One Door Away From Heaven by Dean Koontz

Once again Dean Koontz has shown that even a life full of despair does not necessarily create a broken, hopeless soul. Micky Bellsong's life was forever changed by one girl she met one day at her Aunt Geneva's house. Like Micky, Leilani Klonk lived with terror all her life but she was able to cope better than Micky did. What sounded at first as some sort of joke turned out to be the grim story of Leilani's life.

Leilani is trapped in a strange family. A stepfather who allegedly killed several people and a mother who calls herself Sinsemilla and who's always high on drugs and self-delusion. He also told Micky about Preston's, her stepfather, belief on aliens and their power to heal deformities. Her brother Lukipela was taken by Preston to the said aliens and was never seen since. As Leilani's 10th birthday approaches, her fated meeting with aliens draws near. She fears that Preston killed her brother and that he would do the same to her.

Meanwhile, a boy tries to outrun his relentless pursuers. He witnessed the murder of his mother and the massacre of a family whose house he had sneaked into to get some money and change of clothes. The family's dog goes with him and together they had an adventure that made their bond as brother and sister even stronger. He takes the identity of Curtis Hammond and at first it was not obvious that he was a shapechanging alien until he encountered Gabby. In Chapter 32, the first hints of his uneathly qualities came when he was described as a boy 'who never slept in his life'.

Koontz did not focus on the two competing alien races but instead on the pursuit of the characters for hope and safety. He also discussed the issue of utilitarian bioethics. It has the elements common to most of Koontz's books: great imagery, characters with traumatic pasts, dogs, and a megalomaniac for a protagonist.

The convergence near the end of the book eventually explained Curtis's purpose on earth and the Gift that he was supposed to each the residents of this planet. What that Gift is has surprised me and I love it for its simplicity and its involvement of dogs. I'm glad he did not choose any superficial technique as the Gift.