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 an artificial War of the Worlds moment). The ending was abrupt, but Koontz mostly pulled it off, and the pacing of the rest of the book was perfect.

I just wish the writing was better.

It's not that Koontz doesn't have the vocabulary or the skill; he (and/or his editor) just doesn't seem to have that voice that says "Maybe I don't need all of these modifiers" or "this image/metaphor/explicitly stated moral only sort of worked the first time, so maybe I shouldn't press my luck by repeating it again and again." Too often the story would be surging along, but then wordiness or passive voice or otherwise stilted prose would hold it back.

So I haven't been converted to Koontz fandom, but this particular story was darkly captivating and I'm very glad I read it.