Rent The Taking

I don't know why I gave this two stars instead of one - probably because Koontz is still articulate, even when producing this kind of dreck. The reader, Ari Meyers, would be better suited to recording Hallmark cards than reading this relentlessly grim story. Although grim, the story is oddly unmoving - you don't care about the central characters at all, unless knowing that one of them loves T.S. Eliot and the other is a carpenter is enough to make you care about them. From a man who can write the wonderful Odd Thomas stories, The Taking is a great disappointment.

I truly disliked this book, and can't seem to shake the disturbing, 'ick-y' (for lack of a better word)feeling it left me with. I'm a Koontz fan, but this one really was hard for me to get through. It was as if the author tried to think of the most gruesome, disgusting images he could imagine, and then crammed them into this book without any real developed plot or likable characters. It just seemed to be a way to showcase his ability to gross us out. The end was too abrupt and convenient--no real explanation and so many unanswered questions. I like the horror genre, but this was pointless.

This book was scary. A real page turner. Different from what I am used to reading by Koontz.

Warning: SPOILERS FOLLOW! It should not matter anyway, because you should not read this book. I've never been so utterly disgusted in my life. I listened to this whole book, whose characters were never developed in the least, only to find in the end that the antagonist was none other than: Satan. That's right, the Satan of the Bible. Are you kidding me? If I hadn't had to send this awful **** back to Booksfree, I would have set it on fire. Was this written to appeal to the Tea Party people? What is going on?