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Jul 24, 2011

mark rated it:

What will make a man despise all that is around him? What has happened in his life that he would rejoice in the drowning of a world, that he sees precious little of good in his fellow adults? what has happened that his love is now reserved only for children, animals, nature? I found myself wondering this as I read Koontz’s apocalyptic invasion of earth-cum-spiritual odyssey The Taking. I also couldn’t help but think of the protagonist of The Mosquito Coast and of Mel Gibson. The Koontz I read w More...

32 comments like (24 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2011

Amanda rated it:

**Some mild spoilers**

Well, I don't want to give too much away as a book such as this relies heavily upon suspense. Simply put, it was okay. The basic premise: it begins raining one night, but this is no ordinary rain--it's one bad mamma-jamma: torrential, luminous, and occurring at precisely the exact same time all over the world. Defense satellites are out of commission, strange alien creatures run amok, and people begin to go insane. And that's all before the crap More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Apr 29, 2010

Jason "plasborgma" rated it:

This is easily one of Koontz's "scariest" novels, in that it is packed full of dark suspense. In that regard, it is along the lines of Winter Moon and Phantoms (two of my other Koontz favorites). The action in the book picks up very early, which is unlike many of his novels, and continues to the very end. Overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable read and I would highly recommend it, as it is one of my favorite books of his that I have read so far.

**SPOILER ALERT**

More...

8 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2011

Melinda rated it:

That's it. My last Dean Koontz. Dean, like Stephen King, wrote some truly good books. Scary, thrilling, page-turners that had great plots and likeable, believeable, and horrible characters. Many of Dean Koontz's books had noble themes, and endings that gave one a sense of justice and purpose after the chaos of the story. Stephen King has written undisputable horror classics. Then, both Stephen and Dean began to write hundreds of books. Hundreds. Cha-ching. And did it affect the quality? More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 29, 2007

Jeremy rated it:

Possibly the worst Koontz book I have ever read. Poor character development, meandering plot line and an utterly nonsensical religious subtext completely demolish any sense of creepy atmosphere that the author manages to successfully employ.

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2011

Felina rated it:

"An extraterrestrial species hundreds or thousands of years more advanced than us, would posses technology that would appear to us to be not the result of applied science but entirely supernatural, pure magic."

This is my first Koontz book which might explain my high rating of it compared with the reviews I saw for it.

I can see how this book would be unappealing to a lot of people. It has a religious tone to it that could be off putting to some but that I enjoyed ver More...

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2008

Devin rated it:

I'm torn on what rating to give this book. On one hand, I found the premise engaging, the pacing perfect (for the most part), the underlying concept interesting, and the horror very well executed. On the other hand, the ending felt a little bit rushed to me, and there were one or two details that I felt came across as a little too leading.

I can also see why the story may have a polarizing effect on its readers; I quite liked it, but I see why some won't (I don't count that as a p More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jun 18, 2008

Kevin rated it:

After being awoken by an uncharacteristically powerful, oddly fragrant, and eerily luminescent rainfall, Molly and Neil Sloan discover that some kind of alien takeover of the Earth is in progress. Scared beyond wit's end but knowing that they are not going to give up without a fight, the couple pack up supplies and venture out into the darkness to discover if any of their neighbors are still alive and who would be willing to take up arms against an enemy who has yet to show himself. As time trud More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 26, 2008

Jason rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2012

Jennifer rated it:

I have come to the conclusion I'm not a huge Koontz fan. I really liked the premise of this story but there were times when I felt the writing was just....well Danielle Steel-ish. I suppose that's not a bad thing if you like her work, which I did when I was 14 and 15, but now I can't take it seriously.( I know there are people who hated the ending, I didn't even mind that. I know some people get annoyed at his insertion of religion. I don't mind that either). At times it felt repetitive and o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 24, 2008

Dimka rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 28, 2007

Ricardo rated it:

"The Taking" was the first Dean Koontz book I read and the one that made me search for more of his work(just finished reading "The Face").

This book is well written and it's extremely entertaining and gripping; it has a great beggining and all the supernatural surprises are made to function by Dean Koontz extraordinary visual descriptions.
After one year some of the visual memories of when I read the book are still alive, but so is the fact that the ending is More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 13, 2011

Peter added it

What is it?: I didn't like this book much, mainly because I felt that it had identity problems. I can't decide if it wants to be a book about zombies, an update of 'War of the Worlds'(which is referred too quite regularly), or a sort of lesson to humanity on how to live. Due to the fact that the book is unable to fit a niche, it fails at all of these things.

The ending is awful; it builds and builds to a climax and then everything is stripped away in one action and the world reverts to its orig More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 22, 2009

Benjamin rated it:

I finished reading Dean Koontz’s, ‘The Taking’ this morning at about 1.30am. The book was thoroughly enjoyed and as a writer, I got a lot out of it. I could clearly say a while ago that Stephen King was my favourite author, but compared to most writers, I hadn’t done a wealth of reading to begin with, and King’s works overwhelmed the collection of books I had read, but now, Koontz seems to draw me in far more. And I’m getting another of his, ‘Velocity’ this Christmas.

The thing that d More...

