Rent: The Darkest Evening of the Year

OK, so the standard "weird stuff happens to a single woman with child, no one believes her except the good looking man, crescendo, case solved" plot has a new twist here. Mostly child is replaced by dogs - but the whole thing just didn't seem to fit together.. it is a yarn which could not hold my interest - certainly not one of his best, although if you are a dog lover it may have some redeeming merits.

There were a few decent parts, but overall it was very boring and felt like it was lacking something. His older books are better and I had such high hopes for this one. I felt like it skipped around from person to person too much and just didn't have nearly as much to do with the dogs as I had expected. I'm glad I didn't buy it and got it from the library.

A "master" is someone who has achieved greatness, and who is consistently brilliant. That said, Dean Koontz is a master!

Every book he writes is entertaining, suspenseful, and thought provoking. And every Koontz book is well crafted--no filler, no unnecessary words. The charaters are real, the plots original (not formula).

Kootz latest offering lives up to the standard of excellence he has set with his previous books.

Note to readers: You will not be disappointed!

Another well-crafted book for the holidays: Christmas Gifts, Christmas Voices.

I am usually very excited about the newest book by Dean Koontz and this one was no exception. However, I found myself skimming through it in a way I've rarely done with any other book. There just seem to be far more descriptive exposition at times than is necessary. It's clear that Dean misses Trixie and the emphasis on the dogs and their beauty is understandable but a bit much at times--and I am a totally a lover of dogs.

There are a few surprises but overall, I've seen Dean do better work.

This is a page turner and Koontz at his best. If you are a dog lover and participate in rescue, like I do..well you will be in Heaven. I have never read such a good description of the personality of mill rescue dog as Mr. Koontz gives in this book in one of his chapters. His description of them as "ghost dogs" is so apt.I adopted a
puppy mill adult dog 5 years ago and he was truly a ghost at the time and very slow to warm to humans..it was so sad. Having said all that, I read this book in one sitting and after a stirring plot and a great build up, I was put off by the tidy conclusion. Still, it is a great read by a master storyteller and true dog lover.

I believe that we are all put on this earth for a reason. If we are fortunate, we discover that purpose and use our lives for good. In The Darkest Evening of the Year, Dean Koontz demonstrates what has given meaning to his life. Through his prolific writing and generous contributions, he and his wife, Gerda, are changing a small portion of the world.

It is summed up so well through Dean's heroine, Amy, who is rescuing dogs and educating the public on puppy mills and the cruel conditions in which these dogs live. I am an avid animal lover and even I did not realize that a lot of the Internet sites, which sell purebreds, are simply fronts for such puppy mills.

Perhaps Dean Koontz described it best when he writes of Amy's philosophy in believing that dogs have a spiritual purpose. "The opportunity to love a dog and treat it with kindness was an opportunity for a lost and selfish human heart to be redeemed. They are powerless and innocent, and it is how we treat the humblest among us that surely determines the fate of our souls."

The Darkest Evening of the Year is the first book by Dean Koontz after the passing of Trixie, his former Canine Companion assistive dog. Indeed, he had to finish this book right after her death. But this book and the legacy that Trixie left with the immense funding of CCI show truly that Trixie really did make Dean and Gerda better people.

Trixie, who always was a "shameless huckster" for her Dad's books (keep Trixie in Kibbles), is now in avatar form on Dean Koontz's website. I hope that she will be there always because she will forever remain in the hearts of so many of his readers. She touched us all.

Frankly, although great suspenseful writing such as Koontz's is to be admired, in the whole scope of life it actually means very little. However, when you turn that tremendous writing ability into a TOOL; to influence, educate, and share intrinsic moral truths such as Koontz has done with The Darkest Evening of the Year and his other stories on dogs...now THAT truly is to be admired.

Great book and wonderful story. I know that Trixie is proud of you for this one! (Trixie thinks all books should be dog books.)

Let me preface by stating that I have been a huge Dean Koontz fan since the beginning of his career --- way back to his Sci-Fi start in the early 1970's and through his many pseudonyms --- right through his professional peak in the 1980's and 1990's. That being said, I cannot explain what happened to the Dean Koontz I know and love. Somewhere around the turn of the new millennium, Mr. Koontz's fictional voice and tone shifted away from the thrillers and sci-fi adventures that marked his greatest success to that of "new age spirituality" that transgresses nearly all of his recent work.

