JAMES HERBERT - '48
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James Herbert has been writing horror fiction for many years now, with such classics as "the Rats" and "Haunted" to name just a couple, these books have pushed him to the forefront of British horror and rightly so.
Up until recently ... Read review
Advantages: Very Gripping, good descriptions Disadvantages: Hours of sleep lost!
JAMES HERBERT - '48
-------------------------------
James Herbert has been writing horror fiction for many years now, with such classics as "the Rats" and "Haunted" to name just a couple, these books have pushed him to the forefront of British horror and rightly so.
Up until recently I didn't know much about Herbert as I was stuck in a bit of a rut, where I would want to read something, but ... ...already read all the Stephen King books and the James Patterson ones, I felt like something different, so I picked up my dads copy of Herbert's "Nobody True" and have since read about six of his books over the course of a couple of weeks.
So after a few novels I had started to realise that I had found a writer that did horror better than most, so that brings us up to date.
JAMES HERBERT - '48 -------------------------------
James Herbert has been writing horror fiction for many years now, with such classics as "the Rats" and "Haunted" to name just a couple, these books have pushed him to the forefront of British horror and rightly so.
Up until recently I didn't know much about Herbert as I was stuck in a bit of a rut, where I would want to read something, but not know of any good authors, seeing as I had already read all the Stephen King books and the James Patterson ones, I felt like something different, so I picked up my dads copy of Herbert's "Nobody True" and have since read about six of his books over the course of a couple of weeks.
So after a few novels I had started to realise that I had found a writer that did horror better than most, so that brings us up to date.
This book was first released into the world in 1996, and is also only Herbert's 17th Novel, which is quite surprising since he has been writing for such a long time, but with quality pieces like this and the rest of his catalogue he can be excused!
Anyway onto the book…
1945
The war is about to end, the Germans have pretty much lost and everything seems to be going to plan, or It would have been but unfortunately no one realised that Adolph Hitler and his men had a devastating new weapon up their sleeves.
Hitler unleashes a bunch of bombs around the world, causing a slow and painful death to almost everybody, except people of a certain blood type.
Roll onto 1948 since this is where the story is set.
Here we are introduced to Hoke and his dog Cagney. Hoke is an American Air force pilot, with an interesting history and quite a few skeletons in his closet, he is also one of the lucky ones that has the unaffected blood group.
Unfortunately that doesn't mean Hoke is safe, in fact he is far from it, as he seems to be head hunted by a scary bunch of people that seem to have the blood disease.
Along the way Hoke happens across a small group of unaffected people and they fight for their survival in a war ravaged London.
Among these that join him along the way are, an upper class woman, Muriel, A working class girl, Cissie, and A German named Stern, whom Hoke takes an obvious dislike to.
Over the course of the story the group will travel through some interesting London landmarks such as Buckingham palace and the underground.
That is basically the background to the story, but what is it actually like?
Well that's why i'm here, to tell you about it.
Firstly you probably want to know if its an overly long book or a short story, well luckily its neither it's a perfectly balanced book which at 330 pages is just about right for a few nights of reading, or if your like me a few hours of non stop reading.
The story's chapters are all quite short meaning that you get a real feeling of pace, something that really makes this an exciting novel is that it almost feels like an action movie. From the opening few pages to the end you never quite know what is about to happen, with some well written, pacy and descriptive action set pieces this isn't a slow read, for example the first time we meet the evil blackshirts is in the first twenty pages and it's during a tense nail biting race through the centre of London on a motorbike.
When the story does slow down a bit we find out a bit more about the various character's and how they tend to interact with each other, for example Hokes immediate distrust of Stern due to him being German, this is very well written as you could imagine the hatred between the two during the war.
Each person in the story was well filled out with enough information for you to imagine them as living people and they were all different enough to cause some interesting sections during the story.
The story isn't really in Herbert's usual horror style, it's more of an action suspense thriller type novel, although it isn't short of its own horrific scenes and shocks.
Herbert's description of the war wracked London are all very realistic and as in any good book, you almost feel as you are there watching the action as an innocent bystander.
