Customer Reviews (4)

Some days, just getting out of bed is the first mistake
THE SOLITARY MAN incorporates two parallel plots, either of which could stand on its own, but which combined yield a sum greater than the parts.

The IRA has branched out into drug smuggling - so long as the goods don't come home to Ireland. One of the lads, Ray Harrigan, is arrested in Thailand and thrown into prison to rot. The IRA wants its boyo freed and impresses that fact on Billy Winter, the organizer of the drug deal gone sour. If Billy wants to live, he's got to conjure Ray's escape.

Tim Carver is the DEA's local rep in Bangkok. His boss, the number two man in the agency, Jake Gregory, is under pressure from the U.S. Vice-President to bring down one of the most successful and ruthless drug lords in the Golden Triangle, Zhou Yuanyi. It was Zhou that sent to the States the heroin that killed the Veep's son. Now, Jake orders Tim to locate the elusive Zhou and his jungle headquarters preparatory to a reprisal strike.

The problems facing both Winter and Carver ultimately put Warren Hastings between two rocks and a hard place.

Seven years previous, Chris Hutchinson made a daring escape out of Her Majesty's maximum security prison at Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, in the process of which it looked to the authorities as if Hutch had died. But Chris, with a new identity as Hastings, has built a new life and a successful dog training business in Hong Kong. One day, a fellow prisoner pal from Parkhurst, Winter, shows up seeking a favor; he wants escape artist Hutch to spring Harrigan from the Thai hell hole known as Klong Prem prison - a real place nicknamed the "Bangkok Hilton". (And Hutch, old mate, it's nothing personal, you understand, but, if you don't cooperate, your son back in the UK might come to some hurt.) Then, Carver shows up and offers Hutch a deal he dare not refuse. Some days, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

And then, just as his life couldn't get more complicated, Warren's head kennel maid in his doggie biz, Chau-ling, who secretly loves her boss and whose Dad is one of the richest and most powerful men in Hong Kong, decides to stick her nose in. Now make that Hastings between three rocks and a hard place.

THE SOLITARY MAN is one of Stephen Leather's best offerings because of his skillful intertwining of the various subplots. The author also provides one of the best descriptions of life inside a Thai prison that I've ever read. (Ok, ok, so it's the only one that I've ever come across, but it perhaps makes a Soviet-era Siberian gulag look like a holiday camp in comparison - at least the latter provided a lot of fresh air and outdoor exercise.) Via email, Leather told me that he based his description on the personal experience of an acquaintance.

The high caliber of Stephen's thrillers is largely due to the author's on site research. An old Southeast Asia hand, Leather is currently off to Cambodia. Whatever new novel results, I'm in.

Why no Stephen Leather
Stephen Leather has a great new book called The Stretch ,what a shame you cannot buy it on Amazon.. But you can get it through the U.K. site.All Stephen Leather books are a good read.fast paced with good story lines,and always well researched.

An involving read from a top thriller writer
Sad that Stephen Leather is not as well known in the US as in the UK and elsewhere, for he is a very talented author who draws upon his experience as a journalist and first hand knowledge of the settings of his books.

Here weaving favourite themes such as the IRA, drug-smuggling and South-East Asia he produces yet another compelling tale. The IRA having had a man arrested whilst drug-smuggling and imprisoned in the infamous "Bangkok Hilton" prison track down the hero Hutch, a man expert at breaking out of prison. They blackmail him into getting thrown into the prison to rescue their man by fixing it so that he faces a long sentence himself. His Chinese girlfriend Chau Ling, daughter of a wealthy Triad leader, attempts to get him out of prison herself taking advantage of the fact that in Thailand, money talks very loudly indeed.

A subplot involving a unsanctioned strike on a Thai drugs baron in retaliation for the death via heroin of a politician's son is deftly woven into the mix producing a three-way conflict amongst the dramatis personae. Nobody describes South-East Asia as vividly and real as Leather and few thriller writers are able to sustain his narrative tension. I highly recommend Leather to anyone with even a passing interest in the genre........

it's not Leather at all
Stephen Leather is an exceptionally good writer but this book is not Leather at all.Though it has potential to develop the story to powerfulclimax, Leather gets soft overempasizing unrelated issues like Hutch's(mainhero) girlfriend Chau Ling a daughter of a powerful magnet in Hong Kong.Itgets so unbelievable to the point that Chau Ling can challenge theallmighty DEA in Thailland get away with it and have her way.Mercy MrLeather,you have writen masterpieces like Hungry Ghost,Vets,Double Tap,LongShot,etc.please do not ruin it with incorporating highly improbableevents.Keep up the good work. ... Read more

Book Description
The brilliant new thriller from the acclaimed author of Shadow Dancer.

