The Taking

Well, I promised a review of the Dean Koontz book, The Taking, when I was done. I finished it a few days ago. I must say, it was a VERY suspenseful book. I swear, I spent the whole time thinking "what the hell does that mean, and what does it have to do with the story!?" Basically, I was guessing, incorrectly, for the entire book. Which believe me, is not a bad thing!

The story centers on a couple, and their struggle to survive in what is turning out to be a new world. It's hard to really say much about it without giving things away. One of the first scenes in the book involved a mysterious downpour and some very strange behaviour in the local fauna. Of course, this leads to an incredibly eerie encounter on the main characters front porch. Koontz is good at completely sucking you into a scene. I almost felt like I was there.

The unexpected ending did well to tie up the loose ends too. I'm sure not everyone will like what he did with it, but if you can get past the "theme" he used and just take it as fiction, you'll be just fine.

I also like how this book was setup. It had normal chapters, but it was also broken up into seven sections (I think it was 7). Each section proved to be just about perfect for an evenings reading. I hate it when chapters are so long that you have to read for an extra half hour just to get to a good stopping point. Yes, I always stop on the chapters. I know some people who don't, and I just couldn't stand that.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book. It's an interesting blend of drama, mystery, horror, with some sci-fi mixed in for good measure. All in all, a good read that kept me wondering what would happen next!