The Taking by Dean Koontz
Bantam Dell
a division of Random House
Paperback 2005
410 pages
One dark and stormy night (do you see where this review is going?) the survival of mankind hangs by a thread as aliens invade earth. Only a few people have the fine qualities necessary to save the children and thus to insure the survival of human beings. Semen scented rain, dead bodies brought back to life zombie fashion, frightened wolves, and giant killer insects present the puzzles and obstacles faced by the righteous few. All is not lost since they have the aid of super intelligent dogs to guide them through the horrors they face. None of this was believable. The only thing I can't believe is that I read this to its very preachy ending.
In order to make a sci-fi horror story work, the author has to make the reader suspend belief. Stephen King is a master at pulling the reader into the most unbelievable stories. Dean Koontz failed miserably at pulling me in. After all these unbelievable twists and turns - ok, slight bends and veers - the ending which, read more like a sermon, was so disconnected from a horror story that it was laughable.
I've enjoyed reading many of Koontz' mystery/suspense books. But when it comes to horror stories penned by Koontz, I will spare myself a lot of misery by leaving those books safely on the bookshelf.