Over the course of the story there are enough clever plot turns to keep you interested and you don't quite know how things are going to turn out until the very last page.
Overall. ----------
At first this was one of the few Herbert books that didn't jump off the shelf at me, it didn't seem to feature his usual ghosts or other horror aspects, but as soon as I started to read it I realised how wrong I was to dismiss it straight away and it soon turned into a very enjoyable story that certainly passed a good few hours late into the early morning.
Obviously the book isn't perfect, no book is, but overall the story is gripping, the character's are fairly realistic and given enough life to make you believe in them.
You should be able to pick this book up for about 5 pounds, but it might be worth looking in charity shops as they tend to have these sorts of books in a lot of them!
Thanks for reading, but now its time to stop reading me and read this book!
Advantages: Tense, action packed, thought provoking, imaginative, fascinating absobing read. Disadvantages: Left me wanting more.
...I thoroughly enjoyed reading 48. It is well written and the pace fast enough for me not to want to put the book down. I read it in four late night sessions and only that many because I was too tired to stay awake. It isn’t a horror book in the same sense of some of his previous novels, The Lair, The Rats and The Fog but it is horrifically fascinating because you know that it isn’t so far fetched and that some time in the future it may ... ...prejudice.
The ending is great, just as action packed as the rest of the book and left me wanting a follow up.
If you like a thought provoking packed with action and tension read then I highly recommend 48. You can find it on Amazon for only £4.79. ...
shewhosmiles 11.10.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 48 - James Herbert
Advantages: Incrdibly easy to read, and less supernatural than his other books Disadvantages: Disturbing scenarios... what he does best!
I hope to do this James Herbert review more justicve than I did his last!
I encountered this book in the none-to-glamorous venue of my local Post Office. Seeing that it was only £2.95, I thought, why not? I had enjoyed the last Herbert book I had read, and I had heard elsewhere that he had received good reviews for some of his other books, which I am yet to read. '48 is based three years after the end of World War II, but it didn't end in the way ... ...a slightly premature end by Hitler, who through desperation to win the war at any costs unleashed a chemical weapon. This chemical weapon back fired though, as it killed everyone. Well.... not quite everyone. Would be a short book then, wouldn't it?!
The chemical weapon attacks the blood, and depending on your blood type, you either die a quick, painful death as everything within you ceases working due to the blood thickening, or if you're unlucky, ...
Sa1sysoo 07.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 48 - James Herbert
Advantages: action, adventure, description Disadvantages: shallow, two dimensional characters, unoriginal, confusing at times
I was looking for something to read, anything really, it being the summer holidays there's not a lot to do, and so I stumbled across James Herbert's '48 at my local market book store; a snip at 95p. I picked it up and examined the cover. The first thing I noticed was that the author's name was marginally larger than the title of the book indicating that this author had written several well respected books before this one. Upon further research Herbert ... ...pushing him right up to number one. I read the blurb, phrases in bold which read 'THE CHASE IS ON', 'STOP AND YOU DIE' and 'IT'LL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY'. Promising. I brought it and got tucked in straight away. PLOT
The first page pulls you straight in at the deep end, being written in the first person narrative (I, me), nothing of the central characters head is left unturned so you can really get to know the character inside out and relate to him, ...
apple_scruff 21.08.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 48 - James Herbert
Advantages: Good read, greate departure of usual Herbert fiction. Disadvantages: To some extent you keep expecting anti-German sentiments to come out.
...Herbert is renowned for.
48 is based in, yes you've got it, London in 1948, lets just say the Allies didnt entirely win the war because of Hitler unleashing the Blood Death, a typr of biological germfare.
The main character Hoke survives along with a small minority who are unaffected because they have an immune blood type. Hoke meets up with several other survivors who all have one main aim. That is to escape the mad clutches of Sir Max Hubble, ... ...that his own life can be saved by the transfusion of immune blood into his own. Hoke and his companions , one of whom is a German are pursued by Hubble and his cohorts, betrayed at one point they escape with the help of a hapless German bomber who appear to think the war is still happening. Hoke, however has his own reasons for staying in London which you find out throughout the book. It finally culminates with a showdown at the tower of London and ...
