The Servants of Twilight
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 Cover of The Servants of Twilight |
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| Author | Dean Koontz |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Horror novel |
| Publisher | Berkley Publishing |
| Released | 1988 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 432 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-425-12125-9 |
The Servants of Twilight is a novel by the best-selling author Dean Koontz, released in 1988. The book was made into a movie of the same title, released in 1991. Both are about a single mother who is tormented by a religious cult who believe her son to be the Anti-Christ.
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[edit] Plot summary
Single parent Christine Scavello and her young son Joey one day find themselves confronted in a mall parking lot by a madwoman who claims that Joey is the Anti-Christ. After a distressing attack on the family home which resulted in the beloved family dog being decapitated, Christine enlists the help of a private detective Charlie Harrison. Harrison tracks down a van that is following Christine to a Grace Spivey, an charismatic elderly woman who is the leader of a fanatical religious cult called The Sevants Of Twilight.
Christine is provided with bodyguards to help both her and Joey through the night, however it is not long until the peace is disturbed when two gunmen ambush the house. The attack results in the two amateur gunmen, who we find out are members of Spivey's cult, being killed along with one of the assigned bodyguards.
As the body count begins to rise, Christine, Joey, the new dog Chewbacca (named after the Star Wars character) and Charlie begin a tiresome cross country journey to avoid harm from the deluded members of "The Twilight". It seems that no matter how far they travel or where they go, Spivey's people find them. This is all down to Spivey being a psychic with the ability to see into the future, something that is not so much a blessing as it causes her to have no sleep and is a constant plague on her life.
More attacks follow (including a car bomb and a arson attack) and it is only when, in a last ditch attempt to escape the growing threat of The Twilight, Christine, Joey, Chewbacca and Charlie head up to the snowy mountains, where Charlie has a lodge, do they finally find some sort of peace, at least for a little while.
Spivey is certain that Joey is the Anti-Christ, she has visions of the apocalypse and she can see the child as the cause. Her faith is so strong that she is able to enlist the followings of many key members of the community including police officers. The one member she could not do without however, is the formidable Kyle Barlow, a sociopath with a serious lust for killing. He is indebted to Spivey after she saved him from a life of crime. Spivey does not see her need to kill the boy as anything other than a service to mankind, she does not see it as either insane or unjust.
As Charlie spends more time with Christine, even in such a level of threat, he finds himself falling love with her. His feelings are escalated when the two sleep together in a motel while trying to hide out from The Twilight.
The story contines in the snowy mountain hills. The Servants of Twilight have once again managed to track the mother, child and detective, all thanks to Grace Spivey’s psychic skills. After a chase through a treacherous blizzard which resulted in yet more gun fighting, the family find themselves in a cave in the side of a mountain, all worn out from the constant chase and all damaged by the snow, especially Charlie who is suffering a gun shot wound to the leg.
Joey’s condition is not looking too good, the child develops a serious illness including hives to the face and a very pale complexion, the change in mood as well causes even his own mother do wonder if he is truly what Grace Spivey claims.
The story reaches it climax in the cave where the family are hiding, Spivey and her last standing helper, the aforementioned Kyle Barlow, have covered the entrance to the cave and begin their descent inwards to kill the child and stop the supposed rise of the Anti-Christ. Christine has no literal energy left to fight, and Charlie is barely conscious from his gun shot wound, all looks very bleak as Grave Spivey raises a gun to Joeys head, and in the last few seconds prior to pulling the trigger, Spivey is suddenly attacked by a barrage of bats, who were disturbed by the earlier gunfire, they attack her and leave her for dead.
Kyle Barlow knows he must finish the job, however when he looks into the childs eyes, he realises that he does not have the ability to kill someone so innocent, someone who is just a child, even if Grace believed them to be the Anti-Christ.
Sometime later, after the ordeal is over and Christine and Charlie are now in a proper relationship, Charlie’s curiosity about Joey grows, his illness mysteriously cleared up very quickly and his road to recovery was very quick indeed, the book ends on somewhat of a cliff-hanger as Charlie finds evidence in the buried remains of the families original dog, it isn’t a dog at all…
[edit] Book Trivia
The book was originally published as a paperback and was under one of Dean Koontz's alias' Leigh Nichols. It was liked by critics and fans alike and is widey regarded by his fans as one of his best pieces of work.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The film version of The Servants of Twilight was made in 1991 after the book became an international best seller. The film starred Bruce Greenwood as Charlie Harrison, Grace Zabriskie as the cult leader Grace Spivey and was directed by Jeffrey Obrow. The film was met with a series of bad reviews and failed to make any impact when released. The film is currently available on DVD in most countries.
