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The Taking, Dean Koontz
HarperCollins
Reviewed by Lisa Hoult (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

As an X-Files addict from long ago, I'm always interested in any new slant on whether "The Truth Is Out There", but Dean Koontz has let me down in his latest effort, which I can only describe as ordinary.

As a passage from the book says, we have been "Spielberged and Lucased and Shyamalaned...",  and finding a new way of dealing with the alien subject seems to have escaped him this time.

Molly and Neil Sloane wake one night to an eerily luminous and silver downpour of rain in their little Californian mountain town. There is a strange smell in the air and an oppressive feeling of weight seems to permeate the atmosphere. Flicking through TV and radio stations, they discover this is happening across the world. Soon though, all communication is lost and they decide to brave the elements and gather with neighbours to plan how to deal with whatever is going on. Amid strange noises and mysterious lights, they discover the terrifying truth – the apocalypse is here.

While the poetic phrasing and emotive descriptions are really quite beautiful at times, endless paragraphs of such meandering thought-provoking prose interfere with the action and end up just being annoying. While there are some interesting alien encounters, the whole theme of good versus evil is just too overdone.

Some alternative explanations as to why the aliens are here start to be explored, but they are then (sadly) discarded for the good old favourite of wiping out the evil human race and starting afresh.

I guess aliens, along with dragons, vampires and other such phenomena, are always going to be open to the individual's interpretation, but if you're searching for an in-depth and new alternative, don't bother looking here.