Opening Line: " Behind the wheel of the Ford Expedition, Amy Redwing drove as if she were immortal and therefore safe at any speed."I read THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR for a book club challenge although admittedly it had been sitting on my TBR shelf for a couple of years. I was happy to finally find a reason to stop passing it over (in favour of vampire romance and testosterone filled Navy Seals) and get into a good horror novel. Unfortunately I now wished I’d left it sitting on the shelf because this was not in any way an enjoyable read and ultimately a real struggle to finish.To start with I didn’t enjoy Koontz’s style of writing, he seemed to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r and a whole lot of adjectives to get across what he was trying to say and I found myself skimming almost immediately just to get on with the story;"The pleasantly warm morning was freshened by a breeze as light as a caress, and the feathery fronds of queen palms cast shadows that resembled the plumed tails of the Golden’s." Um, yeah.For something in the horror genre I also found this to be very un-scary, the plot revolving more around reincarnation and weird feelings then anything truly horrifying. Thankfully the chapters were short containing several alternating POV’s, mostly involving hit men who all appeared to all be trying to kill each other. The main antagonist, Moongirl was a nasty piece of work and our hero Amy Redwing had an interesting past that slowly got revealed however I never really got a feel for her either. So I kept plugging along thinking this has to improve, Koontz is hugely popular, what am I missing? Well upon completion I came away rather underwhelmed and realized I wasn’t missing anything. The only good thing in this story would have to be the Golden Retrievers which Koontz knows well and obviously loves. His dog descriptions and mannerisms of the breed were spot on. However I couldn’t in good conscience even recommend this book to dog lovers, because the story was so convoluted and just plain painful to read. Koontz also tended to get a little preachy when it came to describing abused dogs, euthanasia and puppy mills. I’m a dog owner and lover (That’s originally why I bought the book, for the dog on the cover) And I understood the message he was trying to get across but I didn’t need these facts thrown in my face every couple of chapters. I get it, puppy mills bad, adopt from the pound, move on. I also didn't appreciate the storyline involving a 10 year old girl with Down syndrome who’s abused, called "Piggy" and threatened with being lit on fire. That was WAY out of my comfort zone. Although maybe meant to be the horror aspect I kept waiting for? In the end I just wanted this to be over.
I now know why I had never been interested in Dean Koontz novels prior to reading this one...and why I will never read another one again. 1. The man can't write. The last line of the novel (and I am giving nothing away by writing this) reads, "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." Thank you, O Wise One, for enlightening me with your vast array of life knowledge while simultaneously refusing to leave even one plot thread dangling. Your intelligence is astounding.2. Dean Koontz is the cheap knockoff to Stephen King's Gucci handbag. Seriously -- the main villain is a seductress named Moongirl (M-O-O-N spells evil) who has a daughter with Down's Syndrome named Piggy/Hope, who, of course, has wisdom beyond her years and abilities. Throw in the supernatural element of a golden retriever who is possessed by the spirit of the main character's murdered daughter and you've got yourself a karaoke version of The Stand, without the deadly virus. Yeah, he went there.3. If this is indeed Koontz's "finest", his "tour de force" that he waited years to write (as humbly stated in the Goodreads description), then baby, you better cash in your chips now, because this book ain't nothing much. Bad writing and poor imitations aside, the plot was so far out there that I was actually bored. The only thing that kept me reading was the knowledge that it would soon be over. Quick reads are nice like that sometimes.So no, I didn't really like The Darkest Evening of the Year. But the cover of the book is awfully pretty. At least there's that.
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I would give this a 2.5. did not like this book very much. It is broke down viewing different scenarios going on. I like the part with Amy and her rescuing golden retrievers. the different scenarios eventually tie in with each other. There are truly evil people in this book. It can get a bit gruesome. I liked some parts of the book better than others. there are also some sad parts of this book as well such as the way a little girl with downs syndrome is treated by her mother and her boyfriend. they even call her "Piggie" Dean Koontz fans may like this book. I have read very little by this author except for this book and a memoir about his wonderful dog "Trixie".
—Lori
So far, I love this book. The writing is so lyrical, so tight. It's exactly how I want my writing to sound.Well, I finished the book, and I feel cheated by several things. First, I read sometime ago that Dean Koontz doesn't consider himself to be a horror writer. I've read some of his other stuff, and it's sci-fi creepy, but not horror. This book contains some of the most gruesome things I've ever read. (Okay, I don't read lots of horror, so maybe I don't even know what gruesome is. The description of the crazy woman "hobbling" the writer in Stephen King's "Misery" was pretty gruesome to me.) This book contains a description of a character watching two people trapped in a burning house (which this character set on fire) as they succumb to the smoke and flames. It's horrible. This character also verbally abuses a Down Syndrome child, which I found to be disturbing. The main character in this book rescues dogs from abusive situations, so I guess readers are supposed to see the connection between her rescuing the dogs and her eventual desire to rescue the child, but I expected this story to be heart-warming, maybe, or at least not horrible. I thought this book would be on my favorites list, but I can't say that now.Second, the ending seemed like a big cheat. The entire book leads up to the confrontation between the character who rescues dogs and the character who burns people alive. You know something horrible is going to happen, but suddenly there's some kind of angelic transformation on the part of the dog, which I realize now was foreshadowed, but still it caught me off-guard, and I didn't seem like a realistic ending for the events in this novel. All in all, I was disappointed. I'll read another Koontz book to see if I'm as disappointed with the plot. Still, his writing is very lyrical and enjoyable.
—Gwenette
I like Koontz's style, but I wouldn't call him a horror writer. Not any more. The only links to horror are his allusions and similes. Like when he writes about the lighthouse cutting through the fog like the scythe of death. The title of the book doesn't lend anything to the story that I could see. The story seems well conceived and thought out until the last chapter, which felt thrown together for the sake of a deadline. Perhaps after this novel, he can get past putting a Golden Retriever in every freakin' story.Still, if you're a Koontz fan, it is worth the read...
—Donald
