The Darkest Evening of the Year » (Bargain)

Amazingly prolific and relentlessly suspenseful, Dean Koontz can be counted on for chilling, sometimes gory stories that occasionally overlap genres. His novels can jump from straightforward crime to sci-fi to horror, but the one thing he's consistent about is delivering nail-biting yarns that have kept fans reading for more than three decades.

"Master storyteller"* Dean Koontz delivers a transcendent new thriller featuring two remarkable heroines.

Amy Redwing runs a southern California group that rescues abused and abandoned golden retrievers. A dangerous and bizarre rescue has led a female golden named Nickie into Amy's care, and the two share an uncanny bond from their first encounter. But as Nickie brings new joy into Amy's life, an unknown and dangerous person arrives on the scene, posing a subtle and mysterious threat that quickly escalates into a series of terrifying assaults. As Amy searches for clues that will help her to identify her enemy, she and Nickie are pushed further toward the edge of a precipice, unable to turn to any authority for help.

Publishers Weekly

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)