Lair

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Herbert stated in later interviews that he wrote the book primarily as a pastime: "It seemed like a good idea at the time, I was as naive as that." [1] The manuscript was typed by Herbert's wife Eileen, who sent it off after nine months to nine different publishers. [1] Reception [ edit ] Bryce allowed himself to be carried along, neither helping nor hindering. His mind was in a peculiar turmoil, a jumbled mixture of regret and elation. He knew what it was to die and it wasn't so frightening. Not actually scary at all, was it? Perhaps just a little bit. But infinitely better than living with excruciating pain. Oh yes, anything was better than that. And let's not forget the gross indignity of madness. No, let's not forget that. Ah, pleasant death. Yes. With no true oblivion. No. Then where are you going? I... don't know. They're help... Do you want to be helped? Is that what you really want? More torture? Would you welcome insanity, would you enjoy it? I... Would you? Leave me alone! But I am you, how can I leave you? 'LEAVE ME ALONE!' 'It's okay, Bryce, we've got you. There's another way out of the shelter. We can make it.'He stared into the face of Farraday, barely recognizing the senior engineer. He tried to speak but did not know what to say. 'It's all right,' Farraday told him. 'Just try to help us, try to walk.' He did as he was asked, closing out the distant inner voice that was no longer soothing but angry, telling him what a fool he was being. 'I don't want to die.' 'Save your breath, man.' Farraday's own breath came in short, sharp groans, the effort beginning to tell on him. We can't hear you, so don't try to speak. Conserve your energy.'

I was absolutely loving this until around three quarters of the way through. It started off as a classic horror story with paranormal and mystery elements which I enjoy reading but it soon became a slog to get through. I think that Herbert was trying to make this more complex than it needed to be and it did not pay off. A touch longer than the first book, we again get to meet a multitude of characters, some for the long run and others, a brief introduction before they are served up with a Béarnaise sauce at the vermin barbecue. There is some pretty scary moments in the Lair, the feeling that the rats are watching from the grass, from the trees, ready to pounce and again we have our hero. This time it's personnel, our hero lost his family in the first wave of the rat campaign and he's hurting. He does however want stunning with a shovel as is the case with most heroes, but stupid is as stupid does and he's destined to step into the breach, the Rats Lair. Jones, Stephen, ed. (1992). James Herbert: By Horror Haunted. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-450-53810-0.The third, and final book (not including the graphic novel that I'm probably not going to read), concludes the horror that is The Rats. Although I enjoyed the story generally, and the sort of short stories that interconnected with our main character, Culver, I found this to be pretty disappointing when comparing it to the first and second book, and feel like I could have got away with out reading it. The pace slows a little after the opening spectacle but this is mostly a good thing as it gives you a chance to get to know the protagonist and supporting characters a little. There's a lot of the supporting characters and they're surprisingly well fleshed out considering there's such a high rate of attrition. A couple of them aren't so interesting and there are some dream sequences the book could have well done without, but on the whole they're good enough for the part they play in the story. Incorporating a formula that should have guaranteed to produce nothing short of a classic splatterpunk novel from the godfather of the subgenre; not only was Herbert laying down the long-awaited third part to his hugely successful ‘Rats’ series, but he was also once again visiting the post-apocalyptic setting that was so well realised within his 1975 novel ‘The Fog’ (and then later again in his 1996 novel ’48). There is a whole bunch of Brit horror authors, who are more than equal to their more famous American cousins. Ramsey Campbell is like Peter Straub on ketamine, Graham Masterton is the snappier version of ole King, Barker is…Barker, Brian Lumley is Robert Howard meets Lovecraft meet Clancy, Shaun Hutson is like a better-paced John Saul, and James Herbert… James Herbert learned to write like Dean Koontz a decade before Dean Koontz learned to write like Dean Koontz, only James Herbert’s structure of the story is closer to King. Imagine it: Koontz’s descriptions, King’s character treatment, British turn of phrase. Doth your mouth not water?

