Watchers by Dean R. Koontz
"Watchers" is a suspense thriller novel by Dean Koontz that delves into themes of humanity and the ethical implications of genetic engineering. The story revolves around a genetically enhanced dog named Einstein, who possesses remarkable intelligence, and a formidable creature called The Outsider, created for combat. Set against a backdrop of a government project at Banodyne Laboratories in California, the narrative unfolds as various characters, including a psychopathic hit man and agents from the National Security Agency, pursue Einstein for their own motivations, ranging from greed to a sense of duty.
The central character, Travis Cornell, a widower and retired military operative, encounters Einstein and forms a bond with the dog, alongside Nora Devon, a shy woman they rescue from danger. As the plot progresses, the characters confront their values and relationships, revealing the complexities of human identity. The novel critiques the consequences of creating intelligent beings while exploring themes of love, empathy, and the responsibilities that come with such advancements. Ultimately, "Watchers" concludes on a hopeful note, highlighting the connections formed between humans and intelligent creatures, as well as the transformative power of compassion.
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Watchers
First published: 1987
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—superbeing
Time of work: May 18, 1982-June 28, 1986
Locale: Southern California
The Plot
In Watchers, Dean Koontz uses misguided genetic engineering as the premise for a suspense thriller and to explore what it means to be human. At Banodyne Laboratories in California, the Francis Project has created improved animals for the government. The plot is set in motion by the escape of a dog with genetically enhanced intelligence and The Outsider, a monstrous battlefield creature driven by a compelling desire to kill the dog. To complicate matters, Vincent Nasco, a psychopathic hit man hired by the Soviets to kill the project scientists, learns about the dog. He begins to hunt it for the riches it will bring. The National Security Agency (NSA) joins this wild chase by deploying Lemuel Johnson and his team to capture the dog and terminate The Outsider.
The novel’s central character, Travis Cornell—a thirty-six-year-old widower, retired realtor, and former member of the Delta Force—meets the dog in rural Santiago Canyon and helps him elude an unseen, terrifying pursuer. Quickly recognizing the golden retriever’s extraordinary intelligence, Travis names him Einstein. Koontz then adds a romantic element by introducing Nora Devon, a thirty-year-old, shy, yet lovely recluse whom Einstein and Travis rescue from a rapist.
Watchers’ plot primarily chronicles the hunt for Einstein, but it also examines the boundaries of human identity. In pursuing or assisting Einstein, all the significant characters reveal self-defining motives. The chase also gives each an opportunity to become more human. Initially, duty, a need to win, greed, and hatred drive the pursuers. Einstein’s helpers, on the other hand, are motivated by kindness, sympathy, and love. Nora’s attorney, Garrison Dilworth, explains that “mankind has no right to employ its genius in the creation of another intelligent species, then treat it like property.” Instead, Nora and Travis treat Einstein as if he were their child, not their pet or a valuable possession. The foreign genetic material that scientists inserted into Einstein’s genetic code— while simultaneously editing out genes that limit intelligence—has made him more child than pet, more human than dog. Nora can, therefore, teach him to read and write.
As Travis and Nora risk their own lives to care for and protect Einstein, they fall in love and find a sense of purpose. Likewise, in pursuing and ultimately finding his quarry, Lemuel Johnson discovers that it is ruinous to place duty and winning above all else. He demonstrates that he has learned what is truly important and right when he deceives his superiors at the NSA into believing that Einstein is dead. Even the least human character, The Outsider, changes from an unnatural murderous creature into a sad, pathetic victim. Forgoing an opportunity to kill Einstein, “perhaps the thing had reached down within itself and found some drop of mercy that its makers had not designed into it.” The Outsider finally pleads, “Kill me.” Only Vincent Nasco ends worse than he began. The novel’s real monster, he is stopped before he murders Nora for the life energy he believes she and her unborn child will provide.
Watchers concludes happily with an episode three years after the main action. On June 28, 1986, Nora and Travis Cornell celebrate their son’s third birthday with Einstein, his mate, Minnie, and their first litter. Joining them are friends who have brought their own retrievers, second-litter offspring of Einstein who have inherited their father’s abilities. Sharing “a secret wonder and joy that would forever bind them into one enormous extended family,” two species, one old and one new, unite in understanding and love.