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Jul 15, 2008

Barbara rated it:

I forgot to take a book on vacation, and ended up having to walk down to a garage sale and take what they had. I've enjoyed some of Koonz's books, so I picked this one. The first couple chapters showed a lot of promise - a lot. After that, every move made by the characters required excrutiating explanation and superhuman leaps of logic. By the middle of the book, I was bored, but stayed until the end because I wanted to see how they supposedly solved the issue. It really wasn't worth the effort. More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 25, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Definitely not one of his greatest works but it was an interesting story. Honestly I bought the book thinking it was about a kidnapping for some reason (I must have had it confused with another book), imagine my surprise when war of the worlds breaks loose in the first few pages. I liked this book because it was different, it has a decent twist and it does leave you wanting more. . . to keep reading and know what in the world is going on. The reason I didn't rate it higher is because the endin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2011

Joe rated it:

This book is shallow...empty...gross...ridiculous...and completely BRILLIANT!!! Sadly enough, I cannot explain why I feel this way without telling too much. All I can do is explain the "weaknesses" and let you hope that it will still hold together.

The first thing that people will notice is that the story builds slowly (though constantly). The tension is always there, the mysteriousness almost builds, and it keeps you going. Yet, some will be disappointed, because the ac More...

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Oct 30, 2010

Jillian rated it:

I was never really interested in reading Koontz, but a co-worker (who is not usually a Koontz fan either) highly recommended this one, so I borrowed it for some Halloween-themed reading. The Taking follows a couple trying to survive and save others from malevolent other-worldly beings. The concept was intriguing, the plot was suspenseful, and the creepy, oppressive atmosphere was spot on. I didn't want to put it down (and not just because I couldn't see how it could possibly end well without a More...

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Apr 13, 2010

TJ rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 20, 2010

Hunterrose5150 rated it:

I was very indifferent reading this book... I love Koontz so I picked this one up on a whim. The synopsis sounding promising and very different. I have always loved Koontz, far more than King, for his ability to keep his books somewhat positive even though they involve tough often ugly subjects. King has this thing for writing books and short stories that don't necessarily always end well, case in point The Mist. I admit I don't mind a book that ends on a sour note as long as that sour note make More...

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Oct 07, 2009

Drebbles rated it:

"The Taking" is Dean Koontz's version of the end of the world. It focuses on a young couple, Molly and Neil Sloan, who wake up early one morning to a strange rainfall. Turning on their television, they soon realize that the whole world is under attack and they head into town to find other survivors. Along the way they encounter zombies, unnaturally large bugs, other unknown creatures lurking in trees, dolls that self-mutilate, UFO's, and a fungus that threatens to overtake everything. More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Sep 17, 2009

Natalie rated it:

Ok, this one has to be the scariest I've read by Dean Koontz so far. I didn't like a lot of the scary parts (it was too graphic really). A book that gives me the willies when I go down to my basement is to be avoided. I listened to this one on CD again (once again, that's a pattern I've developed for Koontz's books. It's fun to listen to something while hanging laundry, cooking dinner, etc.).

Many of Koontz's books have a light-hearted tone that makes up for the frightening parts. This More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 14, 2011

Momo rated it:

This was the second Dean Koontz book that I’ve read and I’d say that I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the first. The book starts off with a bang and hooks you from the start.

The Taking follows a husband and wife as they fight for survival against enemies that have attacked the world. It shows the human instinct for survival, and stays true to how a person would truly react when put into this situation. The reason I enjoy reading novels about ‘the end of the world’ or some sort of tr More...

0 comments like

Feb 02, 2012

Lily rated it:

This is by far one of my favorite Dean Koontz books. This story is eerie and nail biting creepy. Though it reminded me very much of "War of the Worlds" in terms of its concept, it was very much an original in its own right. Great characters and character development. The imagery was well written and descriptive enough to allow you to visualize it, but not so much that I started to lose focus on the story itself.

I would have given this book a full 5 stars, but I was unfortu More...

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Aug 31, 2011

Shabbeer rated it:

Dean Koontz’s The Taking is a story of the end of the world. But, not as you might imagine, the end of the world in fire and glory and asteroid collisions, or aliens, or anything fantastic or scientific. Rather, Koontz’s novel is all about the end of the conservative Christian world.

In The Taking, a perfect, intelligent, and loving couple is surrounded by an “alien” infestation, a long silver rain that blankets the globe in inhuman seed that spawns fungus, plants that are half animal, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 08, 2011

RunRachelRun rated it:

I'm not sure what "shelf" to put this book on. I grabbed it from our employee lending library this week out of desperation. I think I need to create a "Yuck" or "Eeep... gross!" or "Scenes will reappear in a nightmare sometime in the very near future". ''

You know, fellow readers, you really have to be careful of what you put in your head. It's like that book "Event Horizon" that I also borrowed from work. I'll start reading a passage an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 02, 2010

Johnny rated it:

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Apr 22, 2010

John rated it:

This is a really strange book. The opening chapters are brilliant. Easily one of the best plot hooks I've ever read in a novel. Koontz's writing is spot-on; he keeps the story moving at a ripping pace at all times while still maintaining elegant and engaging sentence syntax and clever word choices. There's a nice psychological aspect to it as well, and a really clever overall mystery that you can't wait to get to the bottom of. The middle part of the book then feels like being inside a Resi More...

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Jan 26, 2009

Terence rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2012

maerhys rated it:

I am going to be quick and to the point with this one. I've heard pretty much every awful thing that can be said about this novel, and I decided to read it in order to join the party or to offer a (moderate) defense of it. Now that I've read it, I don't care enough to do either. Like most of Koontz's novels, this could have been amazing. It has a fab set-up, characters that present interesting backgrounds (priest leaves his calling because of church politics and meets school girl on his way More...

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