From Product Description:

In container (17 cm.)

Title from container.

"Unabridged"--Container.

"Adult Fiction"--Container.

Compact disc.

Read by Jeffrey Cummings.

When mountain man Grady Adams encounters a new species of animal, he is thrust into a battle between good and evil as he struggles to save the creatures from scientists.

Plot- "something new" is discovered in a remote, woody location, somewhere in the US. Two lonely, unprepared characters get together to tackle the brand new discovery which soon threatens to split through their fingers... <br /> <br />Comments- a book that's difficult to qualify. Not fully horror, fantastic, science-fiction or social depiction... A mix of all that. It's got good points: an original idea, edging on crypto-zoology. Action is precise and clearly focused on depicting the discovery and its interaction with the characters. Mystery's preserved until deep into the story... but it's got weak points too: except the two "heroes", supporting characters are too stereotyped to be credible or attaching. Because of its slow pace, there comes a time when one starts wondering when the plot will start moving further -if at all! There are moments when one starts sensing that something mysterious will happen, expecting a twist, but when that happens, the twist ends up missing... Frustrating. <br /> <br />Conclusion- basically, it's not a bad read but "Breathless" quickly becomes boring as the plot takes too long to evolve. Also, many a reader will be frustrated as, by trying to touch upon too many subjects at once, the book quickly loses much of its strength and focus.

I'm a Koontz fan from way back. He's my favorite author and has been for years. I love Odd Thomas. I love the "regular" books. The only books I haven't read are the Frankenstein ones. <br /> <br />I don't mind that the books are formulaic; in fact, I like that about them. I know I can count on a good, exciting read. I like his style. I like his politics. I like his world view. I even enjoy the ever-present dogs. And so on. <br /> <br />But this is poorly-written excuse for a novel was a huge and unexpected disappointment. There are way too many pointless, similarly-named characters to keep track of, who bear little or no relation to the other characters or to the "plot" (what there is of it). <br /> <br />At one point, when we get introduced half-way through the book to yet another character (Bigger, I think it was), I said, no, Dean, don't do this to us! Not ANOTHER one! I already couldn't keep the ones that were there straight. And what characters we can keep track of we don't much care about. <br /> <br />About 2/3 of the way through, I realized this book was not going to become coherent and was not going to deliver anything. Approaching the end, I knew that the ending couldn't possibly manage to tie this mish-mash together, and it did not. In fact, it was practically unintelligible. I couldn't wait to finish the book so I could get on Amazon and see what the rating was. Not low enough, in my view. <br /> <br />I have never reviewed a Koontz book before, and indeed, I've always been grateful that he exists to enrich my life with his writings, and would have given most of them five stars if I had reviewed them. But I've got to write this review, to warn any new Koontz reader NOT to start with this book, and to suggest any die-hard reader, like myself, check it out from the library, because it isn't worthy of a permanent home on your bookshelf. <br /> <br />And to beg Koontz - please. Take more care next time. This isn't worthy of having your name on it.

I am a huge fan of Dean Koontz because he writes with such passion and you are always being forced to turn the pages to find out what happened next. Compared to every other book of his I've read, this is flat and dull. It just gets good at the end and then it's all over; I felt like I had just started it. I wanted to learn more about Puzzle and Riddle and the influence they were going to have over the world and the future. <br />There were too many side stories that really didn't have any reason to be there; yes they all coincided, but it felt like fluff. <br />I hate to criticize Dean Koontz because he is usually amazing and I am addicted to his books, but I felt completely let down by this one.

I have been a Koontz fan for many years. I am a big fan of some of his older works (Strangers, Watchers, Phantoms) and enjoy the way he can weave multiple characters with science fiction style story lines. But I was less than impressed with Breathless. I was a little 'breathless' before reading the book because of what the proposed storyline promised; Evolution vs. Intelligent Design is a wicked interesting debate. However, the main storyline in this regard was very weak. It literally took up less than half of the book! The rest of the book was filled with characters and experiences that were barely related to the main storyline. Now I love good red herrings and odd side trails, but this felt like a big mess. I agree with other reviewers that the ending felt rushed, like Koontz was trying to wrap everything up and relate everybody in the last few pages. And the twins? I could have done without the twins, one of the most confusing side stories in the book. It's a good example of what I am talking about. This side story was independent of the main storyline, comprised 1/5th of a 336 page book, and only intersected with the main storyline on page 327. (And not satisfactorily, either.) I felt cheated. I don't understand why Koontz had so many strange side storylines that went nowhere, unless he was trying to illustrate some aspect of chaos theory, which I think is a kind of lame excuse. I wish Koontz had spent more time fleshing out the main storyline and characters, which I found interesting and quite moving especially towards the end of the book, instead of filling his pages with extraneous weird characters. <br /> <br />Sometimes an author's intentions can be inscrutable. Oftentimes an author paints a landscape that isn't discernible up close, but once you finish, you take 6 steps backwards and you better understand what the author was trying to say. Koontz has done this before. But not in this case. My biggest reaction after reading the book was "huh?" and I actually went back to scour portions (like the twins storyline) because I was sure I had missed something. And yes, that led me to counting the pages that involved that storyline because I just couldn't understand why it was there and why it went nowhere. Most books do not inspire me to this kind of behavior. <br /> <br />Would I recommend this book? Yes. A hearty yes to Koontz fans. I believe that fans should and do read everything, even the not so good. It gives you a unique perspective on the author. For non-Koontz fans and regular readers, I give a qualified yes. Look beyond the red herrings and curious side stories and give this book a chance. I believe the underlying message to be very powerful. As Puzzle says in the book, "What is leads to what will be, and all will be well if we do what is right."

My problem with the book is the claim within it that life on earth only goes back 10,000 years. Never mind that science tells us that this is off by a few billion years. This is the basis for the argument then presented that evolution has not had time to occur in the way we're taught. It's all told very sweetly and I feel like I'm telling a kid there is no Santa Claus, but Dean Koontz is well past 5 years old. Some people will take his word for it and the lines between fantasy and reality are very blurred here. Still, it's a decent story and a good beach read, if not his best work.