Breathless

By: Dean Koontz

Narrated by: Jeffrey Cummings

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Grady Adams lives a simple, solitary life deep in the Colorado mountains. Here the 35-year-old carpenter works out of a converted barn, crafting exquisite one-of-a-kind furniture. There's little about this strong yet gentle man to suggest the experiences that have alienated him from the contemporary world. But that is about to change.

One day, while hiking, Grady spots a pair of stunningly beautiful furred animals unlike anything he's ever seen. They flee the instant they detect his presence, but the mystery of that brief encounter remains. In the days ahead, Grady will approach the creatures again, gaining their trust but coming no closer to solving their mystery. For this he enlists the help of an old friend, veterinarian Camellia "Cammy" Rivers, who, in turn, is stunned - and enchanted - by Grady's new "pets." But while Grady and Cammy carefully observe these enigmatic animals for clues to their origin, they, too, are being watched.

Soon Grady's home and hundreds of square miles of surrounding wilderness will be placed under quarantine by Homeland Security. And Grady, Cammy, and the two creatures they've come to feel they must protect at all costs find themselves virtual prisoners - and the unwilling focus of an army of biologists, naturalists, and research scientists. But it's a stunning event no one could have foreseen that convinces Grady and Cammy to do the unthinkable: to escape with the two creatures on a riveting race for freedom.

Don't miss the chance to chat with Dean Koontz! Join us on December 17 at 7 pm (ET) for Audible Live on Facebook. During a live video chat, Dean Koontz will be taking your questions and comments about Breathless, his other books, and much, much, more. Learn More and RSVP

©2009 Dean Koontz (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Critic reviews

"Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition." ( USA Today)
"Koontz is at the top of his game...both a great storyteller and a novelist of ideas...one of the most important novelists writing today." ( National Review)

Lifeless

I have read virtually every Dean Koontz book for the last 20 years and must say the last few novels I have read (Darkest Evening of the Year, Your Heart Belongs to Me and Breathless) have been more than disappointing. Other than the Odd Thomas series, the more recent works have been basic formulas reworked from other older books, stale antagonists and gaping plot gaps.

Breathless held much potential and then turned into poorly veiled commentary about theology. The characters were likeable enough, but 90% of the novel was development with a rushed, poorly conceived climax (if it can be calledd a climax at all). I remain a loyal Koontz fan, but expect much more from my favorite author.

WTH, Dean Koontz?

This book not only failed to leave me breathless, it barely qualifies as a book at all.

Instead, it's a compilation of three extremely dull but very nicely written short stories, haphazardly patched together to make one volume of largely uninteresting crap.

I am a HUGE Dean Koontz fan, and was very excited to download this. The prose is very nice, but the premise and the execution are a complete waste of a credit.

It's not exciting, not creepy, not interesting, not thought provoking, not sweet, not bitter, not anything. It's the Book Of Nothing At All.

What is this?

Can an author write just any stupid story and we're supposed to buy it? I hope others will take a good, long look at the reviews found here, I wish I had.
I was at first interested, then bothered, and finally fed-up. I stopped listening. The story line is bad enough but the inane (supposedly humorous) banter between characters was too much. Add all that to Koontz's usual love of omnipotent evil, spelled out for us in its most gory detail and it pushes this one off the table and into the trash can.
Unless you've got more money than you know what to do with, don't give it up for this silliness: Koontz loves dogs, give the money to the SPCA, Koontz doesn't deserve it for this one.

Not Recommended!

Ouch! After a great start, full of potential with a great story developing, Koontz pulled the rug from beneath my feet. It was almost as if the author was bored with the project and abruptly quit. This is the first Koontz novel that I did not love.

Wish I could give this NO stars

Don't waste a credit on this book. I think I have read almost everything Koontz has written and this is by far the worst.....so bad I get irritated when ever I listen, so I quit three hours into the book. This book is so bad I don't care to find out what happens to any of the characters. I feel so let down by the author and will not be buying future books until they've been out long enough to have plenty of reviews. Mr Koontz, I'm sure you have plenty of money from your previous best sellers....why would you want your faithful readers to have to wade through something this bad. You are better than this.

