ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Watchers by Dean Koontz: A Unique Review

Updated on October 12, 2014
Watchers Paperback Cover
Watchers Paperback Cover | Source

I Highly Recommend Watchers by Dean Koontz to All Book Lovers

Watchers by Dean Koontz is among one of my favorite books of all time. This masterpiece that Koontz created is a thriller, horror, drama, adventure, and love story all rolled into one great book. Not to mention, the characters in this story grab onto a reader's heart and never let go.

In honor of one of my favorite books, I have created a book review below, including a general plot summary, character profiles with photos of actors depicting how I envisioned the actors in my head, and an exclusive video interview with Dean Koontz, among many other fun facts and tidbits of information as well.

If you do give Dean Koontz' Watchers a read, I hope you find as much enjoyment in this book as I do. Also, feel free to come on back and leave your own review or feedback on the book. Happy reading!

Do You Enjoy the Work of Dean Koontz?

Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz | Source

Have You Ever Read Any of Dean Koontz' Books?

See results

"A suspenseful page-turner...Koontz gives us characters we can care about...and enough tension to satisfy any thrill-seeker."

~The New York Times

Why I Love Watchers by Dean Koontz

Watchers by Dean Koontz, is one of my favorite books of all time. I read a lot, but not just any book will make it to my list of books I consider favorites. It takes a special book, with a fantastic plot, and characters that endear themselves to me and become lifelong friends.

To make my favorite book list, a book must also be good enough for me to desire to read it over and over again. I believe I have read Watchers no less than 5 times throughout my life and I enjoy it every single time.

Watchers is the type of book that would definitely be considered "page turner." This book keeps the reader in such suspense that it's hard to put the book down at all! It is hard to place this book into any specific genre, as it possesses traits of a thriller, horror, drama, adventure, and love story, all rolled into one fantastic story.

Golden Retriever Photo
Golden Retriever Photo | Source

General Plot Summary

No Major Plot Spoilers

Since I absolutely hate it when book reviews contain major spoilers for the story that is being reviewed, I have written a general summary of the book, addressing the direction of the story, but not giving away the specifics that make the story great.

Watchers is the story of a genetically altered, super intelligent Golden Retriever who has escaped from a government laboratory, in which it was created. The story is narrated from three main view points: the perspective of those helping the dog retain his escapee status, the perspective of law enforcement trying to recapture the dog and return him to the laboratory, and from the perspective of a criminal trying to recapture the dog for his own personal gain.

Koontz artfully intertwines these three very different perspectives throughout the book, showing the reader all of the conflicting vantage points of all characters involved. As the reader, we also see the main characters grow and transform as the story progresses.

Also thrown into the hunt for the genius Golden Retriever, is another genetically altered animal escapee from the very same government laboratory as the dog...however, this animal was an experiment gone very wrong and straight out of a nightmare, called "The Outsider." This experiment's intent was to create a war machine with one goal in mind...to create a ruthless, bloodthirsty killer. For reasons unknown, The Outsider has a deep hatred of the Golden Retriever and it's main goal is to kill the dog.

All in all, Watchers has two main themes throughout the book: hope and loyalty. These two themes are responsible for the transformation of the characters and the advancement of the plot line and kept me on the edge of my seat. Hope and loyalty also touch the reader as well, while progressing through the book, which is one of the many reasons that I consider this book a masterpiece.

My Recommendation

I would recommend Watchers by Dean Koontz to folks who enjoy suspenseful thrillers, Stephen King fans, dog lovers, and science fiction/fantasy fanatics. Dean Koontz fans too, of course.

To those of you who do not enjoy books from the horror genre, I would still recommend this book to you as well. While there are some scary elements to the book, I would by no means classify this as strictly horror.

Overall, no matter what your tastes are in books, if you enjoy a well written story, characters that become old friends, and books that grab you and never let go, Dean Koontz' Watchers is a must read.

Main Character Profiles

I have created a character profile for each of the main characters in the book. I think character profiles are a great way to gain insight on what a book is about without giving away key story plot lines.

The photos accompanying the character profiles below are just my own view on how I think the characters from the book would look; how I imagined them in my head while I was reading. These actors and actress do not have any affiliations with Dean Koontz' book, Watchers.

Felicity Jones Photo
Felicity Jones Photo | Source

Nora Devon

  • Raised by her vicious and reclusive Aunt Violet
  • Believes she is ugly and wears loose, drab clothing
  • Fears the outside world and expects the worst in people
  • Debilitated by her fears, she becomes a hermit, never venturing far from her home
  • Enjoys painting, but is too afraid of rejection to show anyone her work

Hugh Jackman Poster
Hugh Jackman Poster | Source

Travis Cornell

  • Orphaned at a young age
  • Former member of the military Delta Force Anti-Terrorist squad
  • Retired from real estate, after putting away enough money to live off of
  • After losing his wife and all of his friends, believes everyone he loves is cursed with death
  • Lonely and depressed; searching for meaning in life

Golden Retriever Photo
Golden Retriever Photo | Source

Einstein

  • Genetically engineered Golden Retriever with intelligence equivalent to that of a human being
  • Escaped from the lab in which he was created
  • Protective and loyal to those he loves
  • Wry sense of humor
  • Possesses a sixth sense that links him to The Outsider's whereabouts
  • Favorite cartoon character: Mickey Mouse

Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig | Source

Vince Nasco

  • Occupation: Hired Hit Man for the Mafia and other criminal organizations
  • Believes committing murder is a means of obtaining immortality by absorbing the "life force" of his victims
  • Is a loner; keeps to himself
  • Cool, calculating, and manipulative
  • Has no conscience and shows no remorse for his crimes

Chestnut Morris Poster
Chestnut Morris Poster | Source

Lemuel Johnson

  • Occupation: Director of the Southern California National Security Agency
  • Grew up in an upper middle class family in California
  • Best Friend: Walt Gaines
  • Workaholic; doesn't make friends easily
  • Clings to his father's workaholic definition of success and happiness

Alec Baldwin Poster
Alec Baldwin Poster | Source

Walt Gaines

  • Occupation: Orange County, CA Sheriff
  • Takes the protection of citizens of his county seriously
  • Former member of the Marine Corps
  • Grew up poor in Kentucky
  • Best Friend: Lemuel Johnson
  • Easy-going demeanor with a sense of humor

"We have a responsibility to stand watch over one another, we are watchers, all of us, watchers, guarding against the darkness."

~Nora Devon - Watchers

An Exclusive Interview with Dean Koontz - Some Insight into his Love of Golden Retrievers

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)