I've read a (very) little bit of Whitley Strieber's new novel, "The Grays." So far I'm disappointed. Its arguable prequel, "Majestic" -- published in the 1980s -- succeeded because of its eerie sense of the alien. (Ironically, while Strieber has gone on to become synonymous with "alien abduction," the zeitgeist was still relatively new to the concept when "Majestic" hit shelves, regardless of the commercial success of "Communion." Consequently "Majestic's" depiction of Strieber's "visitors" was engagingly fresh, untainted by the innumerable abduction narratives to emerge in the next ten years.)





Now, of course, alien abduction is a consumer touchstone. Most of us have been trained -- via television specials, movies and books -- what to expect from a typical abduction. (The fact that the ostensibly "standard" run-in with probe-wielding Grays reflects only a shallow, cinematic understanding of the phenomenon is almost universally ignored.)

In "The Grays," Strieber's sense of the "other" seems to have faded. In the first chapter we're treated to a dismayingly conventional abduction scenario that could have been penned by anyone even peripherally familiar with ufological cliches. That's not to say "The Grays" is a bad book, but from its opening pages it almost seems to actively avoid expressing the nuances one might expect from contact with nonhumans.

But I'm still way too early in the game to know for sure. At the very least, I expect a competent thriller. I'll let you know.