The Darkest Evening of the Year

by Dean Koontz

2008

Status

Available

Genres

Horror

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Standard Shelves

Publication

Bantam (2008), Edition: Reprint, 480 pages

Description

Amy Redwing has dedicated her life to the southern California organization she founded to rescue abandoned and endangered golden retrievers. No one is surprised when Amy risks her life to save Nickie, nor when she takes the female golden into her home. The bond between Amy and Nickie is immediate and uncanny. Even her two other goldens, Fred and Ethel, recognize Nickie as special, a natural alpha. But the instant joy Nickie brings is shadowed by a series of eerie, ominous, and invasive incidents.--From publisher's description.

User reviews

LibraryThing member MrsHillReads

This book really started out strong, I was staying up late reading it.--but the ending felt rushed and hastily tied together. I guess I was disappointed that the ending was wrapped up so quickly.

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LibraryThing member TigerLMS

Amy is an animal lover who rescues abused Golden Retrievers from abusive homes. But Amy has a secret, a hidden past where she used to be someone else, and that past is creeping up. While she is away caring for Nicky, her newest Golden that she also decided to keep, a man carefully goes through her

house-- searching everything, looking for clues that might tell him who she really is. Over the years Koontz has written more and more about dogs (specifically Golden Retrievers), and this book is perhaps the most dog-specific book of his I've read to date. This is part suspense, part dog-rescue manifesto. It's not the gripping suspense of earlier works.

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LibraryThing member deam67

The book had me enthralled from the beginning. Towards the end, though, I found it to be very silly with an abrupt "The End". First time reading this author. Maybe I'll try a different one of his books.

LibraryThing member thekoolaidmom

This was a really cool book; a real page turner. This was also my first foray into Dean Koontz. I was rivetted by the Lost-style suspense and multiple broken storylines, and compelled to compassion for some of the characters and hatred for the others, appropriately. And, like Lost, Koontz ties

everyone together in a bizarre, almost unbelievably fantastic way. I found myself needing to return to it out of concern for "Piggy." I thoroughly enjoyed the book....... until the last chapter. Talk about a frickin' Deus ex machina! ruined the whole thing.

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LibraryThing member jsmith6299

This was a page turner. The villains were so disturbing that the only way to describe them as "evil". The secrets are unfolded slowly to create tension and anticipation. Koontz has definitely honed his craft and even those who read Koont's earlier works and dismissed him will want to give him

another try with his newest novel.

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LibraryThing member reannon

The only Koontz I've read before are the 1st and 3rd of the Odd Thomas books, and I loved them. This book I mostly loved. Koontz is amazing at getting into the skin of his characters. In this book there are sociopaths and there are good and noble people. There's also great love for animals and

golden retriever rescue is a plot point in the book. I had trouble with the supernatural ending, though I know that Koontz writes a lot of paranormal books. I think it is a philosophical problem I have. Maybe miracles exist, but not for everyone who needs them, and that makes for a deity that plays favorites.

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LibraryThing member Shelen

Typical Dean Koontz, very readable not as remarkable as some of his. Contains his stock characters of damsel-in-distress, likable boyfriend, uber-evil villains and amazing dogs.

Read if you want your semi-annaul Koontz fix.

LibraryThing member LostDisneyPrincess

A good book and a quick read, but I was kind of disappointed in the ending. It felt a little too rushed.

LibraryThing member readingrat

I liked the portrayal of the dogs and I liked the portrayals of the villains. I enjoyed this book all the way up to the deus ex machina ending which was too much of a cop out for me.

LibraryThing member TheBoltChick

This was an enjoyable read until the ending... complete deus ex machina in my opinion. But I am willing to give it 3-1/2 stars since the first 90% of the book was enjoyable.

LibraryThing member whimsicalkitten

The basic premise of the book asks us to suspend our skepticism and disbelief, as phone calls from dead nuns; a dog that restores life; and an architect inhabited by a great artistic talent - and I was happy to do that. But I did find the ending to be a little much - could these 2 nice kids really

have had such a relatively easy time killing 3 people to whom killing is second nature? No matter - I enjoyed this book despite Koontz's shortcuts, and really appreciate his effort to make the importance of dog rescue more visible.

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LibraryThing member erniepratt

Rated: PG
Dean Koontz knows Evil and Purity. He puts a face on both. I love in this book how he writes from the perspective of a gifted person with downs syndrome. I really enjoy these 'dog' books of his. This has been a very enjoyable book.

LibraryThing member Vidalia

A little bit too much preaching about rescuing dogs - specifically adopting golden retrievers. I'm a real dog lover, but thought a tad less would have been more. The plot is solid and the bad guys are REALLY bad -Koontz always has REALLY bad bad guys. And I always fall for the dogs - yes, this

story can leave the reader teary-eyed. The ending could be called over-the-top, but still an all-round satisfying read. If you are a dog person like myself, try the recently released Bliss to You: Trixie's Guide to a Happy Life, "written" by Koonz's beloved golden. I ordered it for the library and can't wait until it comes in.

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LibraryThing member cranmergirl

This was a typical Dean Koontz thriller replete with likable protagonists, sociopathic villains, lovable dogs, and a supernatural aura to the story. After a big lead up to the final confrontation, the ending was strangely anticlimactic. It would have been nice to see the psychos totally humiliated

by the full awareness that they had been bested by the forces of "good".

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LibraryThing member dresnick

This was a really good book. I'm already a big fan of the author, so I wasn't surprised that I loved this, too. It kept the suspense going until then end.

