This horror story brings one of humanity's most potent fears to terrifying life, as the after effects of an atomic blast produce a race of super-rats who subjugate the common species and then turn on man. The author also wrote "Lair", "The Spear" and "Domain".
The Rats
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Book Description
It was only when the bones of the first devoured victims were discovered that the true nature and power of these swarming black creatures with their razor-sharp teeth and the taste for human blood began to be realised by a panic-stricken city. For millions of years man and rats had been natural enemies. But now for the first time - suddenly, shockingly, horribly - the balance of power had shifted... `The effectivenes of the gruesome set pieces and brilliant finale are all on its own' Sunday Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
James Herbert was not just Britain’s number one bestselling writer of chiller fiction, a position he held ever since publication of his first novel, but was also one of our greatest popular novelists. Widely imitated and hugely influential, his twenty-three novels have sold more than fifty-four million copies worldwide, and have been translated into over thirty languages, including Russian and Chinese. In 2010, he was made the Grand Master of Horror by the World Horror Convention and was also awarded an OBE by the Queen for services to literature. His final novel was Ash. James Herbert died in March 2013.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Big black rats that gnaw eat and chew.
The first of the Rats trilogy, I tore through this book in a matter of days. The way it is written is very clever indeed, an easy read that is gripping with the advance of the Rats and the increase in frequency of attacks. No punches are pulled and the writing style is tight and compelling. After reading this you WILL want to read the rest of the series. Lair and Domain bring to the fore a truly apocalyptic series about what life would be like if we were not the dominant species anymore, if we were another creatures food source. Rats are very clever and skilled creatures, adaptable and powerful in packs. When the rats you face are bigger than dogs how quickly do you think you would be overwhelmed? How painful would it be to feel long sharp teeth peeling the skin from your body?
I have enjoyed this book many times. As a reader I will often re-visit a story I've enjoyed and it gives me great pleasure to disappear into the Rats trilogy.
The first of the Rats trilogy, I tore through this book in a matter of days. The way it is written is very clever indeed, an easy read that is gripping with the advance of the Rats and the increase in frequency of attacks. No punches are pulled and the writing style is tight and compelling. After reading this you WILL want to read the rest of the series. Lair and Domain bring to the fore a truly apocalyptic series about what life would be like if we were not the dominant species anymore, if we were another creatures food source. Rats are very clever and skilled creatures, adaptable and powerful in packs. When the rats you face are bigger than dogs how quickly do you think you would be overwhelmed? How painful would it be to feel long sharp teeth peeling the skin from your body?
I have enjoyed this book many times. As a reader I will often re-visit a story I've enjoyed and it gives me great pleasure to disappear into the Rats trilogy.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Possible one of the best horror books ever!! Great storyline and gruesome parts for the horror lover. The Book is fast paced and hard to but down. Even though this book has to be nearly 30+ years. Many more current writers should sit down and read this and see how a book is composed, characters built and a plot develops.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Moleyeyes
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first read this book about 20 years ago and found it gripping and very scary. Having just downloaded the Kindle version, I was really looking forward to reading it again but was disappointed when it did not live up to my memory of it. I found the book to be poorly written, lacking in "oomph" and quite unbelievable in places ... bit tedious really ... shame :(
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Call me Sparky
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Kindle Edition
There was a time was when a book lasted about 200 pages. Kids books were done and dusted in about 100 and only frustrated home counties horse women got to grips with the doorsteps that Jilly Cooper and Jackie Collins turned out.
James Herbert's first novel, would more likely be seen as a novella now: Short and sweet it was a punchy, in-your-face book that scared the proverbial out of me for more than one reason.
Herbert is the product of an East London upbringing. Born at the tail end of WW2, he grew up playing on bomb sites and derelict buildings, wasteland left to ruin. It is these locations that inspired The Rats.
The book deals with a growing number of rat attacks in London. That's a bit obvious really. Starting with the deaths of a vagrant and pest exterminator. Soon the capital is overrun with these deadly carriers of a new plague, whose bite means certain death. We are quickly introduced to Harris, a teacher in East London. The book then begins to follow him through the escalating attacks including one that devastates the school he works in.
For me the trouble is he bases that school on the one he used to attend - St. Aloysius in Highgate. The trouble being I went there. His description of the attack in familiar rooms, corridors and playgrounds is to me truly chilling, especially as I first read the book whilst I was still studying there.
There are subsequent sequels which are good, solid tales but for me it is his first, pacy adventure that holds the reader most - not the flabby written-for-a-film-deal turgid dross that he has produced recently (The Secret of Crickley Hall...Jeez).
Read this. It is a horror story without the unnecessary dressing and so much the better for it.
James Herbert's first novel, would more likely be seen as a novella now: Short and sweet it was a punchy, in-your-face book that scared the proverbial out of me for more than one reason.
Herbert is the product of an East London upbringing. Born at the tail end of WW2, he grew up playing on bomb sites and derelict buildings, wasteland left to ruin. It is these locations that inspired The Rats.