Emma1973 30.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of 48 - James Herbert
Advantages: you do get caught up in it Disadvantages: not entirely original
I read this a few months ago and quite enjoyed it. It is the first book by James Herbert that I have read.
The story concerns the survivor of a Nazi attack at the end of World War II. Realising that he is losing the war, Hitler unleashes the 'Blood Death' which kills off most of the population of Europe.
An airman is left alive because he is immune to the disease. He spends his time wandering London trying to avoid the followers of a man who is ... ...transfuse his blood.
If you are familiar with the film 'The Omega Man' starring Charlton Heston the plot will be somewhat familiar to you. Lone survivor against the odds. Except of course it isn't a lone survivor in either. In both the hero manages to find others who have survived this plague and he links up with them. The book is basically the story of their trials and tribulations.
Their is one interesting twist in this book. A Luftwaffe pilot ...
oclumhain 01.03.2001 (28.02.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of 48 - James Herbert
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Advantages: Small book, good read ! interesting and makes you think! Disadvantages: Similar to other work! More characters may have been interesting.
The Survivor is about David Kellor who is the Only person to escape from a flaming wreckage of a Jumbo Jet.
The story starts with the crash and the aftermath of the crash for the local villagers of WIndsor.
But quickley events ensure that the crash is only the starts of the evil tale.
David Kellor starts putting the story together and as all JamesHerbert Books the tale soon turns to evil and death with a strange twist regarding Kellor's involvement in the plane and the crash!
A average book for JamesHerbert, I have read better ('48, Portent, and The Others)
Its a short and quick story that you also think he could of added much more too and finished the story better! ...
Advantages: Plenty of twists and turns, and surprises. An easy imaginable place. Disadvantages: Very Similar too many of his others novels.
Having read ALL of JamesHerberts Books. The Ghosts of Sleath was a very good read but not unlike his others works.
If you enjoyed The Magic Cottage, Once and Nobody True then you'll love it! Its not quite as fast and compelling to read as '48. But it takes the place of the awful films they put on now adays.
The story continues from JamesHerberts 'The Haunted'.
It takes the Story of David Ash a Psychical reserchers on from his meeting at Edbrook house, and how his story continues. The nightmares and atmosphere thats he feels again rises for him to find the turth once again for the village of Sleath.
When David Ash Arrives at the village of Sleath and automatically feels the burden that holds this Village, the truth evades him, and sends me all over the village looking for the Truth. With shocking accidents as the villagers are ...
Advantages: Original and interesting main character in a well-written and paced novel. Disadvantages: Overly reliant on shock revelations than scary moments especially the ending
Okay so I’ve read one other JamesHerbert novel… 48 and after that never intended to read another one. So you can imagine the silent inward groan when I received Others for Christmas. It wasn’t that 48 was bad, it was an interesting story but, at the time, I thought too simple and almost naively written. Anyway enough waffle.
For those that don’t know JamesHerbert is not a horror writer but instead a chiller fiction writer, the difference I presume is that chiller fiction is more realistic than out and out horror. Indeed at the end of Others a note from Herbert claims that the story is based on a true incident and that two of the main protagonists are known to him. The ‘Others’ in question are badly deformed and disabled people whom Herbert has taken from medical case histories so it is fair ...
The unmissable new action-thriller from one of the biggest names in British fiction -- the No 1 bestselling author of The Ghosts of Sleath, Haunted, The Magic Cottage and The Rats. As millions of readers around the world will testify, James Herbert's ability to shock and enthral is matchless. Now, in '48, he has surpassed his own remarkable achievements to create an electrifying new novel of pure heart-stopping action and invention that will take readers to new levels of terror and excitement. In 1945, Hitler unleashes the Blood Death on Britain as his final act of vengeance. Hoke, an American pilot and one of a tiny minority with a rare blood group unaffected by the deadly disease, has survived alone among the debris and the dead of London for three years. Now, in 1948, a slow-dying group of Fascist Blackshirts believe their only hope is a transfusion of blood from one of Hoke's kind. Ever more desperate as their deaths approach, they're after his blood.
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