In my opinion, the true Dean Koontz was last seen in 2000 with the fantastic thriller - "FALSE MEMORY". Since then we have been subjected to his "spiritual" novels - "LIFE EXPECTANCY" (2004), "BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON" (2003), "ONE DOOR AWAY FROM HEAVEN" (2002) & "FROM THE CORNER OF HIS EYE" (2001); the underachieving "Odd" series - "BROTHER ODD" (2007), "FOREVER ODD" (2005) & "ODD THOMAS" (2003); and three novels so close in their content that they are interchangeable - "THE GOOD GUY" (2007), "THE HUSBAND (2006) & "VELOCITY" (2005). The only exception is the pure horror novel, "THE TAKING" (2004), which I can only gather must have been an old novel not previously released.

On to "THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR". The basic premise of this story involves Amy Redwing, professional dog rescuer, and her architect boyfriend, Brian McCarthy. They are on the verge of taking their relationship to the next step, but both seem troubled by past demons that they are unsure of how to exorcise. Brian has "visions" that come out through drawings he creates while in a trancelike state (none of which are ever delved into deeply in this novel) while Amy focuses on saving dogs in danger. Brian accompanies Amy on a rescue that turns particularly tense. The result of this effort is Amy taking in a third golden retriever, this one a mysterious female named



Nickie. Does Nickie have magical powers? Is she the reincarnated spirit of Amy's long
dead daughter (also named Nickie)? None of these questions are answered satisfactorily by the end of this book. As in most Koontz novels, good cannot exist without evil. To that end, the embodiments of evil in this novel are "Harrow" (Amy's evil ex), "Moongirl" (Brian's evil ex) and an unstoppable hit-man who goes by many names. I almost forgot, Harrow and Moongirl are secretly keeping and torturing Moongirl and Brian's Downs-syndrome daughter, fondly referred to as "Piggy". Ugh!

What transpires is a mess of ultra-small chapters --- none of which are more than 4 or 5 pages long --- that are intended to keep the reader turning the pages furiously. It's almost as if Koontz had been possessed by the master of the short, unsatisfying chapters - James Patterson. The stories of animal rescue are the only saving grace here. If you are a dog or animal lover you will definitely relate to the keen details provided. As for the "human" characters in this novel - none are sketched out well and are paper-thin as a result. The "good" characters are all "too good" and their tale is similar to a sappy Hallmark Hall-Of-Fame TV movie. The "evil" characters, while given much of the novel's focus, are dispatched of so quickly at the end of the book you would think the author was in a rush to get this manuscript to his publisher. Also, the book's title is never explained or symbolically linked to anything more than a few Robert Frost quotes in the Section headings and one characters fear of the dark.

Being such a long-time reader of Dean Koontz, I always got a kick out of the themes that ran through much of his works --- like the remarkable dogs --- "Watchers", anyone? Other than that theme, "THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR" departs from all the themes and power that drove the many exceptional Dean Koontz thrillers I have read over the years. If I wanted to read heart-warming animal rescue tales I would pick up a James Herriot novel. Will the real Dean Koontz please stand up?!?!

I am enjoying this book a lot (but then I always enjoy Mr Koontz's work). Too bad I had to go out and buy the hardcover this morning because at 2:30PM EST, the Kindle bookstore has STILL not released it.

Boooo Amazon

Dean Koontz has, for years, posed with his dog in his author photos, so I guess it's no surprise that he features a canine 'protagonist' in his new book. Koontz has also, for years, been inaccurately (in my opinion) characterized as a 'horror' author, being mostly compared to Stephen King, even though he's long since moved on from those types of novels. He now concentrates more on building characters you care about, humanizing even the most minor of them, and letting the suspense and the story build from their motivations and backgrounds. In 'The Darkest Evening of the Year', Koontz does the same for Nickie, a rescued golden retriever with seemingly supernatural abilities to save children from harm. When the dog's new owner, an animal rescue advocate named Amy Redwing, is stalked by predators that may be connected to her tragic past, Nickie is up to her paws in danger trying to protect her protector. 'The Darkest Evening of the Year' is an exciting and emotional thriller with a heart of gold (or maybe the heart of a golden retriever called Nickie.)

Also recommended: A Stranger Lies There- the Editorial Review at the other major online bookseller gave this book 'two thumbs way up', calling it 'an appealing blend of SoCal noir and psychological suspense ala DEAN KOONTZ.' I agree.