Amazon.com (ISBN 0812512456, Mass Market Paperback)

Because Christopher Pike is more commonly known for his young adult fiction, horror readers may not be familiar with this superb adult novel about an inhuman being that is menacing like a cobra to the souls as well as bodies of humans, and yet is also intensely curious. A quirky and resourceful handful of characters, including a 5000-year-old Hindu holy man, stumble over the various victims of the Cold One, and then gradually get to know each other, leading them all toward an unpredictable (if somewhat overcrowded) confrontation at a house on the beach in California. I agree with the Washington Post's assessment: "A polished, mature work with a grounding in Eastern philosophy. The characters are genuine, the action unexpected, violent, and wrenching. The Cold One is that rarest of horror novels, one that is visceral and intellectually stimulating at the same time."