Dean Koontz — Breathless

HarperCollins 2009 Paperback, 336pp. Grady Adams, a craftsman, lives alone in the Colorado mountains, a strong gentle man whose experiences have left him alienated from the contemporary world. One day out walking he observes a pair of beautiful white-furred animals he has never seen before: as big as dogs, maybe sixty or seventy pounds, but they are not dogs. They seem to be at play . Grady can find no animal like them in reference books. Then he comes face to face with the two animals: they are more beautiful than he could have imagined. They are unlike anything he can name! Soon they are taking food from him. A sudden wonder has come into his life, not to mention a deep mystery. Grady's friend Cammy Rivers is a vet. She is stunned by the two creatures - and sends photos over the Internet to inquire of colleagues in far places if they can identify the animals. Before they know what is happening, Homeland Security has quarantined square miles of wildland surrounding Grady's home and confined both Grady and Cammy there while biologists and assorted scientists capture, confine and run tests on the creatures. Angered and alarmed Grady and Cammy free the captives and go on the run. A pursuit of hair-raising suspense begins, with no happy ending in prospect . BREATHLESS is a unique and riveting thriller from the master of suspense. (ISBN: 9780007267637). Good.