Innocence

Innocence
Dean Koontz

Heart-stopping supernatural thriller from the master of suspense. Addison Goodheart is not like other people…Addison Goodheart lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from a society which will destroy him if he is ever seen.Books are his refuge and his escape: he embraces the riches they have to offer. By night he leaves his hidden chambers and, through a network of storm drains and service tunnels, makes his way into the central library.And that is where he meets Gwyneth, who, like Addison, also hides her true appearance and struggles to trust anyone.But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives. Something more than chance – and nothing less than destiny – has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.

DEAN KOONTZ

INNOCENCE

Dedication (#ulink_3f28eb92-72b9-54b3-94e7-a9392a4604a5)

This book is dedicated to Harry Recard for being a friend, for teaching me pinochle in college and thereby nearly ruining my academic career. And to Diane Recard for taking such good care of Harry all these years, an exhausting task.

* * *

Nothing pleases a writer more than mail from readers who claim that one of his books was life-changing or inspired perseverance in difficult times. But as I finished Innocence, a letter that I received from Elizabeth Waters in the state of Washington, regarding my novel From the Corner of His Eye, moved me more profoundly than most. Beth, your courage humbles me. The hope that you found in my book is matched by the hope that you have given me with your kind correspondence. You shine.

Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together.

— PETRARCH, De Remediis

Table of Contents

Cover (#u599622b4-cb3f-5c80-b303-e80340f40811)

Title Page (#uac0e207c-3b2a-5366-853c-d20d13aa7a55)

Dedication (#udfb1d5a9-e1ca-5d7a-afa3-937e30045f91)

Epigraph (#u246a1d26-8731-5c30-8839-8dd49bb858c4)

Part One: The Girl I Met in Lamplight Near Charles Dickens (#uec7a4eea-4396-5876-8fc9-e75ab26d2eb6)

Chapter One (#u4fa20d52-6281-59ed-85c0-db2f7ae4bfe1)

Chapter Two (#ua2597caf-c44e-5ac0-a202-fd587edc551a)

Chapter Three (#u716d4de2-351c-5368-b947-b2b38c3f397c)

Chapter Four (#uf1299cb2-377a-57b9-a32a-92e17158ce41)

Chapter Five (#ua0918bf5-d4c9-5e1c-bc38-b89f0cfc7e75)

Chapter Six (#u0156964f-5cfb-522c-a7ee-341686d65ed4)

Chapter Seven (#u095dedaf-45ac-5aa5-9f7c-52227f1ced80)

Chapter Eight (#ud8bbb6db-fc65-5f63-af8d-f2973c745e74)

Chapter Nine (#u9833d1f9-d888-5d3f-9d55-2745a4d1ec4b)

Chapter Ten (#ub00b866d-9116-5744-b672-5aae6078cd8b)

Chapter Eleven (#u58ab8d95-09a5-58aa-a36c-4b8b0aa9a8df)

Chapter Twelve (#ud9868b9d-962b-5bd0-aaa1-c49d5a3281c3)

Chapter Thirteen (#u27bd207a-6631-5f30-810e-f4ec7e79a875)

Chapter Fourteen (#ub58c3a09-9cf3-5ef9-8c8d-aa8cbfcaa267)

Chapter Fifteen (#u28f45bd6-a78b-5645-b933-3d7ebc0fa45c)

Chapter Sixteen (#udd02fc07-5613-5a2e-a576-1498d629de19)

Chapter Seventeen (#u077ec119-8932-50bf-a358-81faac5499f0)

Chapter Eighteen (#ud1db5b1e-15f0-514a-87f7-59173d9be6ba)

Chapter Nineteen (#u330ac045-3438-5b3c-a8c0-13554c444783)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-one (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirty-one (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirty-two (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Two: The Flame Delights The Moth Before The Wings Burn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirty-three (#litres_trial_promo)