We also meet Lee Shacket, an evil man with absolutely no redeeming qualities. Koontz romanticizes dogs, especially these special dogs, and he writes, “It was his nature to love beyond reason.” But those of us who have dogs and have experienced that love might agree that dogs do, indeed, love us beyond reason. Kipp is bereft as he deeply loves Dorothy, who returns that love completely. We also meet Kipp, the extraordinary dog whose companion, Dorothy, is on the brink of death. He has investigated his father’s death and believes he knows the truth, which he has written in a huge report that he has not shared with his mother or anyone else. Woody has never spoken to Megan or anyone, but he reads voraciously and is exceptionally computer savvy. Her son, Woody, is autistic but high functioning.

She is a widow of three years her husband was killed in an accident that wasn’t entirely plausible. And Kipp, the loyal golden, is the kind of dog every dog lover dreams of having - a dog who understands us completely and can communicate with us freely. In “Devoted,” Koontz creates a dog, and then a network of dogs who - maybe, he hints - descend from that highly intelligent dog. To me this is a major flaw in editing.The Dean Koontz book that got me hooked on him was “The Watchers,” and the dog in that book, a brilliant golden retriever, thoroughly enchanted me. This caused me to come out of the story and go back and check to see if I was correct. Later, when she is in bed she notices a stain that should not be there as the housekeeper had just washed the linens. One of the main scenes, and this is not a spoiler, is when the character Shacket is in Megan’s bedroom and he relishes in the smells from the unwashed sheets on her bed, making the point that had they been clean, he would have been disappointed. This book also falls into the trap of when an author is a best seller the editing is not always what it should be.

Unfortunately, the story is completely predictable and upon reaching the end my only thought was, “Okay.” The characters are poorly developed and true to form the plot is thin, just thinner than most. Sadly, this one does not have the tension nor story that Watchers had. One of my favorite novels is Watchers, and this could be described as a sequel to it. This book fits that to a tee, except for the enjoyable to read part. What I enjoy most about his writing is his mastery of words that make thin plots enjoyable to read. In my bedroom is a bookcase with every Koontz novel and short story collection, three of which are signed by him.

Koontz devoted