Krishna
After a long time, Dean Koontz has gone back to his roots in terms of language and story telling style. This book is really back on top in places like his old masterpieces (think Watchers, Shadowfires, Darkfall etc).
Molly Sloane wakes up, in the middle of the night, to a completely different world, without knowing it; and yet, she feels in her bones that something is different this night. The rain that is pouring outside is different, the coyotes and the mice all behave in a completely abnormal and bizarre fashion.
She switches on the TV to learn of a world gone topsy turvy all over. There are tidal waves, tsunamis, floods, rains, as if the world is being destroyed by water alone. There are unmistakable signals from space stations indicating that this could be the work of aliens. The aliens, if they are the cause, seem to have technology so superior to ours that their acts seem of pure supernatural stuff, in the realm of magic, and all resistance appears futile…
But Molly known only how to hope and how to keep on fighting for the right things, even in the face of overwhelming odds. She and her husband band together in a tavern full of survivors, when even stranger things start to happen. She sees a doll take on its own life and demonstrate its evil persona. Strange fungi of the kind she never ever had witnessed or imagined sprout in strange places. The dogs seem to brim with an innate intelligence and seem to recognize in her something special that they do not see in others…
She resolves to save the children if at all they can be saved. She confronts her psychopathic dad in all sorts of impossible places….
The story is told with verve and polish. The ending can disappoint some who expect all knots to be neatly tied up. I thought that it is a recent practice of Dean Koontz to end with a weak ending (refer to my reviews of his other recent books in this forum). However, going back to his earlier books, I find that there are what may be termed as weak
endings in many of his earlier books as well. Movies like the Matrix have reduced my tolerance for endings that cannot be absolutely fully explained.
All in all, a better book than some of his recent books. There are very interesting references (for instance, an organic space ship). And the usual cliches used for twists (I do not want to give anything away for those who want to read the book, but, come on, words spelt backwards? That is the elementary grade twist!)
I enjoyed it despite these weaknesses in the story and but since the ending almost spoils the whole narration, I will give it only a 6/10
— Krishna