The book deals with a growing number of rat attacks in London. That's a bit obvious really. Starting with the deaths of a vagrant and pest exterminator. Soon the capital is overrun with these deadly carriers of a new plague, whose bite means certain death. We are quickly introduced to Harris, a teacher in East London. The book then begins to follow him through the escalating attacks including one that devastates the school he works in.
For me the trouble is he bases that school on the one he used to attend - St. Aloysius in Highgate. The trouble being I went there. His description of the attack in familiar rooms, corridors and playgrounds is to me truly chilling, especially as I first read the book whilst I was still studying there.
There are subsequent sequels which are good, solid tales but for me it is his first, pacy adventure that holds the reader most - not the flabby written-for-a-film-deal turgid dross that he has produced recently (The Secret of Crickley Hall...Jeez).
Read this. It is a horror story without the unnecessary dressing and so much the better for it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
An enjoyable read that refused to allow ny attention to stray. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has a phobia of rats, but I would say that if you like gore and vermin then read this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the second James Herbert book I have read my first was 48 witch I enjoyed a lot. I work in a charity shop sorting out the books and I like following a range of Arthur's works from thriller to horror James Herbert is a writer I would not normally follow but being Halloween an all thought I would give him another try and I am glad I did.
It is a simple little story rats invade London and start killing people thats it. But Herbert writes in a chilling grusham way that makes you fear what is about to happen next.
I will defo be reading more of this brilliant writer's work may be lair and domain, makes a nice change from watching my usual Halloween zombie movie now
(I need to eat some brains, I m a lonely zombie give me brains ! ! !
It is a simple little story rats invade London and start killing people thats it. But Herbert writes in a chilling grusham way that makes you fear what is about to happen next.
I will defo be reading more of this brilliant writer's work may be lair and domain, makes a nice change from watching my usual Halloween zombie movie now
(I need to eat some brains, I m a lonely zombie give me brains ! ! !
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Mark Barlow
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this over Halloween and I was actually getting just a little chilled by the experience. Not frightened, certainly, but it made me look at rats in a different way.
In The Rats, Herbert's first published novel, a new breed of rat appears in London, larger and more ferocious with a taste for human flesh. London is attacked by the beasts and it is up to a select few to try to get rid of them.
I'm not scared of rats but there is something in the way that Herbert writes that makes it chilling. His description of people being bitten by the things, skin being torn from bones, eyes being eaten while the person struggles to survive. It was genuinely chilling in a way that horror fiction doesn't normally affect me. I'm quite anesthetized to that kind of horror but James Herbert who can influence me in that way.
The Rats is a short book that is entertaining and chilling in its descriptions. I enjoyed it immensely.
In The Rats, Herbert's first published novel, a new breed of rat appears in London, larger and more ferocious with a taste for human flesh. London is attacked by the beasts and it is up to a select few to try to get rid of them.
I'm not scared of rats but there is something in the way that Herbert writes that makes it chilling. His description of people being bitten by the things, skin being torn from bones, eyes being eaten while the person struggles to survive. It was genuinely chilling in a way that horror fiction doesn't normally affect me. I'm quite anesthetized to that kind of horror but James Herbert who can influence me in that way.
The Rats is a short book that is entertaining and chilling in its descriptions. I enjoyed it immensely.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
Read this year's ago and loved it and time hasn't diminished how brilliant and effective the writing is
.. outstanding
.. outstanding
Published 4 days ago by carla rainbow
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
I first read this in 1974, when it was first published. I was 13. It frightened me then. A bit older now so it didn't 'frighten' me but it still has the capacity to shock. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Graham
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure class
After reading The Rats it is easy to see why James Herbert was one of the world's leading horror novelists. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Robert M Fall
5.0 out of 5 stars
1st book of James Herbert I ever read.
I read this book when I was about 17, then I couldn't put it down, it was compulsive reading. It was the same again now at 50 yrs old. Absolutely brillliant writing. Read more
Published 9 days ago by dawnie
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unbelieveable, dated and above all, not scary
This book was a massive best seller in the early 1980s. London had experienced the general strike, with rubbish piling up in the streets, and the fear of rats was very real. Read more
Published 13 days ago by T. Jinkerson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ages like fine wine, and still packs a shocking punch!
When I first read James Herbert's "The Rats" at the ripe old age of 13, I had no idea that the book itself was either Herbert's first book or that it was nearly 40 years old! Read more
Published 14 days ago by Ben Kelly
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read after very long time
Havent read this for years and had forgotten every bit about, didnt realise there was
sex in this and the 2nd book. Read more
sex in this and the 2nd book. Read more
Published 14 days ago by belleouise
4.0 out of 5 stars
A chilling tale
Really enjoyed this book. This is the first time I have read another horror writer other than Stephen King, who in his early days wrote some barn stormers. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Nogoohwell
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping
One of the best horror stories, good detail and gripping from start to finish, recommend to all horror readers of the future
Published 19 days ago by june cave
3.0 out of 5 stars
An okay read.
The villain is different but it unfortunately follows the same path as most horrors and becomes quite predictable. Still worth a read, don't expect anything great.
Published 19 days ago by Gareth Hughes
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