Resolved to spend the rest of his life alone, one day he chances upon a dog that changes his whole life. Travis Cornell is delicious as the heartbroken hero who has tragically lost everyone he has ever loved. Watchers may not be the scariest scary book, but it has its moments.

Touched me as much now as it did when first read. This remains one of Koontz’s more famous novels with a following of dog lovers everywhere. Though a great thriller, this speaks to anyone who has loved a dog, has had to show the greatest loyalty in return by being there in times of heartbreak. The book also has the ultimate antagonist (more than one), which is to be as pitied as feared. Again, one has to wonder if some parts of this book work today - putting out a cover story about a medical research dog having gone astray now might have as many people looking for the dog to hide it as to hand it in. Of course, the star of this book is the retriever. Short lesson aside, maybe it’s a sign of changing times, but although I remember enjoying this book the first time around, a protagonist who indulges in shooting any living thing for ‘fun’, even if it is a snake, seems a strange choice, although Travis becomes a good lead, with Nora perhaps more so. Dogs should not be washed more than once or twice a year because it upsets the balance of oils in their coats. There’s also a flippant remark about washing the dog almost ‘too much’.

( )Ī re-read for me, and I must start by saying that it’s possible but surprising the author was not aware back in 1987 that human chocolate is poisonous to dogs, but I would hope any reprints of this book would have the scenes where Travis feeds the dog such treats removed. certainly it could have been worse, but it could have been so much better.

i just found the writing, the length, the emotional manipulation, and too much of the content to be subpar. i could see that he was trying to be forward thinking in the way he wrote racism and sexism, but thank goodness we've at least come as far as we have since 1987 when this was written.Īgain, this story idea - of a genetically engineered animal and man-like creature to be used for different wartime things was actually pretty interesting. i hate the way he wrote the main heterosexual relationship here she's so infantilized and that's made to be cute he is supposed to be a good guy but the way he deals with her trauma would actually be retraumatizing for most people and secondarily, the way and speed with which they fall in love felt ridiculous to me. but this is many hundreds of pages too long, and i'm obviously reading this with the advantage of 35 years of social changes since he wrote this, but ugh. the idea here is actually a pretty interesting one.

Dean koontz watchers review