''Dark Rivers of the Heart'' is a novel by

Dean Koontz Dean Ray Koontz (born July 9, 1945) is an American author. His novels are billed as Thriller (genre), suspense thrillers, but frequently incorporate elements of horror fiction, horror, fantasy, science fiction, Mystery fiction, mystery, and satir ...

, published in 1994.

Plot

Spencer Grant is a man with a tainted, yet shadowy past with a lovable dog, Rocky, who together embark on a quest to find a life in a woman named Valerie Keene, whom he meets in a nightclub. Grant and his dog come back to the club later to find out that the woman is late for work. When Grant attempts to find her at her home, a SWAT-like team bombards the place, sending Grant into confusion. Grant is now determined to find Valerie. He searches for her in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and is pursued by a secret government agency who are also looking for Valerie. He gets caught in a storm in the Nevada desert and is injured. He is rescued by Valerie and she helps Spencer's injuries. Meanwhile, Roy Miro, a high-ranking official in the agency, is the main antagonist who has been looking for Valerie for months. He and the agency use a satellite to find Spencer and Valerie's location in the desert. Roy and some agents get into a helicopter and corner them into a shopping center. Spencer and Valerie take hostage a helicopter and fly out of Nevada to Colorado to visit the house Spencer had his childhood in. When Spencer was 14 years old he heard a noise in the night and went out to the barn in the backyard to investigate. Inside the barn he found his father torturing a woman and Spencer found a gun but only wounds his father. His father was later sent to a

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

. Roy takes Spencer's father out of the hospital and flies to the Colorado house to confront Spencer and Valerie. Spencer's father shoots Roy in the barn, which only paralyzes Roy. Spencer then fatally shoots his father while he and Valerie leave the barn. They use a satellite heat beam to disable the other agents while leaving the house and starting a new life together helping a resistance group against the government agency. {{Dean Koontz Dystopian novels Novels by Dean Koontz 1994 American novels 1994 science fiction novels Alfred A. Knopf books Books with cover art by Chip Kidd