The village of East Welham has never recovered from the day that two of its inhabitants were brutally murdered on the common nearly fifteen years before: a young woman, Sarah Ford, and her six-year-old daughter, Alice. Julia Havilland is one for whom the case has a compelling resonance. Returning to the village, her military career under investigation, Julia begins to probe the murders and discovers that even from beyond the grave, the past can exert a stranglehold on the present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Good Curl Up Book
Whilst not sit on the edge of your seat stuff this novel will certainly keep you engrossed. The novel provides for great visualisation whilst keeping you guessing to the end. A well thought out who dunnit incorporating psychological drama.

You will find this a great novel for a cosy curl up read. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Tom Bradby's third novel (though his first to be published in the U.S.)is a feverish work of historical noir, a labyrinthine thriller set in a viciousworld where everyone--as in Bogart's Casablanca--has a reason for hiding.The year is 1926; the city is Shanghai, a swamp of organized crime, corruption,turf wars between British intelligence and street-level law enforcement,Communist sympathizers, and East European refugees from Bolshevik atrocities.Into this sweltering, cutthroat port city steps Richard Field, an idealisticpoliceman from Yorkshire looking to distance himself from a painful past.Ill-suited to Shanghai's heat and shocking violence, Field nevertheless throwshimself into investigating the grisly murder of a Russian prostitute, the latestin a line of dead women who lived in the orbit of a powerful Chinese mobster.Slowed by official roadblocks, Field learns that the only man in his departmenthe can trust is a tough Chicago detective, Caprisi, a touchstone of sanity evenas Field loses his rookie head over another doomed Russian call girl.

Bradby, a seasoned correspondent for Britain's ITN television network, hasobviously spent considerable time researching 1920s Shanghai. His feel for thecity's Byzantine society and exotic textures is matched by his accessible visionof Shanghai as a junction of international fallout and internal intrigue. Lesscompelling, if not outright distracting, is Bradby's more contemporary emphasison ghastly serial killings with a sex-crime edge. But in the end, the book'sremarkable prose and density of experience are uniquely rewarding. --TomKeoghBook Description
Shanghai, 1926: a sultry city lousy with opium, warlords, and corruption at the highest levels. Into this steamy morass walks Richard Field, an idealistic Brit haunted by his past and recently appointed to the international police. He’s not there long before called to the flat of a Russian prostitute, former daughter of privilege found sadistically murdered, handcuffed to her bed. When he discovers among her possessions a cryptic shipping log, he senses that this murder is more than a random crime of perverse passion. What unfolds is a searing story that propels Field into a confrontation with the city’s most ruthless and powerful gangster, and a dangerous attraction to another salacious Russian whose sordid connections seem destined to make her the next victim. Scintillating and subtle, The Master of Rain is a marvelous debut.Download Description

Shanghai, 1926. A city glistening with decadence and rife with corruption -- a humid, bustling society at the cultural crossroads of British civil servants, American gun runners, Russian princesses, and Chinese gangsters.

For Richard Field, a young Englishman new to the international police force, Shanghai represents a brave new world away from the past he is trying to escape. But his naïveté is quickly dashed when he is called to the scene of a brutal crime, in which a young Russian woman, Lena Orlov, has been found sadistically murdered in her bed. Field's idealistic instincts push him to investigate the case, but his attempts are met with apathy -- then menace -- from his colleagues. He begins to recognize that some cases in Shanghai are intended to remain unsolved, and, in a matter of days, he glimpses the murky depths that lurk beneath a luminous city.

Field's drive to find the murderer leads him to Lena's neighbor, Natasha Medvedev. A stunning beauty who fled her charmed life in tsarist Russia, Natasha escaped the Revolution but landed, like many of her counterparts, in a treacherous life in Shanghai. Natasha travels in an elite circle -- one that orbits, Field knows, around the city's most feared drug lord, Lu Huang. As his attraction to the beguiling Natasha grows, he is faced with a piercing question: can he trust someone whose only goal is self-preservation? And is it wise to fall in love with a woman who may herself be the next victim?

Trusting only his Chicago-hardened American partner, Caprisi, Field follows leads that run into the heart of a lawlessly corrupt city, slowly uncovering a web of deception that will leave him reeling.

In The Master of Rain, Tom Bradby weaves a taut, atmospheric crime novel that doles out surprising turns until the last suspenseful page.

