negative

Customers enjoy the storyline. They find it exciting, with creative settings and interesting circumstances. The book has lots of action, emotion, and keeps you guessing until the end. Readers appreciate the wonderful combination of horror, sci-fi, and spirituality in the story.

"...Once it does, it’s a winner up to its well done conclusion. Only, two things. Mr. Koontz, airframes are not made of steel...." Read more

"...when I want a deliciously sharp, satisfying read that has mystery, horror, thrill of a good chase, a possible supernatural story line and of course..." Read more

"...understanding of scientists, their theories and secrets but the book had action...." Read more

"...The story wraps up too quickly and I'm left with unanswered questions, which irks me to no end when I know that no more information toward a..." Read more

18 customers mention "Thought provoking"15 positive3 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking and engaging. They appreciate the human insights and imaginative perspective. The concept is intriguing, with themes of God's existence and otherworldly beings. The book is uplifting and uses creative comparisons and caricatures.

"...there was a lot of that but it made the story realistic, it helped me feel what he felt, it put me in his shoes and made the answer only that more..." Read more

"...on, was kept on the edge of my seat throughout the book, loved the vivid descriptions of the character's surroundings or thoughts, and just..." Read more

"This was a good Dean Koontz novel. He continues to espouse either themes of God's existence and either/or dogs with otherworldly traits, but not so..." Read more

"I enjoy the amaginative comparisons and the caricature Koontz uses in his stories...." Read more

16 customers mention "Interest"16 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's engaging mystery and suspense. They find it exciting, with a thrilling chase and supernatural elements. The detail helps build the suspense and keeps readers guessing until the end. The book is intense and emotionally engaging, drawing them in from start to finish.

"...a deliciously sharp, satisfying read that has mystery, horror, thrill of a good chase, a possible supernatural story line and of course great..." Read more

"...The action was non-stop and it kept me wondering until the very end. The only thing that I dis-liked a wee bit was the uber descriptive prose...." Read more

"...about Mr. Koontz' writing is the detail he puts into it, helping to build the suspense...." Read more

"Wonderful book. Kept my interest until the end...." Read more

8 customers mention "Character development"8 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the well-developed characters with believable personalities. They appreciate the engaging dialogue between the characters.

"...of a good chase, a possible supernatural story line and of course great characters...." Read more

"...The story was exciting and was a page turner. The characters are interesting and the story is fast-paced, without being corny...." Read more

"...The characters are decently drawn out and likeable. The villains aren't as menacing as some Koontz has written about." Read more

"Liked the characters and the development of the story. Good human insight. Sorry when it was done; a sequel would be great." Read more

5 customers mention "Grip"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the gripping and entertaining novel. They find it engaging from the beginning until the very last word. The story is described as touching and insightful, keeping readers hooked until the end.

"This book grabbed me from the beginning and held onto me until the very last word. I was often holding my breath. We can only hope!" Read more

"...Touching, insightful, Could not stop reading. Characters are well developed, believable, tortured souls." Read more

"Awesome! Sucks you in and hangs tight. I loved every second. I highly suggest you read this. Seriously get it." Read more

"This story grips you at the beginning and continues to hold on to the end. This one proves hope exists after tragedy." Read more

15 customers mention "Writing quality"10 positive5 negative

Customers have differing opinions about the writing quality. Some find it good and beautiful, with strong characters and a quick read. Others dislike the excessive descriptive prose and repetitive dialogue.

"Mr. Koontz has given us a well crafted and written page turner in “Sole Survivor.”..." Read more

"...Sometimes it was several pages of blah blah and all it was saying was "a tumble weed went buy". LOL!..." Read more

"...The story was exciting and was a page turner. The characters are interesting and the story is fast-paced, without being corny...." Read more

"...Well-written but hard for me to stay focused on it." Read more

5 customers mention "Sadness"0 positive5 negative

Customers find the book depressing and full of grief. They feel there is no hope in the story, with too much death and dying. Some readers felt concerned about the ending.

"...I can understand the grief of course but it made for a very depressing read and really slowed down the momentum of the book...." Read more

"I found this book to be very sad with a lot of technical content. I did however like how it ended." Read more

"...It was not believable No hope in this book To much death and dying" Read more

"Depressing, sad....not entertaining at all. Dod not like the whole feel of the book, but finished it just because of who the author is...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2021
    Mr. Koontz has given us a well crafted and written page turner in “Sole Survivor.” A noneventful flight goes down in Colorado with no feasible explanation. As you delve further, you’ll find a government involvement pitting evil attempting to eradicate good.
    The protagonist is heavily involved in finding the truth, being he lost his family in the crash.

