Moon is a story about a psychic called Jonathan Childes who had previously helped the police solve a series of child murders, but sceptical of his own abilities and hounded by the press has abandoned his family and fled to the Channel Islands. After a few years of quiet Childes starts receiving visions of the acts of a new serial killer, only this killer shares his psychic ability, becomes aware of Childe's presence, and tracks him down to the Channel Islands to exact revenge...
This is a well-written novel, and contains some suitably grotesque imagery, but despite the psychic power angle this isn't too far removed from all the other thousands of 'hunt down the serial killer' books and movies out there. The characterisation of Childes is a step above that of the usual rather generic 'loner with a troubled past' Herbert hero, but conversely the development of the serial killer's character is minimal - Herbert chooses to keep the killer undefined for as long as possible so he can reveal a Dario Argento-style twist when Childes finally meets them at the climax, but the killer motivation (a lunatic in the deepest sense of the word) seems rather threadbare and generic.
Still, an enjoyable read, with some effective set pieces (particularly a harrowing fire that breaks out at one of the schools Childes teaches at), Moon is a good horror/ thriller book - but it just doesn't have enough originality to make it a great one.
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