TAKING, THE （ISBN=） 英文原版

In 1975, the now defunct Laser Books issued Invasion by
Aaron Wolfe, aka Koontz (who later expanded that novel into
Winter Moon, 1994), a breakneck tale of alien invasion
centered on an isolated farm. Koontz’s new novel also concerns
alien invasion, and a comparison of the two books offers insight
into the evolution of this megaselling author’s work.
Invasion was mostly speed and suspense—a brilliant if
superficial exercise in terror. The new novel also features
abundant suspense, as a couple in an isolated California home
endure a phosphorescent rain and learn that, around the world,
something is attacking humans and laying waste to
communications. It’s only when they drive to a nearby town that
they learn of a global alien invasion; the tension ratchets as a
weird fog descends and the aliens not only manifest physically but
animate the dead. For years, however, Koontz has aimed at more than
just thrills; today he is a novelist of metaphysics and moral
reflection. His aliens are inherently evil as well as scary;
standing against them are the human capacity for hope and the
forces of goodness and innocence (here, as elsewhere, embodied in
dogs), and near novel’s end Koontz puts an overtly religious spin
on his tale. Koontz’s language has changed over the years, too, and
not always for the better. While his care with words engenders
admiration, his love of metaphor and alliteration can slow down the
reading (“the luminous nature of the torrents that tinseled the
forest and silvered the ground”). Also missing here is the
wonderful humor that elevated his last novel, Odd Thomas,
and some other recent work. Koontz remains one of the most
fascinating of contemporary popular novelists, and this stands as
an important effort, but not his best, though its sincerity and
passion can’t be denied.
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