IMHO, Dean Koontz is the quintessential master of mystery/horror from a Catholic/Christian perspective. I actually avoided him for years, assuming he wrote the bleak nastiness so common in that genre. I was so wrong.

His horror is chilling, even disturbing – yet it’s purpose is the same as any vision of Hell shown to a saint. He makes my heart clench in pain not only for the innocent who suffer evil, but for the deluded lost souls who choose to perpetrate it.

The contrasting images of good, even in the midst of people failing, falling and getting up again, are transcendently beautiful, filled with awestruck wonder at the mysteries of God, love of His creation, and joy at even the simplest, most ordinary facets of life. He makes my heart ache, for the sheer longing to experience them, or the remembered joy of having experienced them.

And he’s funny! I can go from laughter to tears and back again in the space of a page.

My personal favorites are _From the Corner of His Eye_ , _One Door Away from Heaven_and the ‘Odd’ books.