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kimblefairy1989's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very standard James Herbert novel. It used to really bug me that he is in the horror genre and, other than being pretty gory in places, his books aren't at all scary. However, now I've come to expect that, I can appreciate his novels for what they are.
This book had a good story line that kept me reading even through the bits that were overly drawn out. It had relatively good pace and the right balance of gore. The story really picked up for the last third and was quite enjoyable.
The reason this gets only 3 stars from me is because it felt a bit dated and in places somewhat pervy. I also found most of the main characters mostly irritating and didn't really connect with any of them.
This book had a good story line that kept me reading even through the bits that were overly drawn out. It had relatively good pace and the right balance of gore. The story really picked up for the last third and was quite enjoyable.
The reason this gets only 3 stars from me is because it felt a bit dated and in places somewhat pervy. I also found most of the main characters mostly irritating and didn't really connect with any of them.
scytheria's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Just awful. Don't bother.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Body horror, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Child abuse, Torture, Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Gore
Minor: Pedophilia and Confinement
drew1013's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Sucks
trisha76's review against another edition
3.0
Childes, een man met visioenen, leeft op een eiland om opnieuw te beginnen. In het verleden heeft hij de politie geholpen met een reeks moorden. Dit had grote gevolgen voor zijn privé leven.
Maar de visioenen komen terug en het verleden haalt hem in. Als dan ook nog zijn dochter gevaar loopt, weet hij dat hij de confrontatie aan moet gaan met het kwaad uit het verleden en het heden.
---
Het verhaal pakt je niet vanaf het begin. Sterker nog het duurt even voordat je in het verhaal zit en het gevoel hebt dat je meegezogen wordt. De laatste hoofdstukken maken het echter goed dat het te lang duurt voor het verhaal op gang komt. Het zorgt er voor dat je het boek toch uitleest, maar eerst moet je door de zure appel heen bijten.
De drie sterren is omdat het toch te langdradig is. Daarnaast wordt er niet vertelt of verwezen naar een ander boek waardoor je niet het hele verhaal begrijpt.
Blijkbaar moet je toch een ander boek van Herbert eerst hebben gelezen voordat je begrijpt wat achter Childes aanzit.
---
Uitgeverij: Luitingh
ISBN: 90.245.1672.2
272 pg's; paperback
Maar de visioenen komen terug en het verleden haalt hem in. Als dan ook nog zijn dochter gevaar loopt, weet hij dat hij de confrontatie aan moet gaan met het kwaad uit het verleden en het heden.
---
Het verhaal pakt je niet vanaf het begin. Sterker nog het duurt even voordat je in het verhaal zit en het gevoel hebt dat je meegezogen wordt. De laatste hoofdstukken maken het echter goed dat het te lang duurt voor het verhaal op gang komt. Het zorgt er voor dat je het boek toch uitleest, maar eerst moet je door de zure appel heen bijten.
De drie sterren is omdat het toch te langdradig is. Daarnaast wordt er niet vertelt of verwezen naar een ander boek waardoor je niet het hele verhaal begrijpt.
Blijkbaar moet je toch een ander boek van Herbert eerst hebben gelezen voordat je begrijpt wat achter Childes aanzit.
---
Uitgeverij: Luitingh
ISBN: 90.245.1672.2
272 pg's; paperback
sy77via's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
kingfan30's review
3.0
For me this was a pretty average read. I like the idea behind the story line, but it took a while to warm up. There was a bit of blood. guts and gore, but nothing too horrendous and an attempt at a twist at the end. It certainly didn't have me jumping out of my skin, but not a bad read overall.
spencesational's review
2.0
Three-quarters of this needn't have been written at all as it was only the last few pages that were half-decent. I say half-decent and really I'm being generous. It was dull and not exactly heart racing. Two hundred and ninety pages of build up and "storyline" only to be let down dramatically. There were parts where I thought it was going to pick up but I was sadly disappointed.
One thing I can say about James Herbert is this: his books are either really good or really bad. This, along with Creed, in my opinion, has to be one of his worst books. Actually, Creed was worse than this but only by a nose. Highly unimpressed and disappointed here.
