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Rainstorms rarely bode well. Heavy downpours that fall under cloak of night deepen the already-threatening shadows and trigger a host of fears. But the steady rain that pummels Molly and Niel Sloan's house portends an unimaginable evil. Possessing a sort of glow, unearthly shapes can be seen moving through the sheets of silver. An unpleasant odor emanates from it, raising the hairs on the back of Molly's neck. Intuition sends the couple fleeing from their isolated home, rushing into the blinding storm toward Black Lake, their little town of a few thousand souls --- souls about to be greatly tested.
When the day dawns, it dawns through a heavy purple fog, the rains having ceased like a spigot suddenly wrenched off. The townsfolk, many gathered in the local pub, split into groups of differing philosophies --- some resigned to their fate, finding comfort in drink; a handful of indecisives frozen by their inability to take a stand; brave hopefuls drawn together to fight the alien enemy; and diehard peace lovers forced, by belief, into deadly inaction.
The taking of the earth is effected by creatures of many forms, both original and borrowed. The dead walk, the living die --- in a carnival of gruesome ways. Meanwhile, Molly and Niel appear to be somehow charmed. They travel where others cannot go, puzzled over their unique abilities. And they find a hero in a most unusual creature. Molly in particular is guided by a force --- but is it guiding or is it luring?
Dean Koontz, an undisputed master of words, indulges himself in some frivolity as he peppers his prose with obscure, if not outright invented, adjectives and nouns. On occasion, I found his strings of words beginning with the same letter to be distracting. He has written a very engaging story without the necessity for words that can't help but send the perplexed reader running to a dictionary every few pages. I mean, a minikin in pink pedal pushers? Is there really such a thing as a minikin? Or pitipatition? I couldn't find a definition for either.
That tiny grouse aside, THE TAKING draws one in, revealing itself as a novel not so much of horror as of revelations. Don't get me wrong; there are many horrific things that occur in its pages. But the story's focus is not that of wholesale terror. Rather, it deals with hope, a cleansing of the world, in a way. Unlike earlier Koontz books, THE TAKING left me with goose bumps of the good kind and pondering the ending long after I closed it for the last time. A definite must-read for Koontz fans.
--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
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