LibraryThing member SonicQuack

More a homage to the Golden Retriever than crime novel at times, Darkest Evening follows the story of a couple's lives as they get caught up in a (typically Koontz) cat and mouse game with psychopaths. Revenge is a dish best served cold and Koontz is a master in defrosting it in witty and clever

ways. As expected, the narrative is sharp, engaging and the plot moves swiftly with the requisite twists. It is quite clear that this is tale told from the heart and it's full of old Koontz, reblended in to a new novel, with added self-referential satire about crime novels and Koontz's use of metaphors. There is a faint, almost whimsical supernatural undertone to the novel, and I question whether it was required at all, although Koontz calls the shots, not us. Overall, a solid Koontz novel, with lots of thrills, spills and great narrative; there are far worse ways to kill off a few hours.

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LibraryThing member ctfrench

Amy Redwing, former victim of an abusive relationship, devotes her life to running a
rescue organization for golden retrievers, where she searches for the perfect forever home for the abandoned ones and seeks treatment and rehabilitation for the abused and neglected ones. When Amy and her boyfriend,

architect Brian McCarthy attempt to rescue a golden named Nickie, they find themselves in the middle of a domestic dispute. Amy senses a connection to Nickie and decides to keep her, unknowing that a chain of events are occurring which will lead Amy and Brian back to traumatic events of their past lives and into extreme danger, and that Nickie may be the only one to save them.

Koontz has been described as a master storyteller and this reviewer agrees. His love for dogs shines through with this book and enhances the story. The plot moves at a fast pace, with plenty of evil characters to entertain thrill-seekers, buffeted by Amy and Brian’s love for one another and for dogs. Excellent book.

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LibraryThing member jo-jo

It's probably been about ten years since I have read a novel by Dean Koontz. I remember that I decided I shouldn't read them any more because they just scared the living daylights out of me. Last week I went to the library to choose a couple of audiobooks for a road trip, keeping in mind that I

would have to get something that my husband would also enjoy, and I thought...let's give Koontz a try. I am certainly glad that I did, because he is certainly a talented writer. I was amazed at how he could write a thriller genre novel that was still packed with such beautiful prose. He even tugged at my emotions at such a level that I was in tears at one point of this novel.

I will start off by saying that if you are a dog lover, especially of golden retrievers, you will most likely enjoy this novel. The dogs are a pretty important part of this book, and that is brought to your attention in the very beginning. At the start of the novel it appears that Amy is just an empty-headed dingbat, when in reality she is actually a very intelligent, fun-loving woman that created a dog rescue organization. So when Amy is introduced to us she is actually dragging her boyfriend Brian on a mission to rescue a golden retriever from an abusive home. Amy sees something very special in this golden retriever and knows that she cannot leave this home without it.

There are a couple of parallel story lines that have to do with the pasts of both Brian and Amy's lives. I don't want to go into much detail, as that would take away much from a thriller novel, but both of them were involved with individuals that appeared to be nothing less than psychotic lunatics. Throughout the novel, the actions of these murderous characters will have you sitting on the end of your seat waiting to see what they will do next.

One of the first things that drew me to Koontz's novels was the eerie, unexplainable element that he usually included in his books. Although, I must admit that this same element is probably what scared me away from his novels for so long. But how he wove this part of the story into this book was not scary in any way, it was actually a bit soothing and reassuring and left me with a feeling of happiness.

I am confident that if you are a Dean Koontz fan you will enjoy this book. If you feel like reading a thriller and not having the life scared out of you, this book would probably fit the bill, as I was not really scared while I was listening to it or after I completed it. I think that this book was very well written and I know I will not wait so long before I read, or listen to another of Koontz's novels.

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LibraryThing member BONS

The author held my interest from the first paragraph. The story continued to give me jolts and shocks through out. I have two Goldens and I greatly appreciated the writers viewpoint. I will say the last two pages or so left me looking for something more as the ending. Yet the story was such a good

read I could not lay the book aside for any period of time.

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LibraryThing member Lame

I loved this book. It is a simple story of unconditional love and blind faith pitted against an evil that only authors like Koontz can conceive of. Dark, vile, psychologically sick individuals who the reader wants only the most painful of things to happen to. In other words... your typical Koontz.

In this novel Dean brings to life his deep love and respect for the Golden Retriever. He writes about them with such eloquence and respect that I so want to own one myself. And as usual for a Koontz novel his big bad is dark, twisted and evil. The story itself isn't all that far removed from any of his other works. It's mostly just your atypical Koontz. But I found this one better than usual as I was endeared with his 4 footed heroes.

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LibraryThing member andyray

Two ugly sociopaths who kill and torture for FUN are the major antagonists, while a golden retriever genius dog (natch) is the protagonist. Four stars because of the failure to make the leap of imagination by this reader.

LibraryThing member Peggy72

Pretty disappointing. His earlier stuff is so much better - much more suspenseful and frightening! He wrote a much better book with an amazing dog in it (also a Golden Retriever) back in 1987 called Watchers.

LibraryThing member Spiceca

This is by far my least favorite Koontz book. The story itself was good but the ending was absolutely appalling, rushed and preposterous. I like supernatural in books but this was just a little too "angelic" for me.

LibraryThing member LouCypher

Nikkie is a special unique golden retriever. Amy is a dog lover with a mysterious past. Brian is in love with Amy. Let the drama and suspense unfold.

Really enjoyed this book. I love Dean Koontz's writing style, the only downside was I felt after such a great story build up the ending was rather

rushed. But beyond that a well thought out and entertaining story.

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LibraryThing member LittleTanDancer

The story was solid, and I loved the use of Goldens as I, along with much of the world share Koontz's love for the breed. However, reading this novel, I felt at times it was more a soapbox for preaching about the plight of dogs rather than a story.

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