Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A CHILLER THRILLER..., 24 Sep 2006
This British author is immensely popular for his horror fiction. Having read a number of his other books and enjoyed them, I delved into this one with much anticipation. I was not disappointed, as it is similar thematically to another of his books, "The Fog", which is one of his best books. In that book, a fog sweeps across the United Kingdom, causing those it touches to commit insane acts of mayhem. Here, a dark, amorphous entity, best described as infinite blackness, does the same.
Initially confined to Beechwood, a mansion on Willow Road and the site of mass murder and suicides, it feeds on those whom it touches and causes them to perpetrate acts of horrific violence, releasing man's most primal fears and instincts. When Beechwood is demolished, this darkness ventures out beyond the parameters of the house, causing those with whom it come into contact to act out their basest instincts and destroy those who remain unaffected. This novel engages the reader, as the protagonists in the book try to sort things out and defeat this evil entity. Well-written and interesting, devotees of the horror genre, as well as fans of the author, will enjoy this book.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Herberts Greatest Hits?, 28 Jul 2004
The Dark, James Herbert's 7th novel, almost feels like a greatest hits collection at times, combining the epic disaster scale of such novels as The Rats and The Fog, with the supernatural scares of The Survivor and The Spear. At first glance the story seems to share most similarities with The Fog, with this time a creeping darkness rather than a mist leaving a horde of insane killers in it's wake, but thankfully the additional supernatural angle makes this more than just a straight rewrite. There's a good variety of action in the novel, starting from an investigation at a haunted house before spiralling into George Romero-style hordes of zombies.It's not perfect - the explanation of what the Dark actually is is occasionally muddled, and the ending is blink and you'll miss it fast, but the combination of action, scares, and good solid characterisation makes this a good return to form after a few hit and miss novels preceding it. A little formulaic yes, but all in all an improvement on Herbert's previous attempts.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great fun...but isn't this just 'The Rats' in another form??, 12 Sep 2001
After all the hype James Herbert receives (best British author status etc.), I decided to read this, which I did a few years ago when I was 14 or something. At the time I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematic scenarios and gory features, which fed my curiosity and desire throughout. But then I read 'The Rats' and have started to read 'The Fog'....and I'm beginning to see a pattern here somewhere. This IS 'The Rats' but in a different form !! E.g. different scenarios where malevolent evil destroys good and the main character (of course) has to stop it in the usual James Herbert (predictable)finale. THEN I read 'Shrine' and I discovered something else - the main character Fenn in that is practically IDENTICAL characteristically to Bishop in this book....and, er, Harris in 'The Rats' and, yes yet again, the main guy from 'Moon'. Mmmmm. This made me feel rather cheated to be honest, because since I read this, I can predict the characters and outcomes of all Herbert's other books. Is that just me?? Perhaps so. But all that aside, I think the descriptive quality and malevolent images evoked in this novel are intensely addictive and may leave you thirsting for more if you like this sort of thing. My favourite section is probably the opening introduction, which sets the scene wonderfully. Okay, so it was hardly going to be acclaimed for an intricate plot or original storyline, but this is full-on horrofic fun and may even send a chill or two rippling down your spine. The parapsychological jargon (some of which is deliberately difficult to comprehend in certain places) makes the book feasible, I think. Maybe it's a bit cliché and predictable (and having virtually the same story as his other books) but it really is good fun if you don't feel up to any analysis of context etc. This is his best from the five I've read, in my opinion, solely due to the dark ambience it is able to evoke within.
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