Terrible

I am Dean Koontz's biggest fan, but this was terrible. It's like he had a great idea then got bored and severly abriged it just to throw something out there. If you write another Odd Thomas book, Dean, please don't butcher it like this one

Not his best

As a longtime fan of Koontz, I have always marveled at his story telling mastery. This book starts out promisingly. As with most of his books, numerous story lines are introduced, and the reader has the natural expectation that eventually they will blend into a single strong narrative. As I grew ever closer to the end of the book, and the story lines had not yet merged, I wondered how Koontz could end the book with so few pages to go. Well, the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying. I felt somehow cheated. Because, in order to end it, he distorts and ridicules the facts of evolution, and I felt doubly cheated. Having so recently listened to Richard Dawkins' "The Greatest Show on Earth" (a very entertaining explication of the myriad and overwhelming evidence which supports the "theory" of evolution), my disappointment was intensified.

awful

I love the Odd Thomas books and most of the Koontz books, I have read them all, but this one was a total waste of time. A clear statement of denial of evolution shows a disregard of the intelligence of his audience. worst Koontz book ever save your money. wish I could give a minus star

Had to double check to see if this was abridged!

So much to say, so little space. I love D.K. Books. This one was so choppy and inconsistent that I had to double check to see if it was abridged. The story started out well, and really had a lot of chances to expand, unfortunately it ended very flat and abruptly. I also wonder where the editor was.. little details (mind you this is a picky detail but clearly illustrates how inconsistent this book is) One of the character is said to be an award winning quilter, that is how she makes her living.. OK cool as quilter I like that... a little while later in the book, there is mention of Henry laying something on the Chenille bedspread... Hmmm award winning quilter, not a quilt on the bed... Yea that was a huge mistake! The entire book read this way.
So, save your money, or like someone else said, buy an earlier book, but for heavens sake save your self the frustration of wanting to enjoy this book but can't because he does not flesh is out!

Nothing but a plug for Scientology

Dean Koontz has long been my favorite author, along with Dan Simmons. As I listened to this book I actually cried, realizing that not only was he spending his years writing books for friends instead of fans, that he has now written a book to plug a religion. This book is propaganda, nothing else.

Disappointing

I Like DK normally, I find his novels fast paced, intelligent, gripping and above all, I have a good time immersed in his stories. Breathless is a departure from this formula. Like the other reviewer, it took me quite a while to discover this book was pointless, and when I did, it was very disappointing.

If you are a traditional DK fan, you may not get on with this book, if you are on holiday and dont really care, give it a go.
Cheers.

Breathless Cheek !

Dreadful, but with the clever technique of switching storylines with each chapter it took me some time to realise that I didn't care and was bored silly.
Avoid, if you take my advice, or waste your time and money if you don't care to.

Delightful!

I’ve never listened to/read a Dean Koontz novel before - having thought they’d be too scary as I have never read a horror book or watched a horror film. However, having watched and thoroughly enjoyed “Odd Thomas” (rented from iTunes then immediately bought for my collection), I looked Dean Koontz up and liked the premise of “Breathless” so used a credit and took a chance. I really enjoyed this audio book and won’t spoil it for other potential listeners so shall only say if you’re an animal lover and enjoy a touch of the strange/science fiction, try this book out.
Recently I’ve been thoroughly annoyed by a couple of authors having a go at true animal lovers/vegans and vegetarians and, whilst in no way extolling the virtues of those of us who don’t want any other creatures to experience fear and pain for the momentary pleasure of our taste buds, this novel concerns kindness being extended (by meat-eating humans) to a strange new non-human species. Lovely!

Magical mystery from Koontz here!

I loved this book. It had a special magic to it, and while relatively simple for a Koontz book, I would read more and I think it could have been longer.
The characters were interesting, I lost myself happily to the point where the narrator almost became invisible. The book ‘sounded’ like I imagined it would read.
A great easy listen!

very entertaining.

I love the way he keeps you interested. the weird characters make for an enjoyable listen. narration good too.