The Darkest Evening of the Year
by Dean Koontz
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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 show more incidents.--From publisher's description. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A solid supernatural mystery thriller with an ending some may view cynically. I like to view it as a source of hope, in whatever form speaks to the reader. Some of the character backgrounds may be a little unnecessary but are used well and make it more difficult for the reader to guess the outcome. Take note: this is a tough read for anyone who has loved a dog, but only in the most heartfelt, bittersweet way.
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.
I was really excited when I read that Dean Koontz was releasing a new book involving golden retrievers. I was hoping a supernatural theme was going to make this thriller a real page turner. I'm glad to say I was right, although it was a slow start, and a very quick finish.
This novel had it's moments though and a twist I wasn't expecting, although I think the plot had more potential than what was realised. I hope it's not too long before the next Koontz hits the shelves.
This novel had it's moments though and a twist I wasn't expecting, although I think the plot had more potential than what was realised. I hope it's not too long before the next Koontz hits the shelves.
I loved this book - was listening to it in the car, and kept thinking up errands to run to her more sooner. I had never read Dean Koontz, just knew he wrote mysteries and is very popular. I certainly wasn't expecting the spiritual aspect I found in this book. I hear the term Magical Realism and resisted reading books associated with it because I don't usually enjoy fantasy. But as used in this novel, I really liked it. It took some getting used to - it is almost like a modern morality play. - all good vs. evil, with dogs standing with the good guys, along with angels and God too. Really, it is about spiritual warfare. The villains in this book were beyond mortally nasty, and the good guys, including the dogs, were luminous. Not your show more typical mystery! The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it...spelled out! I can see why a lot of people would be put off by it, but a lot of others will love it. show less
Is it possible to like and hate a book at the same time? I think it must be...as that's pretty much how I feel about this book.
I picked out the audiobook version of this Dean Koontz novel from my local library's online site. I expected Dean Koontz creepiness with the added plus of a sentient wonderful dog (something Koontz has done well before). The basic plot sounded like something I would really enjoy. The Basics: Amy Redwing runs a Golden Retriever Rescue group. She is dedicated to saving as many Goldens as she can. She is soft-spoken, yet firm, enabling her to negotiate with irresponsible owners who need to turn over their dogs to her. One night, accompanied by her boyfriend Brian, she risks her life to rescue Nickie from a drunk, show more violent man. Nickie is a special dog and her rescue sends ripples through Amy and Brian's lives, bringing to light all their secrets and putting them on a shared path to a thrilling end.
What I liked about this book -- I love dogs. I have 4 rescue dogs and they are the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful souls. I enjoyed the way the Amy felt about her dogs and how the dogs were portrayed as family members and companions. I also enjoyed the ideas Koontz conveyed about the ability of dogs to comfort and help heal traumatized children and adults, too.
The audiobook was well-read by Kirsten Kairos. I have hearing loss, but was able to easily hear and understand everything. At times, because of my hearing, I have a difficult time with audiobooks read by women. I'm not sure why.....maybe it's the higher pitch of female voices? Not sure. But, I didn't have that problem this time.
What I didn't like -- a portion of the plot is about an abused Down Syndrome child. I found these portions of the book very, very difficult to listen to. In fact, at one point, hearing about how her abusive mother spit into her child's food and then tried to trick her into eating it almost made me throw up. It wasn't just abuse....it was incredibly horrific psychological abuse. I just found it so reprehensible I almost gave up on this book. That sort of abuse done to an innocent child, especially one with the innocent love of a Down Syndrome child, was horror -- but not the sort I wanted to listen to. I stuck it out though because I wanted to find out if the child was saved at the end. But be prepared -- this book is not for the feint of heart. The child's mother is disgusting, vile and evil. Truly a villain and the descriptions of how she treats her little girl, her lovers, and innocent people around here are graphic.
I also had a hard time with some of the dialogue and descriptive passages. Koontz piles on adjectives and weird flowery descriptions and metaphors for things. Once in awhile a bit of over-exuberant description is okay....but when it's constant, after a few chapters it just starts to get a little cheesy. I'm not sure what to call it..... over-writing, perhaps? Some of the sentences were like entries in a bad writing contest. The dialogue pulled me out of the story several times because it just got ridiculous. Characters were saying things in flowery, over-stated language that no person would ever use in conversation.
I did finish the book. The story was ok. The dogs were the best part of the whole thing. :) The plot was a bit over-done....melodramatic, unrealistic and just weird at times. Now I realize most horror novels are weird and not realistic....this book was just annoyingly so. I had a hard time buying into the story. Just too much. Too cheesy. And some of it was just disturbing in a grotesque way. I guess just had a hard time with the severe child abuse depicted in the story. I wish I had picked another Koontz book. I chose this one because the blurb sounded intriguing. I have enjoyed Koontz's books in the past....but this one just left me feeling flat and a bit traumatized. I really wanted to jump into the book, rescue the Down Syndrome girl and just punch her mother in the face until she fell over. GRRRRR.
