Midnight (Dean Koontz)
Midnight (Original: "Midnight") is a novel by Dean Koontz , the original of which was first published in 1989 and which was published in German translation by Joachim Körber in 1990 by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag . He looks at possible misuse of microelectronics and biotechnology .
action
Thomas Shaddack, a delusional computer genius , finds a way to use microelectronics to gain complete control over people. A liquid containing billions of tiny processors reduced to the size of molecules is injected into the victims . These attach to the individual body cells and can thus control the entire organism . The processors receive their instructions from a central computer via radio signals . The people “converted” in this way are defenselessly exposed to Shaddack's influence.
Such a convert will never suffer from disease again. Injuries heal in a few moments. The body can change its shape at will. Feelings and emotions are reduced to a barely perceptible minimum, only the feelings that are directly necessary for survival, especially fear and hunger, are fully preserved. The last point is examined in great detail by Koontz. In part, the action is described from the point of view of converted victims, who are aware of the loss of their feelings, but cannot feel sad about it. Some take refuge in a virtual world by literally merging with the computer. Others sink to the level of wild animals and terrorize their neighborhood.
As a first step, Shaddack plans to bring the small town of Moonlight Cove completely under his control, and then to rule all of humanity. At first everything goes according to plan. A set number of people are converted every day. But then the first murders occur. The number of unnatural deaths increases dramatically within a very short time. The FBI takes notice and sends undercover agent Sam Booker to Moonlight Cove. Together with some residents who have not yet converted, he takes up the fight against an overpowering enemy.
As in most of Koontz's novels, there is a rather positive mood in “Midnight” despite the gruesome incidents. The people involved seem personable, the touristic ambience of the small town on the Californian Pacific coast does the rest. Even Shaddack, the only negative figure, simply follows his inner compulsions.
expenditure
- Dean Koontz: Midnight . Translated by Joachim Körber , Heyne Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-453-03782-0
- Dean Koontz: Midnight . Heyne Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 978-3453069732