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It's the end of the world as we know it and mankind is no longer safe. Not even the readers (in this case, listener) of Dean Koontz's latest work, THE TAKING. He will scare the bejeezus out of you by not letting you know what is going on and letting you experience an apocalypse just as the characters are now facing it. In the next 36 hours, hell will be raining on earth. Molly and Neil Sloan are not going to go down without a fight. They will encounter all forms of evil while trying to save those who cannot help themselves. No one knows what is happening or how it is going to end, but you can be rest assured that nothing will ever be the same. THE TAKING is one of the scariest books you will ever listen to so that by the time you finish, the perceptions of the world around you will radically change. With Dean Koontz as the conductor of this rollercoaster, you can be sure that you will be in for one hell of a ride. No brakes, no humor, suspense all the way to the max. Actress Ari Meyers has the daunting task of performing the unabridged audio recording of Koontz's novel and she was a pleasant and unexpected surprise with this work. As the story begins there are weird weather patterns occurring all over the world and Ms Meyers's reading is flat and lacking emotion as she begins the story. It is not until the Sloans leave their home for what might be the last time that pandemonium begins and the narrator belts it out, no holds barred, leaving you tense in your seat, daring you to walk away. Some of the scariest moments in the novel occur in a neighborhood bar where a group of survivors are trying to figure out what to do next inside this nightmarish evening. They receive a message through a harbinger of death from an unexpected source that will bring chill to the readers' spines and a moment of enjoyment for the performer. As opposed to reading this scene, listening to it will have a deeper impact, leaving you filled with suspense and guaranteed a sleepless night. Kudos to Ari Meyers. Koontz borrows from several science fiction books and movies in order to give characters a vehicle to make sense of the fantastic things that they are seeing and are involved with. Once again, canines play an important role within the story and creates a major twist in the tale that would be deemed extremely controversial to non-Koontz readers. THE TAKING is a powerful novel. Lately with works like THE FACE and ODD THOMAS, the author is showing his versatility and the strong range he has as a writer and a novelist. THE TAKING is one of those books. It should not be missed.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, May 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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