Chennai: Its been over 14 years since Dean Koontz’s horror novel, The Taking hit the bookshelves. The story begins with, ‘A few minutes past one o’clock in the morning, a hard rain fell without warning’, and hooked me right away with its dark tone. With rain occasionally pouring across Chennai in the past three weeks, I read The Taking and boy, I was in for a grimdark ride!
The novel begins with Molly Sloan – a writer living in a small hill town along with her husband Neil – waking up in the middle of the night disturbed by heavy rainfall. She sets out to investigate the downpour as it appears to be different. Several weird encounters surprise her like coyotes assembling by her home’s porch, looking scared and vulnerable of the rain. The raindrops themselves look luminous and silvery.
As the night progresses, Molly and Neil encounter scary moments like a black shadow appearing beside their reflection on a mirror, the continuous rapid juggle of a clock and the feeling of being watched by an unseen force levitating over their homes. Soon the couple departs their house and reaches out to neighbours only to come across more dark beings.
Dean uses a lot of imagery in his novels. He dives deep into the world of TS Elliot, often quoting the classic writer’s famous lines. In fact, the novel is split into seven parts with words of Elliot used as a prologue for each. Dean is slow in his narrative style as imagery takes up much of the novel’s pace. It favours building tension and suspense.
Another interesting feature of the novel is the depiction of an alien world. There is a fungus-like growth that literally cloaks the entire town; houses, roofs, trees, walls, everywhere. The description and the way these ‘alien life-forms’ ravage the town leaves you asking for more. Also, there are very few instances of ‘evil beings’ attacking the lead characters as the suspense of ‘What if it happens?’ clouds your mind.
Towards the end of the book, Dean brings in elements of the Bible and apocalypse and we get to understand the untied plot points but only in a subtle way. With rain, gloomy days ahead, The Taking might be a good option if you are in for a gripping horror novel.