I'm going read a some lighter, happy books and then come back and try another Koontz novel. This book was just not my cup of tea. show less
I picked out the audiobook version of this Dean Koontz novel from my local library's online site. I expected Dean Koontz creepiness with the added plus of a sentient wonderful dog (something Koontz has done well before). The basic plot sounded like something I would really enjoy. The Basics: Amy Redwing runs a Golden Retriever Rescue group. She is dedicated to saving as many Goldens as she can. She is soft-spoken, yet firm, enabling her to negotiate with irresponsible owners who need to turn over their dogs to her. One night, accompanied by her boyfriend Brian, she risks her life to rescue Nickie from a drunk, show more violent man. Nickie is a special dog and her rescue sends ripples through Amy and Brian's lives, bringing to light all their secrets and putting them on a shared path to a thrilling end.
What I liked about this book -- I love dogs. I have 4 rescue dogs and they are the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful souls. I enjoyed the way the Amy felt about her dogs and how the dogs were portrayed as family members and companions. I also enjoyed the ideas Koontz conveyed about the ability of dogs to comfort and help heal traumatized children and adults, too.
The audiobook was well-read by Kirsten Kairos. I have hearing loss, but was able to easily hear and understand everything. At times, because of my hearing, I have a difficult time with audiobooks read by women. I'm not sure why.....maybe it's the higher pitch of female voices? Not sure. But, I didn't have that problem this time.
What I didn't like -- a portion of the plot is about an abused Down Syndrome child. I found these portions of the book very, very difficult to listen to. In fact, at one point, hearing about how her abusive mother spit into her child's food and then tried to trick her into eating it almost made me throw up. It wasn't just abuse....it was incredibly horrific psychological abuse. I just found it so reprehensible I almost gave up on this book. That sort of abuse done to an innocent child, especially one with the innocent love of a Down Syndrome child, was horror -- but not the sort I wanted to listen to. I stuck it out though because I wanted to find out if the child was saved at the end. But be prepared -- this book is not for the feint of heart. The child's mother is disgusting, vile and evil. Truly a villain and the descriptions of how she treats her little girl, her lovers, and innocent people around here are graphic.
I also had a hard time with some of the dialogue and descriptive passages. Koontz piles on adjectives and weird flowery descriptions and metaphors for things. Once in awhile a bit of over-exuberant description is okay....but when it's constant, after a few chapters it just starts to get a little cheesy. I'm not sure what to call it..... over-writing, perhaps? Some of the sentences were like entries in a bad writing contest. The dialogue pulled me out of the story several times because it just got ridiculous. Characters were saying things in flowery, over-stated language that no person would ever use in conversation.
I did finish the book. The story was ok. The dogs were the best part of the whole thing. :) The plot was a bit over-done....melodramatic, unrealistic and just weird at times. Now I realize most horror novels are weird and not realistic....this book was just annoyingly so. I had a hard time buying into the story. Just too much. Too cheesy. And some of it was just disturbing in a grotesque way. I guess just had a hard time with the severe child abuse depicted in the story. I wish I had picked another Koontz book. I chose this one because the blurb sounded intriguing. I have enjoyed Koontz's books in the past....but this one just left me feeling flat and a bit traumatized. I really wanted to jump into the book, rescue the Down Syndrome girl and just punch her mother in the face until she fell over. GRRRRR.
I'm going read a some lighter, happy books and then come back and try another Koontz novel. This book was just not my cup of tea. show less
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 show more 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. show less
I will start off by saying that if you are a dog lover, especially of show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
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Dean Koontz was born on July 9, 1945 in Everett, Pennsylvania. He received a degree in education from Shippensburg State College in 1967. A former high school English teacher as well as a teacher-counselor with the Appalachian Poverty Program, he began writing as a child to escape an ugly home life caused by his alcoholic father. A prolific writer show more at a young age, he had sold a dozen novels by the age of 25. Early in his career, he wrote under numerous pen names including David Axton, Brian Coffey, K. R. Dwyer, Leigh Nichols, Richard Paige, and Owen West. He is best known for the books written under his own name, many of which are bestsellers, including Midnight, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Hideaway, The Husband, Odd Hours, 77 Shadow Street, Innocence, The City, Saint Odd, and The Silent Corner. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Darkest Evening of the Year
- Original publication date
- 2007
- People/Characters
- Amy Redwing; Brian McCarthy
- Important places
- California, USA
- Epigraph
- The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
--Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Dedication
- To Gerda, who will one day be greeted jubilantly in the next life by the golden daughter whom she loved so well and with such selfless tenderness in this world. And to Father Jerome Molokie, for his many kindnesses, for his g... (show all)ood cheer, for his friendship, and for his inspiring devotion to what is first, true, and infinite.
- First words
- Behind the wheel of the Ford Expedition, Amy Redwing drove as if she were immortal and therefore safe at any speed.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Miracles happen that nobody sees, and among us walk heroes who are never recognized, and people live in loneliness because they cannot believe they are loved, and, yes, Amy and Brian were married.
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