Having finally read Koko after years and years of putting it off, I think I'll ressurect this thread to add my own two cents.

I liked it a lot... through I have to say in my opinion this isn't really an horror novel as such. It's one of those books that are shuffled to the "horror" or sometimes "thriller" section because it has certain dark elements in it [a serial killer, a few choice murders here and there, the sugestion of a larger supernatural force at work], but if anything it's a psychological drama with some fantasy elements in it.

It's very much a Straub novel, meaning that if you've read other things by Straub and didn't like them or "thought it could be better" you won't like this one at all. It moves at a snail pace and is character- rather than plot- driven. But it's also quite complex and deeply disturbing if you pause and reflect on all the things it's saying to us...

One thing about the "cave" scene that's been mentioned a lot in this thread... with MAJOR SPOILERS, of course...

...Um, I thought it was pretty clear what happened in the cave: Beevers, Spitalny and Dengler all ran inside the cave and they each SAW something: Beevers saw a group of children lined up to be killed and he shot them all --he was so excited he actually started ejaculating (this is why he then killed a real girl when he came out and why he told the reporters "there are no chlildren in war!"; it's also the reason he kept living in his own fantasy world right to the end: he saw himself victorious because that's what he wanted to see). Spitalny saw a swarm of wasps attacking him (he actually comes out with stings on him, but they dissapear in a few seconds). Dengler saw "Coco" (in this case the character in the Babar book) making the world allright; when he comes out he mentions "Koko" (refering both to the character and the song Underhill mentions at the ending: it refers to destroying your fears by violently attacking them) --this is the earliest clue that Dengler, not Spitalny, is in fact the killer, and is why nobody is surprised when this is confirmed late in the book. It's not intended to be a twist, it's simply the solution to a mystery.

It's pretty clear that there is a supernatural force of shorts at the cave, which explains Koko's ability to become invisible [both Maggie Lah and the stewardess confirm this; it's not entirely on Dengler's mind]

SPOILER END...

I liked the ending, and thought it was appropiate... keeping in mind that the novel isn't about the hunt for Koko, it's about a group of survivors trying to find a reason to live. Or at least that's how I interpreted it.

On I final note, much as I liked this book, I don't think it's Straub's best, through it's definitely a very personal novel for him [it's based on several real-life incidents, by the way]. I though "Julia" and "Ghost story" were better [not to mention scarier --those were actual horror novels].