"In this ambitious, atmospheric crime novel, a city on the brink is re-created with impressive diligence."
   THE NEW YORK TIMES

"Bradby has done for Shanghai what Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles."
   TIME

"A great murder story."
   ESQUIRE

"Should especially please fans of P.D. James and John le Carré."
   NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

"This is an immensely atmospheric, gripping detective story with just the right mixture of exoticism, violence and romance."
   THE TIMES (LONDON)

"This well-conceived and -rendered novel is a brooding tale of lust, murder and corruption.... Just what you want in a thriller."
   THE STAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS)

"Tense and rather lush, expertly working the wonderful setting without overplaying the cultural clash: eerily well-suited to these parlous times."
   KIRKUS REVIEWS

"As we turn the pages and stray deeper into Tom Bradby's decadent, strangely perfumed world, we grow aware that something sinister lies just beyond the reach of our vision, something we cannot see but that we nevertheless know is there. The Master of Rain is an astonishing, haunting, masterful novel."
   LINCOLN CHILD, BESTSELLING COAUTHOR OF THE RELIC

"Beneath the surface of this clever book, a thrilling yarn of murder and mayhem, we find a wise, richly layere ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

A Better Editor Might Have Helped
I allowed myself to be conned by the blurbs on the cover.

The book is marred by numerous anachronisms, errors of fact, improbable events, and even bad grammar.It appears to have been written by a journalist; it has a researched, contrived feel.

Too bad
Don't even think this novel will stretch your mind. You'll easily figure out the entire plot and ending by page 80--max. But even this could be somewhat forgiven if the writing was more accomplished; sadly, it isn't.

Considering the location and history, this novel is simply a missed opportunity. If you must, buy an inexpensive, used copy.

Poorly Written
This book is poorly written, lacking character development and plot. If you are fond of Ken Follett, don't bother reading this.There is no comparison.

A Good Mystery/Adventure to Pass Some Time
In Tom Bradby's "The Master of Rain", detective Richard Field must struggle through the various dangers and pleasures of 1926 Shanghai, all while pursuing a deadly serial killer who specializes in sadistic murders of Russian women.Field, a Briton with family issues that drive him to this far outpost of the Empire, forges a friendship with an American colleague from Chicago, Anthony Caprisi.In the convoluted world of Shanghai's International Settlement, the city is jointly administered primarily by British, French and American governments; meanwhile, the great cultural and demographic pulse of China pushes in from all directions.Field works in the anti-communist portion of the police, while Caprisi is a street policeman specializing in crime.When a dead Russian suspected of prostitution turns up dead, and killed in a ritualistic manner, the two men are brought together; Field also meets a seductive and mysterious Russian woman and the catalyst for the book's main drama and mystery is ignited.

The novel's atmospherics work well, and Bradby exploits the interaction between a city on the brink of revolution and Field's own personal and professional crises well.Somehow he pulls off the romance between Natasha and Field in a way that works, and the internecine conflict within Shanghai's powers-that-be adds a new level of suspicion and tension.The dialogue is terse and blunt, and it comes off with a hard-hitting staccato that drives the chapters forward.These are the novel's best elements.

Throughout the story Field must continually reassess his naivety, and sometime about halfway through the book this begins to irritate.There are a few events that were written in to give some `hints' that pretty much give the story away; and you will find yourself wondering why detective Field doesn't put the pieces together more quickly.The tale takes up a life of its own- almost as if Brady is extending the mystery so that it will last long enough for the novel's other crises to come to fruition.I think Bradby's Film Noir writing style becomes somewhat forced at this point as well, and these constitutes the biggest critiques that I have for the novel, which is otherwise good.

Still, despite the story's flaws, it is an entertaining read- Bradby's writing will merit further attention in the future, especially as his style matures.For another author to recommend to those looking for more mystery/adventure/espionage thrills I will highly recommend Alan Furst's novels, beginning with "Night Soldiers".

