Dictionary Definition
hideaway
Noun
2 an area where you can be alone [syn: retreat]
User Contributed Dictionary
Noun
Extensive Definition
} Hideaway is a novel written by Dean Koontz
and published by Random House
in 1992. It is
a supernatural
thriller
centering on an antique
dealer named Hatch
Harrison who develops a telepathic connection with a
serial
killer after a car accident
leaves him clinically dead
for over eighty minutes. It was made into a film of the
same name starring Jeff
Goldblum and Alicia
Silverstone in 1995.
Plot summary
Following a traffic accident that left him
clinically dead for more than 80 minutes, a Southern California
antique dealer named Hatch Harrison begins experiencing strange
dreams and visions that connect him to a psychopathic killer, a
young man who calls himself "Vassago". Vassago
believes that he is the human incarnation of one of the demon
princes of Hell, and that if he
murders enough innocent human beings and offers them up in
sacrifice to his Master, he will be allowed to return to the
afterlife and rule at Satan's right hand.
He also has a strange condition that enables him to see in the
dark, but also causes his eyes to be extremely sensitive to
light.
Meanwhile, the accident gives Hatch and his wife
Lindsey, an artist, a new lease on life as they struggle to rebuild
their marriage in the wake of their son's death from cancer five
years before. As the couple set about trying to adopt a young girl
named Regina, Hatch continues to be tormented by visions, in some
cases even seeing through the monstrous killer's eyes. Making
matters worse, Vassago slowly gains information about Hatch and his
family in the same fashion, putting both Lindsay and Regina in
danger.
We eventually learn that Vassago's real name is
Jeremy Nyebern; as a teenager, he brutally murdered his mother and
sister, then attempted to kill himself. His life was saved by the
same doctor who miraculously resuscitated Hatch... namely, Dr.
Jonas Nyebern, Jeremy's father (thus facilitating the seemingly
supernatural bond between the two characters). Like Hatch, Jeremy
was clinically dead for more than 30 minutes, and during that time,
believes that he went to hell and was later returned to do Satan's
bidding. At the book's climax, Vassago's visions lead him to kidnap
Regina and take her to his "hideaway" (an abandoned amusement park,
where, as a boy, Jeremy committed his first murder). There, he is
confronted by Hatch, who bludgeons Vassago to death with a crucifix
attached to a flashlight, thus saving Regina and Lindsay. During
the closing moments of this confrontation, Hatch inexplicably
begins speaking in another voice and calls himself "Uriel" (whom Hatch
later learns is an archangel mentioned in the
Bible), thus
implying that Vassago's beliefs about his demonic heritage and
short-lived journey to the afterlife may not have been entirely
delusional after all.
Uriel/Hatch tells Vassago/Jeremy that instead of returning to hell
as a prince, he will be returned as a slave.
Film adaptation
The novel was adapted into a feature film by Brett Leonard in 1995. It starred Jeff Goldblum, Christine Lahti, Alicia Silverstone and Jeremy Sisto. Apparently Dean Koontz was so disappointed in the film he fought to have his name removed from the credits.Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
adytum,
ashram, asylum, bolt-hole, cache, cell, cloister, concealment, corner, cover, covert, coverture, cranny, cubby, cubbyhole, dark corner,
den, dugout, foxhole, funk hole, hermitage, hideout, hidey hole, hiding, hiding place, hole, holy of holies, ivory tower,
lair, mew, niche, nook, privacy, recess, refuge, retreat, safe haven, sanctuary, sanctum, sanctum sanctorum,
secret place, stash,
undercovert