The Darkest Evening of the Year is a novel by the author Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz

Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...

, released on November 27, 2007. The title is a possible allusion to Robert Frost

Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...

's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a poem written in 1922 by Robert Frost, and published in 1923 in his New Hampshire volume. Imagery and personification are prominent in the work...

".

Premise

Amy Redwing's risk-taking on behalf of desperate dogs is legendary. With money she inherited from a source she will never discuss, she founded and runs a group that rescues abandoned or abused golden retrievers. She has a treasury of astonishing rescue stories—a friend tells her she'll be broke by the time she's 40 if she carries on funding the work. Is it this reckless devotion to her work that prevents her making a commitment to the love of her life, Brian McCarthy. It seems so when a particularly thrilling and bizarre rescue brings Nickie into her care. Nickie is instantly recognized as pack leader by Amy's own two dogs, and her bond with Amy is like no other dog's. But at this moment of joy an unknown and dangerous person arrives on the scene.

Evidence mounts up that Amy is being pursued by those who wish her, Brian and her dogs harm. A handful of murderers are after Brian and Amy, stealing, spying and murdering anyone who gets in their way.

Brian and Amy try and work past their respective dark pasts in order to save each other, their dogs and other innocents caught in the mess.