"Watchers" by Dean Koontz

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains."

The fifth novel by Dean Koontz that yours truly read in the summer of 2018. and even though at this point everything gets a little blurry, there is no danger that I would ever forget or mix this one with the rest, because this is by far my favourite from everything so far. In his humorous afterword, author notes that he is perfectly aware of how much readers all over the world took to this particular novel and it people will ask him to write a sequel until the day he dies. He also mentions that this was the first time he didn't experienced bleak despair or writers block - writing this novel was pure joy and he loved every moment of it. As a reader, I could sense this, because with all the ugly, nerve racking moments, there was so much love and genuine affection in this book that it made me purr with pleasure - I laughed, I cried, I couldn't eat or sleep until I finish the last chapter.

"Watchers" is about two different, genetically created creatures who escape some secret government laboratory - golden retriever "Einstein" is lovable dog gifted with human intelligence, while "The Outsider" is his evil twin, monstrous combination of human and monkey, made to kill and attack. They are also connected with some mysterious sixth sense, so the dog is aware that the other one is following him with intention to destroy him. As all sorts of secret agents, policemen and even paid murderer are following their trail to prevent the public from finding out these experiments, "Einstein" finds himself a human master Travis Cornell and quickly connects him with mousy spinster Nora Devon who, like Bette Davis in "Now, Voyager" was completely destroyed by loveless childhood where cold and domineering aunt forbid every contact with outside world - both Cornell and Devon have their own demons from the past but the dog somehow understand this and shower them with such joy and love that together they become a loving family. Subsequent adventures unfold as this happy trio eventually had to escape from their dangerous opponents, but even as they are aware of detectives and "The Outsider", they are still unaware of madman killer who is also searching everywhere for them with intention to kidnap the dog and sell it back to scientists. Since I am unabashed and unrepentant animal lover, this was a perfect book for me and "Einstein" completely stole my heart - every time he was in danger, I swore I will never read another Koontz novel if anything happen to him. I also must mention that both the dog and "The Outsider" were victims of scientists poking and probing, so deep inside I felt compassion for the monster who was given intelligence and soul to understand his ugliness and why nobody will ever love him. In this, Koontz shows great understanding and empathy so I am now completely won over by this writer and feel very close spiritual connection with somebody who understands there is a soft core and heart even in a monster.