Wonderful but flawed
I give this book 4 stars. I thought it really did a good job in bringing to life the smell and feel of pre-Communist Shanghai. And many of the justifications of the communist takeover as well.
The mystery itself I found a little weak. ... Read more

Book Description
Spitfire Ace provides a vivid portrait of the few that flew in the Battle of Britain, 1940. The Battle of Britain, was one of the most famous air battles in the history of warfare and it is a story of ruthless organization, brilliant control and command. Spitfire Ace reintroduces the few that flew in the Battle of Britain and includes interviews with many of the surviving veteran Spitfire pilots. Combined with a historical narrative of the events surrounding the Battle of Britain, you will learn for the first time what it was really like to fly a Spitfire and to experience combat flying at its most visceral. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A gripping story about a plot to assassinate Saddam Hussein
"Shadow Over Babylon" is the first book by David Mason and it's a gripping read very much in the style of Frederick Forsythe or Tom Clancy. The story revolves around a group of British ex-Special Forces men who are hired to assassinate Saddam Hussein and the planning and organisation involved to infiltrate Iraq, shoot Hussein and then escape. They draft in a sniper, Danny MacDonald, who is a deer stalker and we are introduced to Danny at the beginning of the book as he explains about shooting to a deer hunter. This aspect of the book - the technical detail of the sniper's craft - is fascinating and not something I've read elsewhere.

As the book progresses we learn more about the characters and the plans that they are making to carry out this difficult task, although we don't know the full plot at any time - as it unfolds we understand why they organised things as they did. There is a parallel story taking place in the American NRO (National Reconnaisance Office) as they find themselves tracking the team and trying to work out who they are and what they are doing. Big brother was definitely watching them!

The book has some technical detail but perhaps less than a Tom Clancy book - which isn't a bad thing. There is also more characterisation of the men involved in the mission - why they are doing it, how they handle the stress and violence - and even a couple of little romantic storylines for three of the main people involved.

And do they succeed in killing Saddam Hussein? Well, you'll have to read it to find out, but it's a really great read and there's a little twist in the tail which I wasn't expecting and was fun. Enjoy the story and the plot and the characters - this is an excellent debut novel by someone who clearly knows an awful lot about what he's describing and it's great fun to read a book with British special forces, rather than American ones, with the humour and amusing conversation of the Brits.

Shadow Over Babylon is worth the time taken to read it.
Mason was good at making this premise work, even though he was working with the handicap that came with setting this a few years back. We know the history of the Gulf War aftermath, so where's the suspense in reading aboutthis crack team headed to take Mr. Hussein down? It's there all right.Obviously this is the work of a sharp intelligence. If Mr. Mason were towrite another novel, I'd be sure to at least take a look at it.

Great, but not Excellent
Mason's work in Shadow is an excellent beginning to an author that possesses such a deep understanding of military manuvers, lingo, etc.The details are what captured me in this book, particularly the story of theteam's sniper. I felt a little lost towards the middle of the book, but Isuppose most book are that way. Overall, he is NO Clancy, however, his nextbook is still something I would like to take a look at.

GOODJOB!

-Sunil James

Proberly the best book ever written
Shadow over Babylon was given to me by a friend, he said that the book was impossible to put down. I thought that this might be a bit of an exageration, so i decided to read it. I ended up reading the book in 4 dayswhile during my summer holidays. I can honestly say that this is the bestbook that i have ever read. My favourite author may be Wilbur Smith butthis book eclipses anything that he has ever written. David Mason's secondbook Little Brother is also worth reading.

A very satisfying read
An interesting and plausible plot.The author writes with authority, and tells an exciting story.The technical details of a Clancy novel and the twists of a Forsyth spy thriller.I hope Mason writes more. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

plain rubbish.....
i was really disappointed reading this book- the dialogues were corny, giving useless information (and in a rather stupid maner, might i add), un-explained actions which only seemed to serve the plot, and a general feeling that the author has read too many pulp fiction and cloak and dagger books, and REALLY wanted to write one, too. the lines are so over dramatic, that you can actually envision the scene ending with a soap-opera close-up.
absolutely terrible....
avoid at all cost!!

too generic
I had to check to see when this was written, because it is so devoid of current technology, it could easily have been written in the 60s or 70s.The villain, Dr. Goslar, is one of those all-powerful shadowy figures usually seen in pulp fiction (e.g., Fu Manchu).If he is so powerful and such a threat with some new biological weapon, why are there only a few agents attempting to bring him down?And why does Goslar fail again and again to kill them?There is also a plot twist involving sisters which I saw coming at least three hundred pages early.Weak, especailly when stacked up against say, Frederick Forsyth or Andy McNab.

