It does end on a note to leave the reader to form his/her own opinions about the events that take place, and I actually really enjoyed that element. Koontz has such a special turn of phrase at times that it leaves me gob-smacked. Other parts were so graphically and expressively described, I was just about slack jawed in awe. There were times where the narrative got a little long winded and I sped read past. I know that sounds a bit vague, but it’s the best was that I can articulate the sense I got after completing the book. There is an underlying current of spirituality and human spirit, but without the surroundings of the familiar I thought I was missing something. A purpose, a surety… and it’s the alienness, randomness and the bizarre which threw me for a loop. I think when I say I wanted more story, I meant that it felt like it was missing something in the guts of the novel. I wanted a bit more story other than just a survival tale. It felt a little short, or possibly ended too quickly. This was the gory, creepy, flay-your-skin-off kind. Our protagonist, Molly and her husband face an alien threat so unusual it can be perceived as magical or supernatural – but not the good kind. I live in a rural area, surrounded by bush, and at night there is nothing but shadow outside, and reading ‘ The Taking’ had me deliciously nervous about dark scary things looming just outside my window.

It’s been a while since a book has managed to illicit that response from me.

That cold shiver, glancing up at every little noise. ‘ The Taking’ left me unnerved throughout the first half. It was good to get lost in a Dean Koontz novel again after so many years away. For within the misty gloom they will encounter something that reveals in a shattering instant what is happening to their world–something that is hunting them with ruthless efficiency. And soon the Sloans and their neighbors will be forced to draw on reserves of courage and humanity they never knew they had. A thick fog transforms the once-friendly village into a ghostly labyrinth. By nightfall, their little town loses all contact with the outside world. It has haunted their sleep, invaded their dreams, and now, in the moody purple dawn, the young couple cannot shake the sense of something terribly wrong.Īs the hours pass, Molly and Neil listen to disturbing news of extreme weather phenomena across the globe. A luminous silvery downpour is drenching their small California mountain town. On the morning that marks the end of the world they have known, Molly and Neil Sloan awaken to the drumbeat of rain on their roof. Genre: Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction, Paranormal

An alien invasion that will blow your mind.

Red Rain by Dean Koontz