Others

I have been reading James Herbert for most of my adult life it seems, and it is always nice to find one of his books that I haven't already read. Every time I do, for some reason, I look at the blurb and think "mmmm I don't know if I am going to like this" and then every time, without fail, I find myself hooked within pages and this was no exception. I'm not going to go into the plot (you can read the blurb and countless other reviews for that), but I note that there is an element of shock and disgust in the reviews, people claiming James Herbert should be ashamed of himself because of the content of this book. Well, I would say he certainly has pushed the boundaries of horror here, and the themes in the book could certainly seem very distressing to some readers - but the parts of the book that might be considered beyond the pale are not graphic - its all alluded to and not shown, it is more concept than anything else I think.It is a story told by one person, Nick Dismas the hero, and you really do get right into the heart of the story that way. It can feel claustrophobic at times, but this is horror and I think in a way it adds to the atmosphere. The characters are fantastic, and my only regret is that we didn't see enough of Ida, I really took to her and liked her!One thing worth commenting on, it is a story written a few years ago, so it was quite funny in a way reading about how the characters were working without the internet, and having to indulge in good old fashioned sleuthing. Makes you realise just how far we have come in just a few years.It is a long, well written and gripping read - but that is just the way I like it, so no complaints here on that score!

Once again James Herbert guides you through a tale that the pc brigade would rather forget.I’ve read this book many times and enjoy it more.Ignore the ramblings of those who think this tale is discriminatory- they are part of the problem. It’s time for all to realise human behaviour isn’t perfect and neither are unmans themselves.

This is the first book of James Herbert’s that I have read and been bored with. I loved the Ash series, the magic cottage etc but this one isn’t a page turner for me. It tends to go into too much detail about things that are irrelevant. It doesn’t have me gripped like his previous books have. I am 30% of the way through and will finish but I feel it’s predictable also.Update: after continuing with this book, it does get so much better! I am happy I carried on reading. It’s not as much of a page turner as I had hoped but is still a good book. It now appears it was just a very slow starter.

Read all of James's books years ago but re-reading them again. Sadly all my original books given to local hospital for the use of patients but replacement are still available on Amazon. In my opinion OTHERS in his best work

The Others is one of my favourite books. It is the only book I have read that made me cry. The journey follows a Private Detective and his journey to find a missing baby. His journey takes him on a lot of twists and turns. It’s emotional, mysterious and dark. A gripping read.

Two stars for this feels a little generous, but in some respects "Others" is better than most of the previous books by James Herbert I have read over the years. It comes at things from a slightly different angle, and anyone who can sustain a story for something like 500 pages deserves some praise. But as a piece of writing, "Others" is, as usual for Herbert, abolutely diabolical in terms of writing and fluency.Told through the eyes of a disabled private investigator, "Others" can be viewed - as some have chosen to see it - as a wider piece of fiction on how society treats people who are different from the norm. For me, that's giving the book too much in the way of a message. Make no mistake, this is largely a gory, horrible story, building to a sustained but ultimately dreary conclusion, which goes on for too long and needs serious editing. Much of the action feels padded and written because the length was needed, where a shorter book would have at least kept the pace and reduced the awfulness of the clunky writing style.Brighton and Windsor are the main locations for the book but James Herbert never worries too much about attention to detail, so in reality it could be set anywhere. The horror is, as usual, gratuitious and extremely unpleasant, but the fabric of the story itself is poor, and has a juvenile, predictable feel to it as it clunks along.However, for Kindle readers, the good news is that this is one of the rare examples of an e-book I've so far come across that seems to contain no typos or formatting errors whatsoever, so it can be done. Other publshers take note! I think I downloaded this when the offer price was 20 pence. Still a little steep for the quality on offer here, but still better value than the charity shop - which is where books like this belong.

Many years ago I read the Rats trilogy by this author and thoroughly enjoyed them. I subsequently read two or three other of James Herbert's books which I found boring and turned to other writers. This book was offered by Amazon and I decided to give it a try.I was put off by the opening chapter but decided to press on. After reading the first 15%/20% I was sorely tempted to give up, but finally decided to continue, much as I disliked the all too frequent bracketted asides.I did complete the book but, frankly, I felt it was more of a fairy story than the horror story which I had eagerly anticipated when I purchased the book. For me, the only disturbing part of the story was the author's comment at the close of the book, which I won't enlarge on. You should read it for yourself!!!AnOn

I read this exciting book quickly and really enjoyed it. At a few points in the book it was a bit gross and I wondered if I should continue but I did and in conclusion it is a fab read, brilliant. A well written book and no wonder he was such a famous author. Touches on deep subjects and does it really well.It is quite a grown up read with parts that feature violence and nudity, so I would keep that in mind if you have kids who would like to read it...