False Memory by Dean Koontz

Martie and Dusty Rhodes may not have perfect lives and friends but that did not stop them from helping Martie's friend Susan Jagger and Dusty's brother Skeet. Susan has extreme agoraphobia while Skeet has had drug rehab several times without any positive result. Susan relies on Martie as her only connection to the rest of the world. Susan takers her to psychologist Dr. Ahriman to get better yet she seems to get worse everyday. However, Susan is a different person when with Dr. Ahriman. Meanwhile Skeet tried to commit suicide while at work when he was introduced in the book. 

Things took a turn for the worse when Martie herself experienced frightening episodes of autophobia. After a visit to Dr. Ahriman she went home feeling that she is a danger to herself and her husband. Whenever she sees sharp objects she gets a crazy notion that she might use one on Dusty.

Dusty also felt odd things happening when he was with his brother Skeet after the attempted suicide. When Skeet fell into a strange sleep after Dusty mentioned a certain name, Dusty suspected that something more than drugs was involved. He also noticed that he could not recall what he did some hours in a day.

What the couple were about to discover involved more than just a paranoid woman and a drug addict. Not only are Susan's and Skeet's lives in danger but Martie's and Dusty's sanity will also be tested.

The title is already a giveaway of what Martie and Dusty will discover about themselves. Although brainwashing and hypnotism are obvious explanations, the reasons for such methods are worth discovering. There are some likely candidates as to who the perpetrator is but some names could give clues (hint: mythology).

Koontz has made several kinds of antagonists with their own twisted ways of tormenting the lead characters, but not like the one in this book. Physical abuse or torture is terrible but it seems so conventional when compared to the violation of both the body and the mind.

As for the characters, Koontz has a gift for creating characters readers can easily empathize with. Martie and Dusty are no different. To make them more interesting however, their backgrounds slightly differ from normal readers. Their personal histories also play a role later in the book. 

Sometimes the book has a tendency to be long-winded and the ending was drawn out as well, but overall, readers familiar with Koontz's writing will find elements common in most of his books. There is nothing new about brainwashing (the theme is overused) but for those who place a lot of value on personal space and privacy, the prospect of a stranger violating and tampering with your mind is still a chilling thought.

Rating: 7 out of 10