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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Easy, interesting read. I have never really gotten into Koontz but this book was ok. There is nothing deep here nor did I expect it to be. I liked the premise of a highly intelligent dog. We all talk to our dogs but never really expect them to communicate back.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've never heard of this author before it was chosen for my book club. I know that's really sad but I fucking loved this book with everything in me. What a great way to start off the new year. Watchers has everything you could want in a horror/thriller: we have complex, flawed characters with backstories, likeable characters, that one psychopath character, the ugly ass character everyone's terrified of but kind of pities, unique plot, A DOG plus a dog that has a adorable sense of humor and can communicate with people wtf, lots of suspense and violence, multiple povs where you see things coming but the characters don't so you're basically shaking on your bed and trying to telepathically warn them and of course we gotta have a lil romance.
DON'T READ THIS AT NIGHT
I was literally scared out of mind and afraid to go out at night by myself
Why did mr koontz try to ruin my emotional soul at the end I was literally gonna throw the book in the road and run it over with my car. Your girl was hyperventilating over here
And don't forget the hilarious banter between Lem and Walt we love that
Ken I'm so sorry for that experience you went through in the housing tract that scene had me quaking from fright I've never sweated sm
I LOVE YOU EINSTEIN YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE
Einstein reading books was my favorite part of the whole book tho and his obsession with mickey mouse literally the cutest thing
Garrison was my favorite like what a badass old man I'll pay you to be my grandpa sir
But why are there 4 movies of this and they all look like crap ok but luke skywalker is in the 4th one omg
Time for a watchers movie marathon
On my way to read every book bro had written
Ok I usually don't rant this much and my reviews are way more organized but this was god tier and this unorganized af review is proof that it's good and you need to read it. The cover's ugly but still read it
DON'T READ THIS AT NIGHT
I was literally scared out of mind and afraid to go out at night by myself
Why did mr koontz try to ruin my emotional soul at the end I was literally gonna throw the book in the road and run it over with my car. Your girl was hyperventilating over here
And don't forget the hilarious banter between Lem and Walt we love that
Ken I'm so sorry for that experience you went through in the housing tract that scene had me quaking from fright I've never sweated sm
I LOVE YOU EINSTEIN YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE
Einstein reading books was my favorite part of the whole book tho and his obsession with mickey mouse literally the cutest thing
Garrison was my favorite like what a badass old man I'll pay you to be my grandpa sir
But why are there 4 movies of this and they all look like crap ok but luke skywalker is in the 4th one omg
Time for a watchers movie marathon
On my way to read every book bro had written
Ok I usually don't rant this much and my reviews are way more organized but this was god tier and this unorganized af review is proof that it's good and you need to read it. The cover's ugly but still read it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Cursing, Pregnancy
I was told to read this many times over by somebody who insisted he was a reader when we first met, but I soon realized he was holding on to his “reader” title from a time when “goosebumps” were the popular things to read for his age group. But, Watchers was a book he did in fact read at some point between the age of 8 and 35, & so he clung to this recommendation time and time again, telling me I HAD to read this. “It’s about a dog!” He insisted, “He’s a real good boy!” He appealed to my love for dogs, knew this was the way to my heart. Still, I rolled my eyes internally. I’d read Dean Koontz as a kid a few times, and I’d just always assumed that books written for adults that I could read as an 11 year old wouldn’t actually appeal to me as an adult. So I resisted. But upon his repeated insistence, I researched it a bit and came to find that its one of Koontz’s most beloved books. So I figured, eh. Why not. Let’s give it a whirl. I had just one thing to say first though, if that “real good boy” dies at the end I swear to god, I will never forgive you.
Now having read it, I’ll say that it was a fine read. I gave it 4 stars because I enjoyed it, and I did in fact think he was a “real good boy.” I also delighted in the fact that the book was set in the Orange County area, all the street names and destination spots were my local haunts and jams.
I didn’t really think there was much of a mystery at the core of it all, what Einstein was was pretty obvious from the start. There was never really a moment where I thought he might just be some super evolved retriever or some alien breed of pooch, but guessing it right off the bat didn’t really detract from the story as the plot was fueled more by the hunt/run from the Outsider rather than any mystery of who or what Einstein was.
I did think it was a little funny that Travis and Nora just seemed to accept Einstein’s intelligence so easily like it was no big deal. Travis was a bit stunned by the water being turned on and Einstein opening the refrigerator and brining him Coors Lights, but he seemed to take Einstein’s intelligence at face value pretty quickly. I mean it’s hard to believe that any other person on the planet that came across this dog wouldn’t be like, gaping and gawking and cheering, making the dog do tricks over and over and over and like running around in disbelief and awe. Surely there would be loads of discussing & freaking out & just all kinds of stunned disbelief & trading ideas. But nah, not Nora and Travis. They just accept Einstein’s unbelievable intelligence level like as if they’d just been told the sky is blue.
The love story between Travis and Nora was sweet without being over powering, which is always how I prefer my romances so that part was perfect. I found Nora’s self flagellation a little over the top at the beginning & it was just starting to grate on my nerves when enter Travis and Einstein. Do I think it’s realistic that a lifetime of abuse, degradation & humiliation can be overcome in a matter of weeks? Obviously not. Not even with the aide of a very special puppy love. That is one of my least favorite tropes in fact, the savior trope, the love cures all depiction, the completely false representation of love being the answer to all problems including mental illness and trauma. I think it’s a dangerous way to present love to needy desperate people but eh
Now having read it, I’ll say that it was a fine read. I gave it 4 stars because I enjoyed it, and I did in fact think he was a “real good boy.” I also delighted in the fact that the book was set in the Orange County area, all the street names and destination spots were my local haunts and jams.
