- Hardcover: 480 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan; New edition edition (10 Dec 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 033376126X
- ISBN-13: 978-0333761267
- Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 15.9 x 24.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 954,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Shrine
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Product Description
Product Description
'Thrills and chills from the bestseller Herbert ... his best yet ... The build-up to the horrifying climax is subtle and sophisticated...' Daily Express
Book Description
A little girl called Alice. A deaf-mute. A vision. A lady in shimmering white who says she is the immaculate conception. And Alice can suddenly hear and speak, and she can perform miracles. Soon the site of the visitation, beneath an ancient oak tree, has become a shrine, a holy place for thousands of pilgrims. But Alice is no longer the guiltless child overwhelmed by her new saintliness. She has become the agent of something corrupt, a vile force that is centuries old. Innocence and evil have become one.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Let it Shrine,
By Sam "samueltyler" (Reading, Berkshire) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Shrine (Paperback)
Some books have flaws, but I really still enjoy them. 'Shrine' is one such book. Fenn is your typical local town reporter and he does not think anything exciting is going to happen on his night shift. This can't be further from the truth when he stumbles across a small girl lying in the road. She takes him to a strange tree and turns and speaks one sentence; nothing odd about this? It turns out that Alice is a deaf mute and that her talking is a miracle. Alice becomes increasingly drawn towards the tree and slowly a following of people gather to see her. It seems that she can harness the power of Mary to heal the ill, but is this a divine power for good or evil?
I really enjoyed the concept of 'Shrine' as it was not only a horror thriller, but an interesting discussion how religion and the media would treat a modern miracle. The book does feel a bit dated, but the core still holds up really well. I found the gentle pace matched the story perfectly and that the action set pieces in particular were described well. I can see why some people find this book average as the pace is slow, it's dated and the middle is better than the end. However, for me the central threads of the story make it a lot better than its parts and it made me think about the story long after I finished reading it. This is the best complement that I can give a book.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable but predictable possession story,
By
This review is from: The Shrine (Paperback)
James Herbert's previous novels have all been short and pacey affairs, but with Shrine the author has veered into Stephen King territory, and produced a bloated brick of a novel. The upside to this is the controlled build-up gives this novel a more rounded feel than his sometimes pulpy shorter novels, but the downside is that the action sometimes drags, (in fact the novel seems to peak midway through with the most gruesome car crash I've ever read).The initial premise is intriguing: a deaf-mute girl experiences a vision and can suddenly hear and speak - soon the area where this occurred becomes a shrine, and while the girl's healing powers seem to be a force for good an undercurrent of evil seems to be stirring... Herbert does well slowly building up the media circus and mass hysteria that grows around the girl, and examining the conflict of interests between the religious authorities and local businesses over hyping the shrine. Unfortunately when the revelation comes as to what's really happening to the girl it turns out to be a very obvious and well-worn tale of possession by a long-dead evil, with even the manner of the revelation (an uncovered old tome telling the tale - "I leave this warning for those who seek it" etc) being rather hackneyed. I also felt Herbert should have shown us more of how the girl at the centre of these events felt, rather than just concentrating on the reactions of those around her. The ending of the novel is somewhat flawed as well, as while the shift from agnostic to religious believer for the hero is perfect thematically, from a plotting point of view the hero is an impotent bystander at the novels climax. With his actions having no bearing whatsoever on either the resolution of the plot or the defeat of the evil the hero does come off as rather pointless, ultimately turning out to be more of an observer than a participant. Shrine is still a mostly enjoyable and well-written book, it's only real failing is that it's telling a tale that has been told many times before in the horror genre - as such this is a book I'd recommend more to newcomers than long-time readers of weird fiction. A slightly new spin on a very old idea.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A classic novel of building tension and nail biting suspense,
By
This review is from: The Shrine (Paperback)
First published in 1983, Shrine was the ninth novel of Herbert's to be released. He was already a very well-established horror writer, with a collection of classics of the genre under his belt. Shrine runs for 544 pages (epic for our Jim), which delivers a tale of horrific suspense. The novel takes a break from Herbert's splatterpunk roots, instead opting for a more atmospheric and haunting approach. The plot gradually unfolds throughout the novel, building up the suspense from the start. The characterisation is carefully constructed, bringing about a convincing hero character, Fenn. Herbert examines and develops on the conflicts between the religious organisations and the commercial world that we live in with an intelligent and thought-provoking manner. The book builds towards a massive finale which is where the book fails for me. The ending, (don't worry, I won't give it away) although thought-provoking and unexpected, left me feeling cheated. The tension towards the end is outstanding as Herbert has built the novel up to a peak, but it really fails to deliver a conclusion worthy of the build up. Our hero character who has led us through the novel seems to be more of a by-stander at the end rather than involved. Once the novel was finished, I was left in a haze of unrewarded emotions about the book, wishing that the ending had offered me something more to chew over.
Although this review has come out very negative, I must emphasise that it is still an enjoyable read. Ok, I felt cheated by the ending, but the tension created by Herbert's build-up is outstanding. The whole novel is extremely well written, creating a haunting atmosphere that is a pleasure to immerse yourself within.
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