If you can enjoy a hardcore immersion into the End of the World, you won't be able to put down Dean Koontz's 'The Taking', a superb thriller that will chill you to your bones. I'm not one for horror films, or Stephen King novels, but The Taking is an exception. Why? Because it is a wonderful work of art. Koontz uses his formidable writing to send shivers down my spine and put on those extra lights. But now to the plot:

One calm night in Southern California, young novelist Molly Sloan is woken by a strange and sudden rainstorm which is pouring down at an unnatural rate. Then a pack of wild coyotes decide to come onto her porch, rather then be caught in it. As disturbing occurrences start to pile up around Molly and her husband, Neil, they discover that the glowing downpour is a global phenomenon. They both feel a sense of impending doom, which neither can place. But soon that doesn't matter. In the darkness of the rain-swept night, they will find incredible courage, love, and terror. Shotguns roar, rain patters, walls talk, and no one they meet, and almost nothing they believe in, can help them during this one night and one day of harvest.