The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz

A fast-paced and emotionally devastating suspense novel from the bestselling author of Velocity,The Husband and the Good Guy Amy Redwing recklessly risks everything in her chosen field of dog rescue. When she confronts a violent drunk in order to rescue Nickie, a beautiful golden retriever, Amy has no misgivings. Dogs always do their best, and so will she. Whatever it takes. Riding shotgun nervously is her friend and lover, Brian, an architect who would marry her if only she were not so committed to these crazy ... heroics! He blames her work for her refusal to marry him. But everything is due to change in the Redwing household. Someone is trying to destroy Amy. Subtle intrusions escalate into terrifying assaults on everything she holds dear. Amy believes her attacker is Wes Greeley, just released after an eighteen-month stretch, thanks to Amy's testimony, for egregious animal cruelty. But if Greeley is the culprit, it's clear he's not working alone. At last Amy understands her need of Brian, and a lot more from her troubled past that has been hidden by her passion. Unable to turn to any authority, Amy and Brian are pressed to the edge of a precipice as Koontz's most emotionally devastating thriller races with inexorable speed to a wrenching climax. Reviews Praise for Dean Koontz: 'There's surprise after surprise, including a killer finale ! a read-in-one-go novel' Independent on Sunday on Velocity 'Velocity hits its pace from the first page and races through to a suitably climactic ending' Sydney Sunday Telegraph 'Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler' The Times 'Psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying.' The New York Times 'A modern Swift ! a master satirist.' Entertainment Weekly 'If Stephen King is the Rolling Stones of novels, Koontz is the Beatles.' Playboy 'Dean Koontz writes page-turners, middle-of-the-night sneak-up-behind-you suspense thrillers. He touches our hearts and tingles our spines.' Washington Post Book World 'Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. Serious writers might do well to study his technique.' New York Times Book Review 'Fast-paced and dark ! Koontz knows we live in a world where evil delights in justifying itself ! Classic literature that deserves a place on the bookshelf beside Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.' California Literary Review 'Koontz is writing right where popular culture swells into something larger, just as it did for Homer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. He's got the gift.' Australian 'Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition.' USA Today 'Inspires both chills and serious thought ! has the power to scare the daylights out of us.' People 'The poet laureate of paranoid pop fiction.' Denver Post 'Koontz achieves a literary miracle ! stunning physical description, unique turns of phrase.' Boston Globe 'Near Dickensian powers of description.' Los Angeles Times Praise for Dean Koontz: 'There's surprise after surprise, including a killer finale ! a read-in-one-go novel' Independent on Sunday on Velocity 'Velocity hits its pace from the first page and races through to a suitably climactic ending' Sydney Sunday Telegraph 'Dean Koontz is not just a master of our darkest dreams, but also a literary juggler' The Times 'Psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying.' The New York Times 'A modern Swift ! a master satirist.' Entertainment Weekly 'If Stephen King is the Rolling Stones of novels, Koontz is the Beatles.' Playboy 'Dean Koontz writes page-turners, middle-of-the-night sneak-up-behind-you suspense thrillers. He touches our hearts and tingles our spines.' Washington Post Book World 'Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. Serious writers might do well to study his technique.' New York Times Book Review 'Fast-paced and dark ! Koontz knows we live in a world where evil delights in justifying itself ! Classic literature that deserves a place on the bookshelf beside Orwell's 1984 and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.' California Literary Review 'Koontz is writing right where popular culture swells into something larger, just as it did for Homer, Shakespeare, and Dickens. He's got the gift.' Australian 'Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition.' USA Today 'Inspires both chills and serious thought ! has the power to scare the daylights out of us.' People 'The poet laureate of paranoid pop fiction.' Denver Post 'Koontz achieves a literary miracle ! stunning physical description, unique turns of phrase.' Boston Globe 'Near Dickensian powers of description.' Los Angeles Times Set mostly in Southern California, this topnotch thriller from bestseller Koontz (The Good Guy) depicts with unabashed emotion and wit 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 forever homes. A supernatural chain of events ensues after Amy and her architect boyfriend, Brian McCarthy, rescue Nickie during a violent intervention in a 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 psychobitch 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 dog spelled backwards is god. (Nov. 27) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.