One thing I can say about James Herbert is this: his books are either really good or really bad. This, along with Creed, in my opinion, has to be one of his worst books. Actually, Creed was worse than this but only by a nose. Highly unimpressed and disappointed here.
jamessmith82's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rhubarb1608's review
1.5
It’s 1985, and Jon Childes is a computer teacher at a school for girls in the Channel Islands. He fled there after psychically aiding a police investigation three years earlier, causing his wife to divorce him, because it’s the ’80s and the “in sickness and in health” clause of the wedding vows doesn’t apply to mental breakdowns, at least not when you have a job at a real estate firm that’s really taking off. And while it’s not exactly complaint #1 with this book, it’s a major complaint: his dumb ex, whats-her-name, is totally unrealistic. Their next-door neighbors’ child is abducted, her psychically-attuned ex-husband says the kidnapper was after their daughter, and he urges them to come out to the isolated and safer islands where he now lives, and her reply is “I have to work, and she has school.” I’m sorry, what? In the face of murders, arson, mutilation of corpses, and the kidnap of your daughter’s best friend, and you’re still even contemplating going to work, let alone sending her to school?! Mr. Herbert, have you ever met a woman?
Which leads me to what actually was my first complaint: the women. I just got done reading Mary Renault’s Theseus Duology, and while her Grecian hero is “highly-sexed” (according to the back blurb), even he doesn’t spend a quarter of the time Herbert does on breasts. And it’s just Herbert, without any help from his protagonist. Although Childes has a girlfriend he’s with two or three times in the course of the book, plus a “meaningless hook up” with his ex-wife that I found repugnant, most of the breast talk occurs in the omniscient third-person narration. Basically, if it’s got boobs, you can be sure James Herbert dedicated a paragraph or two effervescing about them — from “budding schoolgirls” to the spinster principal — I’m honestly surprised the pet cat Mrs. Puddles didn’t get a line or two about her feminine charms. I’ve never read the word “breast” so many times in one book before. Although Herbert’s preoccupation explains why the predominantly female cast of characters (protagonist’s ex-wife, daughter, girlfriend; female coworkers, girl students; prostitute victims, the cat, the girl next door…) behave in ways no female has ever behaved, even British ones.
The book was gory, far more so than I was expecting, and I’d had it in my head that the paranormal element would be more werewolf or vampire related than psychic intuitions. I’m not squeamish by any stretch, but I just found it shocking how slimy this book was for a British novel written in the 1980s. I guess Queen Victoria really is dead. And I was tired of corpse mutilation and over-detailed psychic visions of blood and guts by the second description.
As I always find thrillers boring, I can’t blame my boredom on the book itself; there were chases, escapes, an excruciatingly long scene about a fire, and a final showdown complete with ghosts trailing all their viscera. I found the ending unsatisfying, the body count uncomfortable, the sexiness confusing and unwarranted. Mostly, the female behavior was so off-putting, the main character inaccessible, and the whole thing a strain. Make that one flop so far for this year’s challenge.
Which leads me to what actually was my first complaint: the women. I just got done reading Mary Renault’s Theseus Duology, and while her Grecian hero is “highly-sexed” (according to the back blurb), even he doesn’t spend a quarter of the time Herbert does on breasts. And it’s just Herbert, without any help from his protagonist. Although Childes has a girlfriend he’s with two or three times in the course of the book, plus a “meaningless hook up” with his ex-wife that I found repugnant, most of the breast talk occurs in the omniscient third-person narration. Basically, if it’s got boobs, you can be sure James Herbert dedicated a paragraph or two effervescing about them — from “budding schoolgirls” to the spinster principal — I’m honestly surprised the pet cat Mrs. Puddles didn’t get a line or two about her feminine charms. I’ve never read the word “breast” so many times in one book before. Although Herbert’s preoccupation explains why the predominantly female cast of characters (protagonist’s ex-wife, daughter, girlfriend; female coworkers, girl students; prostitute victims, the cat, the girl next door…) behave in ways no female has ever behaved, even British ones.
The book was gory, far more so than I was expecting, and I’d had it in my head that the paranormal element would be more werewolf or vampire related than psychic intuitions. I’m not squeamish by any stretch, but I just found it shocking how slimy this book was for a British novel written in the 1980s. I guess Queen Victoria really is dead. And I was tired of corpse mutilation and over-detailed psychic visions of blood and guts by the second description.
As I always find thrillers boring, I can’t blame my boredom on the book itself; there were chases, escapes, an excruciatingly long scene about a fire, and a final showdown complete with ghosts trailing all their viscera. I found the ending unsatisfying, the body count uncomfortable, the sexiness confusing and unwarranted. Mostly, the female behavior was so off-putting, the main character inaccessible, and the whole thing a strain. Make that one flop so far for this year’s challenge.