Breathless by Dean Koontz "A Novel"

Breathless a Book by Dean Koontz

The stunning new thriller from the bestselling author of Velocity and Relentless. In the Colorado mountains something miraculous comes into the life of Grady Adams, a strong, gentle man whose past experiences have alienated him from the modern world and driven him to live in the wilds. When he sees it, he knows that one of Nature's great mysteries has been revealed to him. He takes his friend Cammy Rivers to bear witness to the phenomenal presence. As a scientist, she is stunned and awed. She emails photos to colleagues in far places to try and find a name for the wonderful beings. Before they know what is happening, Homeland Security has quarantined the wilderness around them and sent in assorted scientists to track down and 'neutralize' the threat to the known world. Grady and Cammy aren't sticking around to be mere witnesses to this atrocity ; determined to prevent it, they go on the run, and a pursuit of hair-raising suspense is under way, with no happy ending in prospect; Breathless is a unique and riveting thriller from the master of suspense.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Koontz (Relentless) delivers a hard-to-classify stand-alone set near the Rocky Mountains that will appeal more to fans of his Odd Thomas books than those partial to his Hitchcockian thrillers. While out for a walk, reclusive Grady Adams and his wolfhound, Merlin, spot two white furry animals as large as midsize dogs and as quick and limber as cats that aren't like anything previously known to science. The sudden arrival of these mysterious creatures out of the blue appears to be linked to several other baffling phenomena. Meanwhile, a sadist, Henry Rouvroy, tracks down his identical twin, James, and kills him and James's wife in order to assume his brother's identity. After the murders, Rouvroy is unsettled by evidence that the dead have not stayed dead. Koontz's cryptic dedication to Aesop (twenty-six centuries late and with apologies for the length) may hold the key to what's going on, but readers are likely to find the moral of this peculiar tale, if there is one, obscure. (Dec.)

From Booklist

The endearing golden retriever heroine of The Darkest Evening of the Year (2007) and the real-life golden retriever star of A Big Little Life (2009) acquire a male peer in Koontz’s new novel, an Irish wolfhound named Merlin despite the fact that, unlike his female colleagues, he does nothing magical. He’s also not one of the protagonists, though he’s the faithful friend of four of them: his master, his vet, and two creatures entirely new under the sun, who, adorably child-sized, big-eyed, and furry, seem at first closer akin to him than to humans but turn out to be genetically indistinguishable from Homo sapiens. The pair, dubbed Puzzle and Riddle by Merlin’s people, arrive simultaneously with thousands more pairs of their kind all over the globe—and just in time. For, in Breathless, as in many previous Koontz novels, this old world’s in a helluva fix. But this time, Puzzle, Riddle, and their kin may set things right. At any rate, the creatures’ arrival immediately triggers one outstandingly good development: an angry drunk sobers up and lightens up enough to seek out the parents he’s long been estranged from; en route, he thwarts a heinous criminal. Furthermore, because the newcomers are considerably more than they initially seem, they effect more good, including their own escape from Department of Homeland Security detention. A first-rate first-alien-encounter yarn. --Ray Olson

Review

“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

“Koontz’s books always thrill…. [He’s] so good, he’ll have readers holding their breath on one page and tearing up on the next.” —Chicago Sun-Times

“Koontz is at the top of his game...both a great storyteller and a novelist of ideas…one of the most important novelists writing today.” —National Review

About the Author

The books of Dean Koontz are published in 38 languages, and worldwide sales top 400 million copies. Eleven of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, and several have been adapted into feature films and TV miniseries. Dean and Gerda Koontz live in southern California with their golden retriever, Anna, grand-niece of the famous and beloved Trixie.