Jun 28, 2004 11:31 AM
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(Updated Jun 28, 2004 11:31 AM)
Born in Pennsylvania, Koontz was an English teacher when his wife, Gerda, purportedly made him this proposition ''I'll support you for five years, and if you can?t make it as a writer in that time, you?ll never make it?. Well, the rest is history; Gerda was able to quit her job and take care of her writer-husband?s business affairs. 40 some-odd books later, Dean Koontz has had his latest book, The Taking, published by Bantam Dell, a division of Random House, Inc. 338 pages, which contain many quotes of T. S. Eliot. Dean and Gerta Koontz live in southern California with their dog, Trixie.
The Book: I?ll get this off my chest first out: this in not one of his best books; it?s not like many of his ?can?t-put-it-down? caliber. That said, The Taking is still a good ?read?. As with a few of his previous books, there is a female writer as his central character?the heroine, if you wish. And as with previous books, the female- writer-heroine has had traumatic experiences in her childhood, which you learn through a variety of ?flash-backs? later in the book.
It begins in the middle of the night with heavy rains falling; no winds or thunder, just strange, heavy rains. Molly Sloan, the heroine, and her husband Neel, live in a small, secluded, mountainous area of Black Lake, California, not far from the small town of the same name; there are few neighbors in their area. Plagued with insomnia, Molly leaves their second-story bedroom, to work on her fifth novel in her office on the lower floor. Heavy rain continues. She is drawn to the front door, and looking out discovers an esceedingly amount of wolves on the front porch.
Somehow she realizes the wolves would not harm her, and steps out to the porch among them. But something strange is lurking in the forest not far from the house, and the wolves are startled and run off. Chilled by the constant heavy rains, and with a feeling she is being watched, Molly retreats to the house; but not before she notices that the rain is not ?normal?. There is a luminescence, a blue glow, to this rain, and it emits a very un-normal odor.
Well, before I write a book as this review-of-a-book, let me quickly give you highlights of what proceeds: Molly and Neel must get to town. They encounter more strangeness in the process. They have become aware that Earth has been invaded by super-intelligent aliens from far beyond our Galaxy; aliens totally unlike Earth?s humanoids. The heavy rains continue as they drive into town. They gather with other townspeople in a tavern to make plans for safety.
Molly is somehow aware that she and Neel must find the children of the town and see to their safety. They are led to find the children by a German Shepherd dog who seems to ?know? more than they. While finding many children and bringing them to safety, they are told by the children of more strange events.
Not wanting to give-away too much (the ending), I?ll just say that Molly realizes she will somehow write one more book. ?Patting her belly (she?s now pregnant) she says: ??I want the story written down for her to read.? ?Sounds important,? Neel said. ?Oh it is.? ?What?s it about?? ??.Hope.? ? (the latter part, within quotes, is Copyright © 2004 by Dean Koontz.)