    The book does slow a bit midway through, before picking up its pace once again. Once it does, it’s a winner up to its well done conclusion.
    Only, two things. Mr. Koontz, airframes are not made of steel. Secondly, nary a mention was given to the other crash victims. As a novel? Very good.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2010
    I often turn to Koontz when I want a deliciously sharp, satisfying read that has mystery, horror, thrill of a good chase, a possible supernatural story line and of course great characters. Sole Survivor was very interesting right from the start; a father mourning his dead family on a sudden quest for truth when his life takes on a strange turn. A year after his wife and daughters face an untimely death on a flight that should have been a piece of cake, Joe Carpenter finds himself followed by men who seem to have a slew of surveillance equipment to their disposal. He shrugs it off since he doesn't really care about life anymore being alone and lost, but when he finds a mysterious woman taking pictures of his family's graves at the cemetery he suddenly wants to live, only to discover why the surveillance is needed to follow him and get her. She tells him her name but is chased off, suddenly Joe knows that his life in the past year has been a lie, that there was no accident, something happened and the woman at the cemetery is in center of it all, the problem is finding her and not getting caught himself. Joe is on the run from some very powerful people who will not give up in silencing him once he's gotten the idea that this was no ordinary plane crash. The idea that she was on that flight doesn't seem to leave him alone, Joe becomes obsessed with discovering her ties to the whole affair.

    Once I started reading this I was totally sucked in, Joe wallowed in pity and pain, yes there was a lot of that but it made the story realistic, it helped me feel what he felt, it put me in his shoes and made the answer only that more urgent to get to. The story truly took a dive into the bizarre at the end, but I liked it, it was interesting and I enjoyed discovering the truth behind the tragedy. This was hard to put down once I started it and I had a nice time reading it, another good read from Koontz, and lots more to go.

    - Kasia S.
    21 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2023
    This book went beyond some of my understanding of scientists, their theories and secrets but the book had action. Main character was a mess but struggled to understand what happened and tried to move forward with what he learned.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2017
    One of my favorite books of all time and one of Koontz' best written books. This story offers a wonderful combination of horror, sci-fi and spirituality that you won't find in many books. I loved trying to figure out what was going on, was kept on the edge of my seat throughout the book, loved the vivid descriptions of the character's surroundings or thoughts, and just thoroughly enjoyed the "ride" from beginning to end. I recommend this book to anyone who likes sci fi or horror as it has a little of both. In fact, I would say the writers of Stranger Things "borrowed' quite a few ideas from this book. Maybe that's why I like that series as well. Happy reading!
    24 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2018
    Sole Survivor must be one of Koontz's older books, of course I don't know for sure since I bought only the Kindle version - that only gives me the recent date, not the original one.

    I did enjoy the book, BUT it just didn't have the depth of character from his later books. Also the 'villains', from the Corporation to the Henchmen, were almost all cardboard characters.

    Yet despite the flaws, this book is still a page turner. The pace is rocking along, and the ending gives you a wonderful lift.

    This book is perfect for a Koontz fan (obviously), and anyone who loves a thriller with a supernatural twist.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2022
    I love a good plane crash story. The father’s search for answers was quite a ride. However, there were still a lot of unanswered questions I had at the end. I think I was wanting more closure with some of the characters. Otherwise, it was a good read.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2023
    This book grabbed me from the beginning and held onto me until the very last word. I was often holding my breath. We can only hope!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2011
    This was my second Dean Koontz book (the first was Velocity) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story was exciting and was a page turner. The characters are interesting and the story is fast-paced, without being corny. For a bit, I thought I was going to be very disappointed by the last 50 or so pages, but he pulled off the ending very nicely. I can't say much more without spoiling it, so I will just recommend reading it for yourself.

    If you like things like "Lost" (the TV show), you will likely find this story entertaining.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Alan Kilduff
    5.0 out of 5 stars All I can say is....WOW !!!
    Reviewed in Germany on May 5, 2020
    A MUST READ !! Every once in a while,someone hits the m
    Nail right on the head,well done Dean Koontz.🖖
  • Cookiemonster
    5.0 out of 5 stars Unputdownable thriller
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2020
    Loved this book. Only thing which was a bit disappointing was the end of the forest scene near the end, which didn’t seem to be explained at all. I can’t expand on that without spoilers though. I stayed up all night reading this book, very exciting thriller.
  • MCLELIAH
    5.0 out of 5 stars Suspense com a assinatura de Koontz é garantia de satisfação.
    Reviewed in Brazil on January 31, 2018
    O livro nos prende a atenção do início ao fim. É uma trama muito bem desenvolvida, prende tanto a atenção que não dá vontade de interromper a leitura até que cheguemos ao final. Ótima pedida para quem gosta do gênero.
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
    Reviewed in Australia on July 3, 2018
    Great 👍 opens up your mind makes you feel there is more to life Something waiting for you on the other side
  • Hermalyn
    5.0 out of 5 stars good WILL conquer evil
    Reviewed in Canada on May 3, 2016
    By the time Dean Koontz wrote this book, his style had begun to evolve, yet it is one of his masterpieces that every Dean Koontz fan simply MUST read. It is both suspenseful and dramatic and reminds us, in true Dean Koontz style, that there are forces at work in our lives everyday that we may not understand, but who's presence we can feel even in the smallest things. In the end, good WILL conquer evil. I have read this book twice - and will read it again