James Herbert The Rats

This book is incredibly well written and surpisingly scary but I just could'nt put it down

it's a great read and I would recommend it to everyone without hesitation.

My dad first got me into James Herbert novels when I was about 19 or 20. And now at the age of 26 I have nearly got the whole collection but only read the first book which is The Rats, I have also started on the second The Fog.

Here is a short review which should give a feel of the book.

By an old house there was a disused canal. Forty year old homosexual Henry Guilfoyle was drinking himself to death after he had been a successful salesman and was ready to become an area manager at the Midland Paper company and after failed romance with (boy Francis) one of his trainees. He was sat in the corner which was the old kitchen of the house, then suddenly felt a sharp pain his in left hand. A very big black rat along with others gnawed away at his tendons, ripped away the skin, drank his blood and eats his eyes, their first victim. Other victims were to follow instantly, such as:-

A One Year Old Baby - Karen Blakely

The Dog - Shane

The Schoolboy - Keogh

Forty Nine - Mary Kelly

Errol Johnson - The Station Master

Foskins - The Headmaster

The Rats is a tale of true horror, not bad for his 1st novel and I strongly recommend it.

Here we have James Herbert's first novel, The Rats, which became the founder of the splatter-punk horror genre. Herbert introduced the world to extreme splatter gore and unashamed violence in a style that has produced so many followers. With this one novel alone he has created a whole new aspect to horror novels that will later be saturated by up and coming influenced authors such as the likes of Shaun Hutson. But Herbert is the true master of the splatter punk novels. And this novel set it all off!

The Rats brings us a concoction of blood-soaking gore, uncomplicated sex and a narrative that races through the pages with non-stop gore-fuelled violence and horror. The novel involves giant rats that have acquired a keen taste for human flesh, who terrorize London with their rampage of slaughter. The plot certainly isn't the most complicated affair, but it keeps you gripped with suspense from the start. There are times in the novel where you know what's coming next, and the suspense of the inevitable slaughter is killing you (try using the Underground in London with hungry, dog-sized rats on the loose). This book is nothing short of a classic, in which you will not be disappointed.

Out of Herbert's work, I place this novel within the top three. Once you've read it, there's also the sequel, "Lair," to read which is controversially an even more gut-churning, gore-packed rollercoaster of a ride. Then there's "Domain" which is the third installment, where I feel Herbert let the idea come off the boil a little. Then lastly, there's "The City", which is a graphic novel-type of thing, which is a bit of fun, but that's about it! And that's your lot to date for Herbert's Rats series.

Be sure to check out some of his other work such as The Fog, The Survivor, Fluke, '48 and Sepulchre. Enjoy!

If you want to read James Herbert's best work then you have to go right back the begining in my view. His later novels seem to have either toned down a bit or lost some of the punch that made him a big name in horror fiction.

The Rats is Herbert's first and possibly best novel. Plotwise it is incredibly simplistic but it makes for the kind of page-turning action any horror fan can appreciate. Basically some rats have fed on contaminated grain and moved into the sewers of London. There they grew and grew until the size of small dogs and now they've got the taste for human flesh and are pouring out of the drains and sewer outlets to attack London residents.

The language is simplistic but effective and Herbert doesn't waste much time setting the scene but tends to get straight into the violent, bloody action. No one is safe, the old, the young, a baby in its pram, all are fair game for the rats and the horror and revulsion is passed on to the reader by the bucketload. This may not be the best book you've ever read but I defy anyone to voluntarily put it down once they've started reading. It's one of the modern classics of the horror genre and better still, has two sequels called Lair and Domain...