I liked almost everything about this book except for the ending. To me, it just feels like the 'big finale' was rushed. It left me disappointed. I think 50 more pages added throughout the book would have made it much better. ( )

Set mostly in Southern California, this topnotch thriller from bestselling author Koontz depicts the magical powers of golden retrievers -- in particular, a female named Nickie, who will stop at nothing to save innocent children and protect their guardians. Amy Redwing, the survivor of a horrifying marriage, establishes Golden Heart to rescue golden retrievers, rehabilitate the abused ones, and find them forever homes.

A supernatural chain of events ensues after Amy and her architect boyfriend, Brian McCarthy, rescue Nickie during a violent intervention and family dispute. Soon the pair are on a mission that leads to a transformative confrontation with a number of ugly characters: Gunther Schloss, a frustrated aspiring novelist turned killer-for-hire; Moonglow, a psycho in the Mommie Dearest league; and Moonglow's lover, Harrow, a self-obsessed sicko. This is the perfect book for thriller addicts who know the darkest hour is just before dawn and for canine lovers who remember that Dog spelled backwards is God.

Review written by Anne Marie Basile, 11/11/2009

This is a good thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of his seat. Koontz also has a delightful way with words, sometimes used in an unexpected way. He's also not afraid to use a big word when it's the right one, yet doesn't become obnoxious by showing off his vocabulary. His characters are real, and, though I don't feel I got to understand the antagonists as well as the protagonists, they did not come across as hollow. The plot is a bit mystical and might stretch some reader's credulity, but within the context of the story it works very well. ( )

2008 ( )

The Darkest Evening of the Year is a supernatural/psychological thriller released under Dean Koontz. I say it's a supernatural thriller as it posseses some strong paranormal, unusual aspects. Such as Nickie, the 'special' golden retriever featured heavily throughout the book. This, being the first ever Dean Koontz novel I have read, I really like it. At first, after reading the first two-hundred pages (in two and a half hours :O), I thought 'Wow! This guy is such a bad-ass writer, I should read more" to the point where thought he may even be better than that of Stephen King. But in some sections he lacked a little, but it was still highly satisfactory.
Just by reading the first chapter of this book, I knew Dean Koontz knew dogs, ever movement of the dogs featured in this book was described acutely accurately, in provokative detail just made me want to read more. I was literally glued to this book, metaphorically speaking of course (How to contradict yourself in one sentence eh).

As usual, I must cut this review short, despite how much I would like to finish it I cannot for yet another arrangement has interfered with reading time :@. I loved this book btw :) (Y) ( )

Anyone who's ever read anything by Koontz no doubt knows he loves dogs, and golden retrievers especially. Most of the time, the dogs in his books are special, but not supernatural. This time, the dog is more than a dog, and well, she comes across as a bit of a Doggie Sue. The novel was as readable and page-turning as most Koontz novels, but the ending made me roll my eyes a bit. ( )

This was the first book I read by Dean Koontz and I thought it was great. Would recommend to any fan of Sidney Sheldon, this was a thriller with a bit of supernatural twisted in, something that shouldn't have worked, but did. ( )

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. ( )

I really loved this title, much more so than Mr. Koontz's last two releases, THE GOOD GUY and THE HUSBAND. Although this title follows in the same vein as regards to time (it only covers roughly 48-hours), it has characters who are easier to relate to and a chilling, supernatural-based storyline.

As the other reviewer mentions, it's a kind of memorial to Mr. Koontz's own Golden Retreiver, Trixie, who has passed away. In the book, a dog named Nickie is at the center of the story, along with the humans that she must protect.

This is an emotional thriller with some pretty messed-up bad guys, and if you like that type of story, you'll love this one, too! ( )

I generally like Dean Koontz but I found this book rather predictable and the ending quite disappointing. Definitely not one of the better books I've read lately. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

very disappointed in this book. Normally, I dig Koontz, not this one & it was really hard to follow. ( )

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.

A great read, great story and (as usual) superbly described characters that I love to love and love to hate, although the ending was a little too "miraculous" for my taste. ( )

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. ( )

Barb

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

I'm a huge Dean Koontz fan, but this isn't one of his best. Something you have to accept as a Koontz reader is that there's no place for grey in his world - everything is completely black and white. His heroes are always noble, virtuous, and unspeakably GOOD - while the villains are the vilest, backstabby, kick-a-puppy BASTARDS you could ever imagine. There's actually a lot to be said for this kind of worldview if it's handled well - and Koontz certainly knows how to lay out a page-turny plot that's packed with surprises (even if none of those surprises come from the characters). But sometimes it just gets a little too much - the heroes are so sickeningly pious you want to strangle them yourself, and the villains lack any redeeming feature, despite Koontz's best efforts to give them interests outside of being utterly, utterly vile.

Read the full review at my blog. ( )

This is more of a cozy mystery than true hard horror Koontz.. Warm and fuzzy dog story with a few psychos in the background. Certainly not one of his best, but dog lovers may enjoy it. ( )

Suspend belief and enjoy an improbable series of endeavors taken with little thought or compunction by well drawn characters. A supernatural dog, a child in disparate straights, a cooperative couple that are truly heroic and a pair of powerful villains make for a strong story line. The plot moves well, intertwining horrific episodes with pleasant scenes filled with unique characters.