Horror Books > P Horror Books > J

Advantages: So apt for our current climate change
Disadvantages: Don't read it at bedtime, the night will pass quickly, and you'll still be reading when it's time to goto work

...over evil. In Portent the world is a changing place, unexplained phenomena are occuring all over with disasterous results for the humans living on this planet, but as Herbert says the planet is trying to heal itself. Mixed in to the storyline are a set of gypsy twins, Mama Pitie a dark and foreboding figure hell bent on getting to the twins, James Rivers a Doctor working for the NOAA (National Oceananic and Atmospheric Administration, The Dream Man ...
...Diane, Father and Daughter who aid James while he unravels what exactly is happening. I whole heartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in what is happening now to our planet it's so apt, and although it may be pure fantasy it's amazing how James Herbert wrote about, what we are only now experiencing. ... Read review

Advantages: inventive, evocative
Disadvantages: can it be sustained in other books?

This book was suggested to me as a good read in the cyberpunk mode, but to place in that category is to miss the richness of Noon's world. There are nods to cyberpunk, but as many to magic realism. You put the book down and feel you have been exposed to a genuinely inventive mind. I see little value in recounting the plot other than to say that its set in a Manchester of the future (but seems to be imbued with the Madchester of the recent past) and ...
...conceits are nothing short of deviant, yet the writing is such that they are not sensationalized - there is a strong subtext of tolerance at work here. I'm tempted to suggest it's an acid-fuelled trip but that puts it with a lot of substandard nonsense that come out in the past decade and its too focused for that. The reservation I have concerns not the book itself but the extensibility of Noon's world. I am aware he has written several other books ... Read review

Advantages: Loveable characters, great ending, 500 pages.
Disadvantages: Too long for some?

Stephen King is arguably one of the best writers alive today, if not of all time. He made himself famous with books such as Carrie and The Shining, and more recent books such as Cell. He specialises in Horror books, although he has also branched of into fantasy books on several occasions. In my opinion this book is somewhere in between horror and science fiction. The story follows the struggles of single father Andy McGee and his adorable daughter ...
...have given both of the psionic abilities. Charlie has the ability to start fires using her mind, a talent known as pyrokinesis. She is the story's main character, and the government assosiation "The Shop" are constantly hunting her down in order to test and harness her seemingly boundless power. Stephen King portrays the struggles of the young girl (around the age of 7 in the novel), as she tries cope with her extraordinary power and the government ... Read review

Advantages: Heart felt, well written and hopeful
Disadvantages: a bit silly, and liable to rot your teeth

...of wise men and produced From The Corner Of His Eye. it was a different turn for the writter whose work has always been tinged with a basic desire for hope in all situations. Here the hope for the goodness in humanity is turned up a notch, where if we believe in someone as good as Bart and his mother we can also believe in the good of others. That all sounds a bit saccarine and the more I re-read it the more suggary it becomes but at the heart of ... Read review

Advantages: fast paced
Disadvantages: not a horror

...elements and instead he produced Knife Edge where the villains are real (sort of) and the atmosphere far more political. Set during the height of the Northern Irish Troubles this is a fast paced thriller which pits the quick witted hero against the criminal geniuses of the IRA and their bombing regime. The story is tight, the characters well developed and accessible enough, for a good read whether that be on the Tube or on holiday. But for those ... Read review