Nature was a green battlefield where the weak were forever preyed on by the strong. Nature did not care, nor did the earth, which for all its beauty was nonetheless a hard place, indifferent to its creatures. It was mind that mattered, mind that cared, mind that loved, the best works of the mind that changed this hard world for the better. Mind—and heart—had bonded people and dogs for tens of thousands of years. They had formed an alliance for survival and a covenant of affection against the

This is the first full length novel from Dean Koontz I read since the early 90s. He still has all his typical ingredients. Genetic experiments gone wrong, an out of control tycoon, a fairy tale relationship between dog and autistic boy having a telepathic communication by the "wire", romance between man and woman who fall in love, heartwarming stuff and brutal psychopath and former CEO (Lee Shacket) on the loose on the other hand. I especially liked the tour of Lee Shacket and what he became in

This was the complete opposite of what I expected, and I have no idea how to explain why I am disappointed. First of all, I really thought this would be more about golden retrievers, but boy was I wrong. The title should've been "Deceived".Try more along the lines of a super creepy villain and his weird actions and thoughts and urges (ew).But then the main villain gets put on the back burner of the story like he isn't important anymore and it gets BORING AF because all of these new characters ar...

I think I'm done with Dean Koontz. He's prolific and I've read a lot of his stuff. Some, I really liked: Watchers and the Odd Thomas book. Other works I've been less than thrilled by. His purple prose, his requirement that I suspend my disbelief to the breaking point, his awkward word choices and phrasing have all had me figuratively throwing many of his books, with great force, at the wall. But Devoted sounded good, like Watchers, so I thought I was in for a treat. What I got was a trick. Bad w...

After last Dean Koontz book I read a couple years ago I said never again. Sigh, I was gifted this book. His style of writing and my style of reading don't mix. Yeh well the blurbs are always so good they suck me in. Then give me a dog in the story and I can't say no. I should have donated it. I'll start with what I liked. There was a moment of intense fear in the middle, a child was in danger, a mother on the edge, that was the best scene in the book. I liked the connection made between man and

Another fantastic read by Koontz it kept me glued to back to his best in this one each page enjoyed his writing style

Dorthy Hummell(76) has a young girl, Rosa Leon by her aging side & Rosa is repaid with surprises/wealth which great & nice. Megan Book’s son, Woody (11) is austic, never speaking, but a “bright” computer hacker. Woody & Kipp (golden retriever) cross paths - with a “Extrasensory” intelligence link (perceptions/communications).They have “Devoted” relationships to each other - Woody/Kipp - Dorothy/Rosa. Agree.

My reading slump has suuucked. I haven’t read much of anything since the whole COVID-19 mess, and my state was ‘shut down.’ I’ve binge watched a lot of junk in Netflix, and annoyed my kids and dog. True story. So, with this, I jumped straight in to Koontz’s new release, Devoted, and loved it for being just a crazy entertaining ride. Devoted isn’t classic Koontz, but it’s closer to his classic novels than I’ve seen (or... read, I guess) in some time. In fact, I’ve abandoned the author because mos...

I am usually a Dean Koontz fan, and especially his books that feature dogs. And while I wanted to like Devoted, I didn't. It was a struggle to finish. The premise is good -- who doesn't like dogs let alone special dogs. And they're helping an autistic boy. Unfortunately, things go downhill from there.In particular,--the bad guys were ridiculously "bad"--the action-packed scenes were too crass and violent, even for a mainstream novel--the good characters were one dimensional--but by far the bigge...

Initially I was going to rate it 4 stars, but…I discovered this author back in 1989, Burning my first visit to USA, and the first 3 books that I read were Demon Seed, The Fanhouse and Cold Fire. His books were not known in Brazil, that early.He is the first author that I attempted to read in English only. I have not read a book written in or translated into Portuguese, which is my first language, since then.I was amazed by his writing style and how easy to read and engaging his books were (are)....

Enchanting. Tear-jerking. Edge-of-seat scary. All this and more await readers of this exquisitely written book. If I had to describe it in a single word, it would be mesmerizing.At the heart of the activity is a telepathic dog named Kipp; Woody, a high-functioning autistic boy who hasn't spoken a word for all of his 11 years; and a diabolic plan to increase human longevity that goes horribly wrong. It's sort of a The Art of Racing in the Rain meets The Shining. Seriously, how can you top that?Wo...

SAVE YOUR MONEY I used to love Dean Koontz, I had every book he wrote, and really enjoyed them. But in the last 15 or 20 years, he's become a pretentious, overly verbose pompous blowhard.

Even with a flashlight there doesn't appear to be much point to this story by this famous hit or miss author. 3 of 10 stars

If you’re into psychic dog hotlines and mute children fantasizing of licking dead men’s gums, have I got a book for you! I really struggled with deciding how to rate this book, but I’m feeling generous and I really f’ing loved this and it made my heart full, which is really all anyone can ask for in these confusing times. It’s weird, but in a classic Koontzy way. Ya know, the reason you fell in love with Dean Koontz in the first place? Remember the man turning into a computer in Midnight? Rememb...

What happened to Koontz who wrote Lightning or Strangers??? Those books were ineteresting, well written and easy to read, while this one was repetitive, repetitive, repetitive!!! How many times we must read here that the dogs are men's best friends? That without dogs we aill still be living in caves? And again and again and again... ad nauseam!!!The idea about telepathic dogs is interesting, but some on, here it reads like a children's fairy tale!This should have been a short, sweet story instea...

Actual rating is 3.5 stars.This book is about a woman who lives with her autistic son and he has never spoken. Her husband has died a few years back and a colleague of his is obsessed with this woman. He will stop at nothing to have her.This book has all the aspects that Dean Koontz uses. There is the above intelligent dog, the precocious child, and people doing good deeds without hesitation. This book reminded me a lot of his early works and I was glad to see it. One could easily see the nod to...

Outstanding Dean Koontz read, Devoted grabbed my attention from the first chapter and did not let go! Seriously good. I am not as interested today in telling you what the book is about as that is what a synopsis is for...I will share that the writing, characters, story- line and twisty plots are really great from the beginning. I can not think of any place where this book drags. Hoping that the stories of Woody, his mom and friends continues... especially the dogs! I found myself having so much

3.5/5 So this one started well and actually had a few decently scary moments. I thought we may be going back to some of the older Koontz that I fondly remember. However towards the last quarter of the novel it started to unravel. Too many new characters were introduced and never expounded upon and while things wrapped up nice enough it made the last half less enjoyable to read. It checks the Dean Koontz hit lists: genius dog, handicapped child, and sinister douce bag, monster, or some combinatio...