The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz
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Book Reviews of The Darkest Evening of the Year
Book Review: A slight improvement over recent Koontz books
Summary: 4 Stars
The nice thing about Dean Koontz is that he rarely disappoints. The bad thing about him is that he rarely wows you over either: he is--in Amazon terms--a consistent four star writer. That means when you pick up one of his books, you know it will be decent. That isn't to say that he is completely without relative clunkers: I consider his recent novel The Good Guy to be subpar Koontz. Fortunately, despite some definite flaws, The Darkest Evening of the Year is an improvement that shows the old Koontz magic is still there.
The heroine in Darkest Evening is Amy Redwing, a typical female protagonist for Koontz: young, beautiful and with a traumatic past. The nature of these traumas will take a while to unfold in the story as she has more pressing issues to contend with. The first issue deals with her rescuing a dog from an abusive owner (and incidentally rescuing the abuser's wife and kids); this golden retriever named Nickie has something special about her that bonds her quickly with Amy and also has a profound effect on her boyfriend Brian (who has his own secrets).
Meanwhile, a couple known as Moongirl and Harrow are up to mischief. Moongirl is a complete sociopath, and Harrow is no better, making them get along in a twisted relationship. When they are not committing random acts of savage violence, they have a plot that will entangle both Brian and Amy in a web of vicious revenge. At first, Brian and Amy will be unaware of this plot as well as the possibly related work of a private eye more interested in his virtual life than his real one and an assassin that likes to take on names of various Vonnegut characters.
Unlike many of Koontz's recent novels (outside his Odd Thomas books), this novel does have a supernatural element, though it remains subdued for the most part. It seems to focus on Nickie, which is not a complete shock: anyone familiar with Koontz knows that he has a particular reverence for dogs. Thematically, I think Koontz is saying that there is enough evil in mankind that occasionally non-human forces are required to balance things out.
Some of the things that hurt Koontz's writing are evident in this novel, notably the banter between characters that is so artificial as to take the reader temporarily out of the story. In addition, things do fall apart towards the end, particularly in the last chapter when something happens that creates a forced reversal in events. On the other hand, this story also reflects Koontz's strengths: a fast-paced, action-filled story with likeable heroes and loathsome villains (Moongirl is one of Koontz's better recent villains). Overall, this is typical Koontz, which is to say a four-star book.
Book Review: The Darkest Evening of the Year
Summary: 4 Stars
Koontz's "The Darkest Evening of the Year" is at best another novel in a long line of solid psychological thrillers from one of the masters from this genre' and at worst, a sometimes-plodding, difficult-to-follow yarn containing numerous references to how great a breed the Golden Retriever is and how warped some people are. (I tend to agree about the Golden Retriever part though, having owned 5 of these beautiful and intelligent animals over the years.)
Lines of good and evil are clearly marked in the novel and both sides come across as a little too "over-the-top" for my liking. (The "baddies" are almost cartoonish in this regard.) The only other critical comment that I have on the book is that the various aliases that the private eyes and other operatives used by the "baddies" (Moongirl and Harrow) throughout the book are both confusing and unnecessary.
As is normal with most Koontz novels, there are a sufficient number of plot twists to keep the reader on his or her toes while delivering that person to the somewhat-expected conclusion of the book. The novel is a very quick "read".
If the reader is a dog lover (especially of Goldens) or just a Koontz lover, then he or she will want to dive in to "The Darkest Evening of the Year". I don't think longtime Koontz fans will be disappointed by this book. For those new to Koontz's writing or just want to add Koontz to their "authors read" list, then this reviewer would recommend any of his earlier works to begin with such as "Watchers", "Strangers", "The Servants of Twilight", "Phantoms", or "Whispers" and work up from there.
Book Review: Had to have this one.
Summary: 4 Stars
I was heavily involved in canine rescue for 7 years. When I heard the heroine was to be a dog rescuer, my wait for this book began. Sadly, my great expectations meant the book had no chance of living up to them. Never mind the paranormal overtones. The most unbelievable thing was that Amy, with no income, bought a house and two purebred puppies which she raised while establishing and running a rescue organization. All of those things require considerable money. My rescue efforts were for, and 2 of my 3 large dogs were mutts,so I never paid big bucks to a breeder. Also, I was just a volunteer with expenses only for my dogs and my fosters. Even so, the only way I had the time and money to do it was that I was retired with a reasonable pension. While Amy had been married to a wealthy man, she supposedly did not have access to his fortune and she didn't work to make any money. As I read, I kept wondering how she paid for her and her dogs' living expenses. Her boyfriend had a job. It might have been more believable if she had been living with him, but they maintained seperate households. Still, being a major dog lover; especially when it comes to rescue dogs, I did thoroughly enjoy the book.Book Review: A Must Read for Lovers of Koontz or Golden Retrievers
Summary: 4 Stars
Several of the main characters in the book are golden retrievers and a couple are angelic in their good works and aura. Koontz seems to really set out to accentuate two positives in this book. One is the intrinsic value and specialness of golden retrievers. As a lover and owner of a golden, this immediately endeared me to the book but also left me leery in case a golden should come to harm. The second point Koontz makes is the value of Down's syndrome children. Again this is a heart-warming theme in the book.
Like most or all of Koontz' books, evil is present in this one. Several sociopathic, anarchist characters provide the antagonistic angle of the book that threatens the protagonist dogs and two human characters, Amy and Bryan.
This is a smooth flowing read that has some complex connections but for the most part follows a simple plot moved along by the conflict between the evil actions of a few with the providently inspired reactions of the good characters.
Koontz fans and golden retriever fans should enjoy it; others may find it lacking in supsense and thrill hoped for in a Koontz novel.
Book Review: Watchers & Hideway Combine into a Great Story
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a Dean Koontz fan. I've been reading his stories and novels for about 20 years. I've seen his writing hit wonderful highs and a couple of lows. The Darkest Evening of the Year is definitely near the high side.
It uses the dog as a hero idea from Watchers (one of my favorites) with the angelic intervention idea Koontz used in Hideaway.
The story is a taut thriller with Koontz letting out just enough information of the back story to keep the story moving forward without hindrance.
If I had two problems with the story, it's the nearly heavy handed writing about animal rescue. It wasn't preachy but it came close, especially at the end. Also, the miracles at the end were a bit of an easy solution.
Still, this is vintage Koontz. You can tell he's writing about a subject near and dear to his heart, which gives it a wonderful sincerity. Being a dog lover myself, some of the scenes came close to making me cry.