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Watchers

Watchers

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: May Be One of the Best
Review: To say I enjoyed this book would be a gross understatement. It is still - after all this time - the best book Dean Koontz ever wrote. It has everything - the evil, mad scientist, the nice guy, the woman who comes out of her shell and the greatest dog in the Universe.

The pages where he first meets Einstein and both he and the reader were given clues as to his uniqueness were awesome. I finally stayed up all one Friday night to finish the thing. Nora underwent a tremendous transformation and her love with Travis was a thing of beauty.

For once, Dean does not star the bad guy but relegates him to second page. It is Travis, Nora and Einstein who take center stage. Two movies were made from this - the first, one of the most abhorant piece of film ever presented, the other a poor representation of the book. It's like presenting War & Peace in three 20 minute installments. This is perfection

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I expected more
Review: A government experiment goes wrong: two animals escape from a laboratory. One is a highly, almost humanly intelligent golden retriever, with the usual dog sweetness and companionship; the other escapee is something like the experiments in "The island of Dr. Moreau", with a dark deathwish and incredible hate towards the intelligent dog. This monster is also very mentaly capable, and will stop to nothing until he finds his prey. Between them, two solitary people, a man and a woman, will come togheter, and their lives will change forever.

This is the a summary of Dean Koontz's "Watchers". I have only recently discovered this author's books, and "Watchers" is the second one I read from him, after the very enjoyable "Lightning". Based on Amazon.com reviews and on "Lightning", I was eagerly waiting to read "Watchers", but the final result came shorter from what I was expecting.

Although the plot is neither original nor too much believable, it could be very fun, because this is a work of fiction. If I wanted reality, I would read Stephen Ambrose - a very good author. But the way Koontz treated his book was not very interesting. The main human characters are too much alike. Other characters enter and exit the book much too fast, and when they were part of the plot, I couldn't relate to them, because of their shallowness. The contract killer, the NSA cops, the lawyer, all were uninteresting and yet important - and boring - parts in the book. This was an error. The intelligent dog, Einstein, is the best thing in the story. But there is a huge mistake in its conception. Without wanting to give anything away, if the scientists were able to work the dog's genoma and make him intelligent, why the hell weren't they able to prevent it to suffer from such a common dog's disease like cinomosis??

This is what I'm talking about. Koontz imagined a story with a high potential to be awesome, and then treated it with carelessness. And the monster, also another part of the story with good potential, only appeared when a killing was scheduled. I couldn't even dislike the monster, because, apart from the killings, it didn't do anything hateful, and his motivations never showed up.

I know I'll be thrashed by Koontz fans, but that's my opinion: this book could be much better.

Grade 6.0/10

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great story of animal compassion
Review: Watchers was a great thriller and extremely well written.

Two beings were created in a lab with near human intelligence. One is a golden retriever normal in every way other than his intelligence. The other is called The Outsider. A frightful being resembling no animal or man. Both beings escape from the lab and are free in the wild.

A man named Travis finds the dog and soon learns of its secret, however he is unaware that the dog still has more secrets to reveal to it. Along the way, Travis and the dog, newly named Einstein, meet a woman named Nora. Nora has been sheltered all her life and Travis befriends her and finds their friendship quickly grows into something more.

In the meantime, The Outsider is still out there. The NSA are searching for both The Outsider and the dog which means that Travis and Nora have to watch themselves carefully.

Without giving anything else away, I'll just say that I completely enjoyed this book. Animal stories always hit me right in the heart and Einstein, with his human-like intelligence, is completely endearing. I found myself reading the book at a quick pace, always wanting more and always thinking about where I'd just left off when I wasn't able to read. There are very few boring moments in the book.

The only subplot I could have done without was that of a man named Vince who kills the scientists who created The Outsider and the dog and believes that taking lives insures his own immortality. The entire subplot is almost ridiculous in its ending.

If you're an animal lover or dog lover, this book is a definite read. You will find yourself looking after Einstein and thinking about him long after you put the book down.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MOVE ASIDE LASSIE!!!!!!THERE'S A NEW DOG IN TOWN!
Review: This book is definitely one of the BEST books I've ever read in my entire life! On second thought, it is the best book I've ever read before. This book is a must read! You shouldn't pass the opportunity to read it. Koontz imagined and came up with the best characters of all time. Lassie fans, there's a new dog in town. In the story, there was a highly intelligent dog named Einstein. And boy, he sure did live up to his name! He could read, communicate in standard English, and do just about anything you wish a dog could do. Einstein was great. He made the whole story great. Koontz imagined a wild plot that kept me on the edge of my seat from cover to cover. Do you like monsters and what not? Then you'll love The Outsider. He's the antagonist in the story. Definitely one of the best mosters of all time. Trust me, if you read this book, you won't regret it one bit.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Watchers Review (approach paper)
Review: I have just recently begun to read Dean Koontz books, and was told that this book was the best. I borrowed it from my friend, and I was hooked on Dean Koontz books. What was most surprising to me was how Dean Koontz could get the reader so attached to the characters in the book, and how he was able to build up your suspense, while keeping you hooked on the book for such a long time. He will keep you guessing what will happen, but I found out that I was always wrong. The ability to come up with such surprising turns in the book is the real reason why Dean Koontz is such a great writer. This was an outstanding book and I would recommend it to anyone, even if you don't enjoy reading now, you will when you get through with this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This Book Rocks!!!!!!
Review: This book is definitely a must-read. It kept me on the edge of my seat from cover to cover. There is never a dull moment in the book. I was intrigued by how Koontz painted a vivid picture of each character in my mind. There was never a dull moment of suspense either. This book was definitely a page turner. You just can't wait to find out what will happen next. If you have a chance to read this book, don't miss it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This Book has the Greatest Dog Ever in it
Review: "Watchers" is my favorite Dean Koontz book. I read it when it came out, read it again on vacation a couple months later, read it again a couple years later, and I read it again just a couple weeks ago. It's that kind of book, you know the kind that delivers both a good story and characters that seem like friends that you want to visit again and a again.

Travis Cornel is wandering in the woods in So Cal when he comes across a golden retriever that seems to be trying to tell him something. Travis senses something else out there. Bear? The dog urges him on. They run. Get in Travis' pickup and get on outta there.

Travis senses the dog is hungry, mentions there's a sandwich in the glove compartment and is surprised when the dog opens the glove box and gets the sandwich. Thus begins the mother of all chases. Something is after the dog. The dog is way smarter than a golden retriever has any right to be.

Get this five star novel if you haven't read it already, it's Koontz at his best.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This will stay with you for years...
Review: I have never been a big fan of Koontz, i found his books to be too bizzarre and out there.. but for some reason i picked this up and could not put it down- the characters really resonated iwth me, and i am a dog person, so the golden retriever parts always got me.. i find myself hearing things outside and when my dog looks up, i ask him if he hears the 'outsider'... this book is chilling, well written and a page turner, i would read it again!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Boring, Boring, Boring
Review: Okay, I really don't know what the raving is about. I read the stupid book for the first five chapters and then I gave up. Yeah, there's a smart dog, and there's a monster attacking people around. Stupid and predicable plot! The story is a major bore, and Mr. Koontz should really consider making his style of writing less repetitive. Don't waste some many pages on boring details. I almost fell asleep when the monster is killing some nobody. So, if you want a real page-tuner, don't ever buy this book.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This was decent but avoid "By the Light of the Moon". It was comic book level for children but not acknowkledged as such.


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