The Taking
by Dean Koontz
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dean KoontzEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-04-26
ISBN: 0553584502
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of The Taking
Book Review: My First Koontz book: not impressed so far.
Summary: 3 Stars
I've read a lot of Stephen King in my time, from classics like The Stand, Pet Sematary, and Misery to his magnum opus The Dark Tower, but I'm tired of King. He writes well and all, and his stories are for the most part rewarding, but for every great story he writes (The Long Walk) there's also an unforgivable stinker (Cell: A Novel). Likewise, some other authors I've been in the habit of reading (Ted Dekker, Harry Turtledove) have also begun to let me down, where at first I could not stop reading the books these three popped out now I'm just sick and tired of the same old same old. So, time for a new author, well not really NEW but new to me at least. I've heard a lot of good about Dean Koontz, I've even heard he's the anti King, so imagine my joy to see dozens and dozens of Koontz books lining the walls of a local book store going for three dollars a piece. I decided to buy two Koontz novels without knowing anything about either of them, one from his younger days (judging by the picture on the back at least) and one that is fairly new. The ones I chose? Night Chills (which I have not read yet)and The Taking, Night Chills because it looked like some kind of The Crazies style store, and The Taking because 1) I like apocalyptic style stories, and 2) because it sounded very much like a story idea I have for a novel of my own. Fortunately for me, it turned out to be nothing like the idea I came up with. Now, on to my review.
A strange luminescent, foul smelling rain is falling on the little town of Black Lake (pretty sure it was Black Lake) California, waking Molly, an unsuccessful novelist, from her sleep and filling her with a sense of dread. Coyotes and mice, animals who normally avoid people at all cost, take shelter from the rain under Molly's porch and in her garage, cowering in fear as some strange force descends upon the earth bringing death in its wake. Molly and her husband, Neil, watch in horror as news comes in from around the world of this strange weather phenomenon takes place all around the world simultaneously, soon after followed by death in the streets of the major cities before the power finally fails. It would seem an alien force, far more advanced then our own by thousands of years, has come to earth with the intent of wiping out humanity and everything we've ever built.
Thus is the set up for a very gripping opening hundred pages or so; unfortunately Koontz seems to waste such a good set up with a mindnumbenly dull middle. Where the opening of the story grabbed my attention with both hands the middle of the story was nothing but repetition, repetition, repetition, as our two hero's travail through the town seeking out lost children with their guardian angel like dog leading the way. They see a few few giant walking fungus thingys (apparently the plant life of this alien race that have the ability to walk around), save a few children from certain death, see a few expendable characters get killed, come face to face with death a few times, and repeat. Sure, each time they save a few children its a little different, but for the most part it gets really dull really fast. By the end we have more then a dozen children and few of them say a thing after their rescue and just sort of silently tag along with our heroic duo all the way up until the end. I couldn't tell you the names of most of these children, except to tell you that three of them have swedes names, because they just don't do anything.
Word of warning, this is NOT a book for the faint of heart or for children. It can get pretty graphic at times, what with the giant bugs torturing people in a churches basement, to the people with faces in their hands (sounds weird I know, but that's why they're described), to the fungus monsters who sound like wailing mothers when they move, there's a lot of disturbing stuff here. Really graphic depictions of death and aliens torturing some very unlucky humans. I'm telling you every other page there's some guy screaming in agony as some unholy being tortures them to death. Eww, not the way I want to go out. People try to band together to fight these "aliens" but its no use. From the very beginning its made clear that these creatures, whatever they may be, can do pretty much anything they want and there is nothing we can do to stop them. In a night and a day the Earth is pretty much wiped clean of humanity except for a few groups of adults and the children they save. By the end of the first day the entire world except for these chosen few are literally wiped out, as in there is absolutely no one left, only the children and their rescuers remain.
Spoilers.
Then comes the end. Most people, judging from the reviews on this sight, didn't like the ending. Well let me take the road less traveled by saying that the ending Koontz wrote after the body of work was really the only ending that would have made any sense. There were far too many questions to answer that a simple alien invasion explanation would not have been able satisfy. After all the incredible and unexplainable events of the book the only thing that could possibly make any sense was a supernatural invasion of sorts. How else could all of humanity be wiped clean in a day and a night without even the hint of a fight taking place? How could the cities and towns of America remain standing and yet everyone in them be missing without a trace if this was an alien invasion like the beginning and middle of the book would lead us to believe? No, a supernatural event with similarities to the Noah and the rapture just makes more sense. No matter how advanced an alien race is, there is just no way for them to wipe out humanity without leaving a trace that they were even there for those left behind. But Satan? Sure, I guess he could do it.
In conclusion, I'm not going to use this book to judge Koontz's work as a whole. That would just be stupid. I'll have to read a few more of his works before passing judgment, but based on this book I'm not impressed thus far. Lets hope Night Chills is better.
Re-read value; low.
Summary of The Taking
In one of the most dazzling books of his celebrated career, Dean Koontz delivers a masterwork of page-turning suspense that surpasses even his own inimitable reputation as a chronicler of our worst fears?and best dreams. In The Taking he tells the story of a community cut off from a world under siege, and the terrifying battle for survival waged by a young couple and their neighbors as familiar streets become fog-shrouded death traps. Gripping, heartbreaking, and triumphant in the face of mankind?s darkest hour, here is a small-town slice-of-doomsday thriller that strikes to the core of each of us to ask: What would you do in the midst of The Taking.On the morning that will mark the end of the world they have known, Molly and Niel Sloan awaken to the drumbeat of rain on their roof. It has haunted their sleep, invaded their dreams, and now they rise to find a luminous silvery downpour drenching their small California mountain town. A strange scent hangs faintly in the air, and the young couple cannot shake the sense of something wrong.
As hours pass and the rain continues to fall, Molly and Niel listen to disturbing news of extreme weather phenomena across the globe. Before evening, their little town loses television and radio reception. Then telephone and the Internet are gone. With the ceaseless rain now comes an obscuring fog that transforms the once-friendly village into a ghostly labyrinth. By nightfall the Sloans have gathered with some of their neighbors to deal with community damage...but also because they feel the need to band together against some unknown threat, some enemy they cannot identify or even imagine.
In the night, strange noises arise, and at a distance, in the rain and the mist, mysterious lights are seen drifting among the trees. The rain diminishes with the dawn, but a moody gray-purple twilight prevails. Soon Molly, Niel, and their small band of friends will be forced to draw on reserves of strength, courage, and humanity they never knew they had. For within the misty gloom they will encounter something that reveals in a terrifying instant what is happening to their world?something that is hunting them with ruthless efficiency. Epic in scope, searingly intimate and immediate in perspective, The Taking is an adventure story like no other, a relentless roller-coaster read that brings apocalypse to Main Street and showcases the talents of one of our most original and mesmerizing novelists at the pinnacle of his powers.
From the Hardcover edition.
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