I didn’t really think there was much of a mystery at the core of it all, what Einstein was was pretty obvious from the start. There was never really a moment where I thought he might just be some super evolved retriever or some alien breed of pooch, but guessing it right off the bat didn’t really detract from the story as the plot was fueled more by the hunt/run from the Outsider rather than any mystery of who or what Einstein was.
I did think it was a little funny that Travis and Nora just seemed to accept Einstein’s intelligence so easily like it was no big deal. Travis was a bit stunned by the water being turned on and Einstein opening the refrigerator and brining him Coors Lights, but he seemed to take Einstein’s intelligence at face value pretty quickly. I mean it’s hard to believe that any other person on the planet that came across this dog wouldn’t be like, gaping and gawking and cheering, making the dog do tricks over and over and over and like running around in disbelief and awe. Surely there would be loads of discussing & freaking out & just all kinds of stunned disbelief & trading ideas. But nah, not Nora and Travis. They just accept Einstein’s unbelievable intelligence level like as if they’d just been told the sky is blue.
The love story between Travis and Nora was sweet without being over powering, which is always how I prefer my romances so that part was perfect. I found Nora’s self flagellation a little over the top at the beginning & it was just starting to grate on my nerves when enter Travis and Einstein. Do I think it’s realistic that a lifetime of abuse, degradation & humiliation can be overcome in a matter of weeks? Obviously not. Not even with the aide of a very special puppy love. That is one of my least favorite tropes in fact, the savior trope, the love cures all depiction, the completely false representation of love being the answer to all problems including mental illness and trauma. I think it’s a dangerous way to present love to needy desperate people but eh
Really liked this book. Not really my type of book but it was very good and kept me interested through out.
I first read this book back in 1997, and it's amazing how much of it stayed with me all that time. A great book - for me it's Koontz' best - with some great ideas and great characters.
Especially Einstein.
Especially Einstein.
Wonderful book, Dean Koontz at his masterful best. I loved the story and will re-read this book in the future.
Dean Koontz isn't that scary! At least, not in this book. Who wouldn't love a genius dog?
I've been meaning to read something by [a:Dean Koontz|9355|Dean Koontz|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1341717803p2/9355.jpg] since I watched Odd Thomas. I came across Watchers which happily would also check off another category of my reading challenge, so I checked it out.
It started out very interesting. Two creatures have escaped from an experimental government lab. One is good. One is very, very bad. Proceed with Sci-Fi Thriller. The story overall was interesting, but there were a few things that bogged it down.
First, there was entirely too much time spent pondering the moral and theological implications of the genetic experiments in the book. Or the ethical significance of a self-aware dog. I suppose this was all a lot more groundbreaking and shocking in the 80's when this book was published. But fast forward to 2015 and we've had so many talking dog movies, so many thrillers with government experiments gone wrong, that the lengthy rumination about it was at times frustrating and significantly slowed the story down.
One of the main characters was also a overly naive shut-in who starts the story a few steps short of [b:Flowers in the Attic|43448|Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger, #1)|V.C. Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327880853s/43448.jpg|3311885]. (No siblings, so...) But Koontz spent an awfully long time shocking the clueless woman by gauchely explaining the perversions of the world. Which got old very quickly. This also contained one of the most awkward love scenes I have EVER read. (Almost as bad [b:Breaking Dawn|1162543|Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438120007s/1162543.jpg|2960529].) It was completely cringing to read and all subsequent attempts at romance were so saccharine and cloying that I was tempted to skip those sections. To make matters worse, the second half has a large slow spot in the plot where all you get are moral ponderings, syrupy romance, and overly detailed character details. About 200 some pages could have been cut from this story without affecting the plot.
So overall, not a bad read. It was a fairly standard action book, but slightly dated and with too many awkward moments.
This review fulfills the "Book That Came Out the Year I Was Born" category of the Popsugar reading challenge. http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458
It started out very interesting. Two creatures have escaped from an experimental government lab. One is good. One is very, very bad. Proceed with Sci-Fi Thriller. The story overall was interesting, but there were a few things that bogged it down.
First, there was entirely too much time spent pondering the moral and theological implications of the genetic experiments in the book. Or the ethical significance of a self-aware dog. I suppose this was all a lot more groundbreaking and shocking in the 80's when this book was published. But fast forward to 2015 and we've had so many talking dog movies, so many thrillers with government experiments gone wrong, that the lengthy rumination about it was at times frustrating and significantly slowed the story down.
One of the main characters was also a overly naive shut-in who starts the story a few steps short of [b:Flowers in the Attic|43448|Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger, #1)|V.C. Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327880853s/43448.jpg|3311885]. (No siblings, so...) But Koontz spent an awfully long time shocking the clueless woman by gauchely explaining the perversions of the world. Which got old very quickly. This also contained one of the most awkward love scenes I have EVER read. (Almost as bad [b:Breaking Dawn|1162543|Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)|Stephenie Meyer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1438120007s/1162543.jpg|2960529].) It was completely cringing to read and all subsequent attempts at romance were so saccharine and cloying that I was tempted to skip those sections. To make matters worse, the second half has a large slow spot in the plot where all you get are moral ponderings, syrupy romance, and overly detailed character details. About 200 some pages could have been cut from this story without affecting the plot.
So overall, not a bad read. It was a fairly standard action book, but slightly dated and with too many awkward moments.
This review fulfills the "Book That Came Out the Year I Was Born" category of the Popsugar reading challenge. http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458
The books that Dean Koontz wrote about golden retrievers were amazing. If you love animals, this book is for you! Don't forget the other 2 as well!