''Strangers'' is a horror novel written by

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and sati ...

, released in 1986.

Plot

A group of people are brought together by their different and equally strange maladies. Dominick suffers from somnambulism, Ginger has unexplained lapses into a

fugue state Dissociative fugue ( ), previously referred to as a fugue state or psychogenic fugue,Dissociative Fugue (formerly Psychogenic Fugue) 'DSM-IV 300.13, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition'' is a rare psychiatric con ...

, Father Brendan loses his faith and later gains a miraculous "gift", and Ernie suffers from nyctophobia. Dominick receives Polaroids that lead him to the Tranquility Motel, situated in the middle of the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

"high-desert", thirty miles west of Elko. Together with Ned and Sandy, who run the restaurant next door to the motel, they discover that their true memories from the summer of the previous year may have been suppressed. Later Ginger, Jorja, and the other people who stayed at the Tranquility Motel are contacted and invited to join the group. Ginger shares that their memories are suppressed by Azrael Blocks, a means of brainwashing induced through drugs and hypnosis. She received hypnosis as a treatment to uncover a cause of her malady. The Tranquility "community" are unaware that those behind the suppression are watching them. They are joined by Jack Twist (who was led to the Tranquility Motel by a series of postcards placed there by an insider). The group finally comes up with a strategy to uncover the government secret that has been hidden at the Thunder Hill Depository in the hills.

Primary characters

*Dominick Corvaisis, author *Ginger Weiss, surgeon *Ernie Block, U.S.M.C. (ret.), and his wife, Faye Block *Brendan Cronin, priest and curate *Jack Twist, former Army Ranger and P.O.W., professional thief *Jorja Monatella, formerly Rykoff, Las Vegas casino cocktail waitress *Alan Rykoff, Jorja's estranged husband *Marcie Rykoff, their young daughter *Sandy Sarver, diner waitress, and her husband, Ned Sarver, short-order cook *Leland Falkirk, U.S. Army Colonel *Parker Faine, artist *Stefan Wycazik, parish priest

Nominations

World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (1987) British Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (1987)

Adaptation

In 2018, it was announced that an adaptation of Strangers is in development at Fox for a one hour drama created by

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

creator Jeff Davis. The project is a co-production between Fox and

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

References

External links

Strangers Book Review
American horror novels 1986 American novels 1980s horror novels Novels by Dean Koontz Novels set in Nevada {{1980s-horror-novel-stub