- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton; New Ed edition (19 Mar 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340568771
- ISBN-13: 978-0340568774
- Product Dimensions: 24.1 x 16.3 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,619,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Jonah
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Product Description
Product Description
The story of a man, Kelso, whose life holds a terrible secret. He was a good undercover man, but jobs turned nasty when he was involved. Nobody wants to work with a Jonah. When Kelso gets his big break, in order to solve the mystery, he must solve the secret of his own strange life.
Book Description
The shadow of his past was always with him. But he never knew what it was, or when it would strike next. Sent to a small coastal town to investigate drug smuggling, Kelso stumbles onto a dangerous organisation and suddenly, more than just his life is at stake. It's his past, his future, his sanity. Through torture and drugs he discovers the terrifying secret of the Jonah and learns, in the most horrifying way, that it can destroy him as well as others . . . 'A fresh crop of terrors bristle all through' Daily Mirror
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'The Jonah' is a not a thing, but an undercover Detective called Jim Kelso. Throughout his life and career, bad luck has followed him to the point were other police personnel are no longer willing to partner him. It's this bad luck that has forced Kelso to go undercover in the back of beyond to investigate the strange drugging of a normal family. Is Kelso's bad luck all in his imagination or are there supernatural powers at play?
I really enjoyed 'The Jonah' even though it was not the horror novel that I expected from James Herbert. In fact, it is a thriller and only small parts hint at something other worldly. Herbert is deft at creating a good, fast thriller and as a reader you care what happens to Kelso. The mystery itself was also well written and although the book is almost 30 years old I felt that it was not too dated. I recommend this to thriller fans that want something a bit different - Herbert fans may find it too much of a departure from the norm.
I really enjoyed 'The Jonah' even though it was not the horror novel that I expected from James Herbert. In fact, it is a thriller and only small parts hint at something other worldly. Herbert is deft at creating a good, fast thriller and as a reader you care what happens to Kelso. The mystery itself was also well written and although the book is almost 30 years old I felt that it was not too dated. I recommend this to thriller fans that want something a bit different - Herbert fans may find it too much of a departure from the norm.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Jonah is an enjoyable yarn from James Herbert, but like a couple of the other reviewers here I would have to question whether this is a horror or supernatural story or whether it is a plain old fashioned thriller.
In fact it is the actual composition of the book rather than the storyline itself that has led me to this conclusion. The first ½ of the book is all plot background and story setting. We see detective Jim Kelso transferred into the drugs squad after a run of bad luck incidences in the serious crime squad and we then see his subsequent posting to the small coastal town to investigate a possible drug trafficking incident. This part of the book is pure thriller, competently written and thoroughly enjoyable as is the plot development when customs and excise officer Ellie Shepherd is assigned to the same case. The blossoming romance between the two main characters, whilst being obvious and not unexpected is never the less well written and a great addition to the story line.
What happens then is a series of flashbacks to Kelso's past showing his run of bad luck experiences and strange goings to those who threaten him. Whilst again they are well written I don't really like this well-worn Herbert tactic of interspersing the live action with the flashbacks. The flashbacks tend to be quite short and as such you don't really get into them before being transported back to the present time.
Likewise at the conclusion to the book, in order to set the scene with the huge storm hitting the coast, Herbert writes several short snippets of scene description as various new characters fall foul of the bad weather. Again because they are short you don't connect with the characters and although they passages are relatively exciting you don't really care what happens.
The final twist in the tale is good although it is only at this very last gasp you actually get any pure horror writings.
All in all and fun and enjoyable book but by no means a classic.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Even more than The Spear, The Jonah is a book packaged as a horror novel, yet reads for much of its length like a straightforward thriller. The supernatural element concerns the lead character Kelso, with the fact that he is a Jonah (i.e.: a walking bad luck magnet for those around him) being due to the malevolent influence of the ghost of his stillborn twin.
For the bulk of the novel however this aspect is kept very much in the background, with only a few flashbacks to previous tragedies in Kelso's past peppered amongst the regular chapters. Instead the first 200 pages concentrate on policeman Kelso going undercover in a fishing town trying to uncover a drug ring. This section is readable but fairly standard thriller territory, with no new ideas or twists. The initially frost pairing with a female agent that leads to a romance is obvious and predictable, and the identity of the local drug lord is never really in doubt.
It's only really in the last 50 pages that The Jonah picks up, with some great action scenes courtesy of some freak weather conditions, (though this does seem a little like a convenient deus ex machina to save the hero from otherwise certain doom). The final full-fledged appearance of Kelso's malevolent twin is fittingly macabre though, and there's a nice sting in the tale ending.
Some of Herbert's novels, even when enjoyable, can seem a little formulaic, and to his credit The Jonah doesn't feel like a retread of any of his previous books, but for my own personal tastes I could have done with a little more supernatural horror, and a little less mainstream police investigation.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
the jonah
i thought this was not one of james herberts better books,the story was fine but it lack action.it started ok it ended ok but the middle to me seemed to be a bit lackluster. Read more
Published 15 months ago by highwayman
Readable, Interesting and Occasionally Gripping, but no, not a horror...
As other reviewers have noted, The Jonah isn't a horror novel. It has horrific moments, and the protagonist is without with doubt haunted by a terrifying force. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2009 by J. Baxter
An action packed thriller with a gritty horror edge
First published back in 1981, `The Jonah' was Herbert's eighth novel to be published. Moving slightly away from his previous splatterpunk and down right gritty horror subject... Read more
Published on 5 May 2009 by Chris Hall
Pirates, drugs and a ghoul!
I loved The Jonah. Set in a sleepy village, one gets the vibe of that old Hammer movie The Reptile.
This is a departure for Herbert, but an excellent one. Read more
This is a departure for Herbert, but an excellent one. Read more
Published on 21 May 2002 by craig.cabell@virgin.net
A bit of a let down after such books as 'The rats'
Being a James Herbert's fan, I felt deceived by the Jonah. Although it has a good all round story -a cop purchased by his bad luck while investigating drug smuggling in a small... Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2001 by "gaelle_g"
Average to the point of numbness.
I read this book over a few days in the summer and I'm sorry to report that it is nothing special. The plot invovles a police officer investigating a drug smuggeler in a sleepy... Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2000
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