The Darkest Evening of the Year

Likewise, considering how well-adjusted Hope is after the ten years of hell in her mother’s care, she may have received a similar grace.
    Hope has learned to read and write at a seventh-grade level. She has not called herself dumb in many months. She has to give back a dime of her allowance every time she does.
    Having experienced a number of those small supernatural moments that can arguably be explained away with psychology or science—such as still having a pencil in your hand every time you put it down—they were also parties to a genuine miracle, with the result that they have become more aware than ever of the mysterious patterns in life. This does not mean that they cope with life any better because of their perceptions. Seeing a pattern and making sense of it are different things, and maybe the only people who make sense of the patterns and properly shape their lives to them are saints in the making or the pleasant kind of lunatics. Hi-ho.
    Fred, Ethel, and Nickie continue to share life with Amy and Brian, and they are a happy bunch of kids. Three days after the events that September, the winged Nickie in the furry Nickie went back to her forever home. After a particularly long and sweet cuddle on the sofa, she signaled her departure with a joyous sound of wings that reverberated from one end of the bungalow to another. Now Nickie, bought for two thousand dollars—a bargain—from a crazy drunk guy, is just a good dog, nothing more, though a good dog is one of the best of all things to be.
    Millie and Barry Packard’s blind dog, Daisy, regained her sight one day after the visit by Nickie, but three-legged Mortimer did not grow a fourth. So it goes.
    Golden Heart thrives. The estate of a man named Georgie Jobbs (no relation to Steve Jobs), who was thought to have been a person of modest—and mysterious—means was settled entirely on Golden Heart, to the tune of $1.26 million. No one knew he admired goldens until, in his last will and testament, he said that the only person in his life who ever loved him was a golden named Harley. Amy’s dream center for goldens may someday be built.
    Too many dogs continue to be abused and abandoned—one is too many—and people continue to kill people for money and envy and no reason at all. Bad people succeed and good people fail, but that’s not the end of the story. Miracles happen that nobody sees, and among us walk heroes who are never recognized, and people live in loneliness because they cannot believe they are loved, and, yes, Amy and Brian were married.

 
     

 
    About the Author
    D EAN K OONTZ , the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives with his wife, Gerda, and the enduring spirit of their golden retriever, Trixie, in southern California.
     
    Correspondence for the author should be addressed to:
     
    Dean Koontz
    P.O. Box 9529
    Newport Beach, California 92658

 
    A LSO BY D EAN K OONTZ
    The Good Guy • Brother Odd • The Husband • Forever Odd
    Velocity • Life Expectancy • The Taking • Odd Thomas
    The Face • By the Light of the Moon • One Door Away From Heaven
    From the Corner of His Eye • False Memory • Seize the Night
    Fear Nothing • Mr. Murder • Dragon Tears • Hideaway
    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
    The House of Thunder • The Key to Midnight
    The Eyes of Darkness • Shadowfires • Winter Moon
    The Door to December • Dark Rivers of the Heart
    Icebound • Strange Highways • Intensity • Sole Survivor
    Ticktock • The Funhouse • Demon Seed
    DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN
    Book One: Prodigal Son • with Kevin J. Anderson
    Book Two: City of Night • with Ed Gorman

 

    THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR
    A Bantam Book / December 2007
     
    Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
     
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
     
    All rights reserved.
    Copyright © 2007 by Dean Koontz
    Title page art from an original photograph by Ali Taylor
    Part title art from original photographs by Jon Jackson, Ali Taylor, and Bill Davenport
    Photograph