I’d been excited about reading The Rat series for quite some time, and although I wasn’t crazy about the first book, I was eager to dive into Lair. Personally, I enjoyed Lair a lot more than I enjoyed The Rats.We already know that the previous rats were not all wiped out before, and that they were patiently biding their time till the right moment, something is different about these rats, they have a master. Moreover, James Herbert continues as he has throughout the rest of the series – with each additional book, the rats become more. There is more horror to be found, the creatures having developed even further. By the end, we get to see what the series has been building towards throughout, we get to see just how creepy James Herbert can make the creatures. The book is wonderful, though, ergo you should be happy to disappear into it without any kind of foul play. Through great characters and a wonderful story we’re told to really sit and think about what we’re doing to the world at large. Without sounding like he is lecturing us, Herbert really opens our eyes to things that a large number of people would much rather ignore. Even if you are someone who wants to ignore the message you cannot deny the fact that Herbert has managed to craft a wonderful story. PERSONAL NOTE: [1979] [272p] [Horror] [Audiobook] [Almost Recommendable] [Rat savagery] [Gore Galore] [Rats, rats, rats!]

As I've noticed a lot with the works of Mr Herbet that I have read thus far, there were a few strange descriptions (particularly to the over sexualised female body). One weird line "sensuous innocence of his son's", made me incredibly uncomfortable. It has been five years since the sanguinary rat invasion of London city. Barely escaping extermination, a few rat survivors slowly start to thrive again in a nearby forest. Poison resistant, stronger, more cunning and vicious than ever before. A few key people may be the only thing that might stop them, if they somehow manage not to get swarmed and ferociously chewed to pieces in the process.An excellent horror story with supernatural overtones. Bishop is a psychic investigator who goes to Beechwood a house in the London suburbs where 37 people killed themselves. He has a vision of what happened and we enter a rabbit hole where a scientist has created an evil through the dark. Events of murder, suicide and violence slowly begin where people are infected or influenced to do evil acts by the dark. They also become zombies once their infected. The police and army are helpless as the craziness spreads throughout London. Francis, Clare; Upton, Ondine, eds. (1996). A Feast of Stories. London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-0-333-65340-1.

Etchison, Dennis, ed. (1991b). The Complete Masters of Darkness. United States: Underwood-Miller. ISBN 978-0-88733-116-9. As with many classics, and don’t dare suggest the Rats series is anything but, you’ve got some mental hoops to jump. Here there are touches of racism, though rare, and there’s misogyny, subtle and screaming, both not so rare. Mostly, these are eye roll moments that demonstrate a period in the not-so-distant past. Climb over these altogether, or note them and move on, and you’ve got a pretty fun ride. The book is set in the same world and location as Domain but some years further along. The situation has not improved and I must admit the whole stark world is disturbingly realised with the art work of Ian Miller. With the numbers of survivors cut down to an easy to handle grouping, Herbert now takes the tale to the ravaged streets of London which successfully injects a much needed shot of adrenaline into the storyline. Although the threat of the rats is still quite present, Herbert plays more with the post-apocalyptic scenario to bring a new threat to the small survivors; in the way of a marauding gang of survivors, happy to take what they want without any retribution.

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Incorporating the same formula of marauding rodents which had previously worked so well, you would expect success based on a heady mix of bloody carnage and desperation. The main protagonist is Steven Culver, a pilot who, after the bombs start to drop, finds himself holed up in a secret underground bunker, after he aids Government man Alex Dealey. Everything just seemed to centre around the same location, a forest, and the novel just couldn't seem to get started. Characters appeared and disappeared rapidly, with no real explanation on who they were and what they brought to the story. The horror element was kind of dampened, and I feel Herbert struggled in this. I cannot fathom why Herbert released it. This is HIGHLY below average, even by comic standards. I guess he must’ve been really desperate for money, because it’s the only understandable reason for this *thing* to be published. Unrelatable character, horrible visuals, hardly any plot. Sadly I can say I’ve seen worse, but not a lot. Avoid at all costs. When I was a teen I can remember reading Clive Cussler. Now maybe I’m doing a disservice to nautical Clive, but for me he became the benchmark of this kind of uninspiring thriller. Description and describing of certain things were also impeccable to the point my stomach was badly churning at some points and I would have to throw the book down for an hour or so to re-remember how to breathe.