Hideaway

Liner Notes:
    HIDEAWAY
DEAN R. KOONTZ
    In his most profoundly felt—and terrifying—novel yet, Dean Koontz compels us to explore the meaning of death, the nature of sociopathic evil, and the transcendent power of love.
    “An extraordinary piece of fiction, with unforgettable characters… unique, spellbinding, with depth, sensitivity and personality. It will be a classic,” United Press International said about Cold Fire, the author's most recent New York Times number-one best-seller. Hideaway has the breathless pace, suspense, lyrical prose, deeply drawn characters, and surprises that readers have come to expect in a Koontz novel—yet it is entirely fresh, breaking new ground for the author and taking the reader into the beating heart of darkness.
    Although accident victim Hatch Harrison dies en route to the hospital, a brilliant physician miraculously resuscitates him. Given this second chance, Hatch and his wife, Lindsey, approach each day with a new appreciation for the beauty of life—until a series of mysterious and frightening events brings them face to face with the unknown. Although Hatch was given no glimpse of an Afterlife during the period when his heart was stopped, he has reason to fear that he has brought a terrible Presence back with him from the land of the dead.
    When people who have wronged the Harrisons begin to die violently, Hatch comes to doubt his own innocence—and must confront the possibility that this life is just a prelude to another, darker place. He and Lindsey are forced to fight not only for their own survival but for that of Regina, the delightful and exceptional disabled child who has given meaning and purpose to their lives. With growing desperation, Lindsey and Hatch seek the truth along a twisted trail that leads eventually to an abandoned amusement park—and a confrontation with purest evil.
    Emotionally affecting and powerfully suspenseful, Hideaway may be Dean Koontz's finest work to date.
    Dean R. Koontz —the author of many best-sellers—won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition when he was twenty and has been writing ever since. He lives in southern California.

 
    Also by Dean R. Koontz
•
COLD FIRE
THE BAD PLACE
MIDNIGHT
LIGHTNING
WATCHERS
STRANGERS
TWILIGHT EYES
DARKFALL
PHANTOMS
WHISPERS
THE MASK
THE VISION
THE FACE OF FEAR
NIGHT CHILLS
SHATTERED
THE VOICE OF THE NIGHT
THE SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT

 
    HIDEAWAY
    Dean R. Koontz
    G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

 
    This is a work of fiction. The events described are
imaginary. The setting and characters are fictitious and not
intended to represent specific places or persons.
     
    G. P. Putnam's Sons
Publishers Since 1838
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
    Copyright © 1992 by Nkui, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof,
may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Published simultaneously in Canada
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Koontz, Dean R. (Dean Ray), date.
Hideaway / Dean R. Koontz.
p.   cm.
ISBN 0-399-13673-8 ISBN 0-399-13682-7 (Limited Edition)
I. Title.
PS3561.055H5    1992                    91-29786 CIP
813'. 54—dc20
    Book design by MaryJane DiMassi
    Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
    This book is printed on acid-free paper.
    Ebook History:
2.0 - 2003/12/9 - Kelzan - New scan, new formatting.

 
     
    TO GERDA.
FOREVER.
     

 
    O, WHAT MAY MAN WITHIN HIM HIDE,
THOUGH ANGEL ON THE OUTWARD SIDE!
    — William Shakespeare

Part I
JUST SECONDS
FROM A CLEAN
GETAWAY
    Life is a gift that must be given back,
and joy should arise from its possession.
It's too damned short, and that's a fact.
Hard to accept, this earthly procession
to final darkness is a journey done,
circle completed, work of art sublime,
a sweet melodic rhyme, a battle won.
    —THE BOOK OF COUNTED SORROWS

ONE
1
    An entire world hummed and bustled beyond the dark ramparts of the mountains, yet to Lindsey Harrison the night seemed empty, as hollow as the vacant chambers of a cold, dead heart. Shivering, she slumped deeper in the passenger seat of the Honda.
    Serried ranks of ancient evergreens receded up the slopes that flanked the highway, parting occasionally to accommodate sparse stands of winter-stripped maples and birches that poked at the sky with jagged black branches. However, that vast forest and the formidable rock formations to which it clung did not reduce the emptiness of the bitter March night. As the Honda descended the winding