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In the early sixties, Marvel Comics introduced us to the Fantastic Four. They are four college friends who were testing an experimental space rocket when things started to go wrong. Cosmic rays bombard their ship and it forces the crew to crash land to Earth. What they did not foresee was the changes the cosmic rays would do to their bodies. They will become Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, The Human Torch and The Invisible Woman and together they will save the world of evil as The Fantastic Four. There will be other characters, such as the U-Foes and the Red Ghost with his super apes, who will go through the same process and gain different powers. Whether Koontz was inspired by this story, who knows, but one cannot help the wonder. Perhaps he followed a series called The Strangers from Ultraverse comics. Sixty-seven people in San Francisco exhibit unique abilities after a strange ray hits the cable car they were riding. In By the Light of the Moon, the author wastes no time in presenting the story. Three individuals are assaulted by a mad scientist who injects them with some mysterious stuff. Before they can get any answers, the scientist appears to get blown away when he steals one of their cars and now they are on the run. A mysterious group of people wearing pastel golf shirts and driving Suburbans are chasing our heroes and they escape before they can figure out what is going on. Dylan Oí Conner is a young painter on his way to Santa Fe to attend an arts festival. His autistic brother, Shep, goes with him and they are virtually inseparable. The other victim is Jillian Jackson, a stand-up comic on her way to Phoenix to do a show. The only thing they have in common is that they all went to the same fast food place and were all assaulted in the same motel when they were staying. Once they figure out that they were all attacked, they run for their lives trying to figure out what was done to them. Most of the storyís action takes place in a twenty-four hour period in which the author spends most of his time developing the characters. The reader is immersed into the lives of these people trying to find out how the stuff injected into them has changed them and what is happening to them. At first, they start to freak when their unique abilities start to manifest themselves. They will use these powers to save themselves and help other people. Koontz borrows concepts from some of his other books; something long time readers are already used to, but in the end entertains his readers. The only thing that is unique to this book is that it reads like the origin story of a comic book. The three will be working together and discover that there is a fourth person who has also been injected with the same stuff. Together they will join forces, live in a secret lair and form the Moonlight Crew, defenders of evil. Will there be an archvillain in the future? Stay tuned.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, February 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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