The Taking by Dean Koontz – A Solid Read
Author: Dean Koontz
Publication Date: Aug 31, 2010
Genres: Fiction
Representation: N/A
Dean Koontz and I have had our differences over the last few years. I’ve disliked or DNF’d the last few books of his I read, and in one case, I even declared that I was done with him, that it was time to agree our paths had diverged, never to meet again. But I was looking for a good alien invasion tale, and The Taking kept coming up in my recommendations, so I gave it a chance.
You know what? This I liked. Is it perfect? No, not at all, but where it’s good, it’s very good, and where it’s bad, it’s still kind of ok.
It all starts out as an alien invasion apocalyptic tale that borrows heavily from similar tales that have come before it, but does some really cool stuff with the material. It’s gross and creepy and horrifying, almost dreamlike or surreal at times, but it’s almost plausible. As it develops, the story introduces heavier and heavier questions, and where Koontz can be heavy-handed with his moralizing, he strikes the right balance here.
While I give him credit for a few twists I didn’t see coming, there was one in the second half that largely pulls the rug out from under any real tension or sense of danger, and another closer to the end that halts, rather than ends, the tale, making for a lazy but thoughtful conclusion. Ironically, for an author who used to be so closely compared to Stephen King, it’s very much like some of King’s more recent climaxes, bypassing any sort of big reveal or in-your-face confrontation in favor of something . . . safe . . . almost lazy.
That said, as much as I’ve seen reviewers bemoan the religious themes behind that abrupt conclusion (something that’s turned me off in the past), I give Koontz full credit for structuring things in such a way as to leave room for interpretation. Knowing his style and his themes, I suspect I know how he’d like us to take it, but I appreciate that there’s room to take it another way.
Rating: 