Action-packed British thriller with corny dialogue!
Ah, but we love Colin Forbes for this! His books are so entertaining. This is his latest thriller(at least until RHINOCEROS comes out) and is up to his usual standards! The main characters are once again Britain's best MI6 agents Tweed, Paula Grey and Bob Newman. Along witb ace sniper Marler and also heavies Pete Nield and Harry Butler, they are up against the evil genius Dr Goslar who has perfected a bio-chemical weapon of mass destruction. France, hungry for Euro-domination, wants this weapon, and sends agents of their own after Goslar. America's military is also after it - who will reach Goslar first? Along the way, Paula Grey is kidnapped, a former British Army weapons expert Brigadier Adam Burgoyne helps out - but whose side is he really on? The action of this story takes place in Geneva and also the French town of Annecy. Forbes describes his locations authentically, I have visited Annecy myself when Inter-Railing five years ago and could relate to these parts of the book well. The climax and final twists in the plot are well unexpected too. Add to all this two token ladies also trying to get to Goslar, Serena Cavendish and Judy Warner who Tweed cannot trust and you have a real top potboiler of a novel! In typical Forbes vein, the narrative does contain some unintentionally funny lines. For instance:

(p.1) Tweed, talking to a police inspector: 'I told you Roy. Because of the message that came into SIS headquarters in London. From that evil genius, Dr. Goslar!'

(p.45) Tweed: 'La Defense? That's the amazing business centre in Paris with incredibly tall buildings.'

(p. 341) The main rotor blade struck him just below the jaw, sliced off his head.(poor grammar!) It flew through the air like a melon, a leaking red melon.

Not to mention Goslar's mansion called GARGOYLE TOWERS. But it's all great. clean fun. And of course, they all get to stay in the best hotels and drink litres of champagne and wine in between tracking the baddies. Hugely entertaining. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (7)

LotsaRats In Post WW3 London!!!They're Pretty Scary Too!!!
Once again James Herbert delivers the goods in this novel about Post World War 3 London. The author introduces the reader to Alex Dealy, the Civil Servant and loner Steve Culver who take refuge in an underground Nuclear Fall Out Shelter.All is well at first in this microcosm of Society which exists in the Shelter but tensions soon arises between individuals as they all have different expectations of what their lives should be post WW3.What is even worse is that is appears that 'Super Rats" have taken over the streets of London which is discovered when a group of survivors leave the safetyof the Shelter to explore whatis happening at street level. This novel is compulsive reading for anybody who likes their Horror well written and believable.

Herbert's best book never - a masterpiece!
This is James Herbert's best book ever and one of the best horror novels ever written. WWIII erupts over London and the survivors hide below the destroyed capital and away from the radiation. But below, the huge, mutant rats wate for them. Man's final struggle with these killers is the basis for this awesome novel. The action, suspense, gore and horror is incredible. What a book!

Rats Trilogy goes out with a winner.
Domain is a truly disturbing Cold War era disaster thriller.WWIII breaks out and, in a spine tingling opening, London is flattened by a nuclear bomb.As survivors as well as the walking dead (i.e. those suffering from the slow death of radiation poisoning) struggle out of the rubble, the giant rats once again arise to feed.

In this final entry in the rats saga, bestselling British horror novelist James Herbert expertly combines the then popular post apocalyptic survival yarn with the standard rats action for a truly awesome read.His vignette narrative style is perfectly suited for the location hopping that the epic scope of the story calls for.One chapter in particular, concerning a survivor in a sealed off bomb shelter with a most unwelcome cat for a companion, has been reprinted as a short story in several horror anthologies.Even if you have not read the previous entries, and, considering that the rats themselves are the only returning characters, you don't need to, any fan of action laced horror will find something to enjoy here.Herbert was at the height of his game with this novel and I give it my highest recommendation.

It'll Blow You Away
A day like any other in Cold War London, until the unspeakable happens.Sirens, Panic, Fire.The worst appears to be over.But whereas other authors would consider this the climax of a novel James Herbert would consider this only a backdrop for a novel which is arguably his best work in a resume of already great writing.Of course, this book is a Cold War relic, but by no means anachronistic.The threat of nuclear attack is still omniprsent in todays post Cold War society.But to say that this book is about nuclear war is the same as saying that Stephen Kings The Stand is about a plague.It's true but the real suspense occurs with this as a backdrop.This is of course, the concluding portion of the Rats Trilogy (Rats=1, Lair=2, Domain=3) and by far the best of the three.The action centers around three people, Steve Culver (the prototypical Herbert hero), Alex Dealy (the prototypical Herbert bureacratic idiot), and Kate Garner (the prototypical Herbert female lead).Yes his characters are formulaic but you don't go to a Steven Segal movie for the acting, you go to see bad guys getting beat up and stuff getting blown up.Here's how the plot line goes.The heroes first get knocked into hell with the nuclear blasts.They manage to escape the first rat onslaught because Culver gets lucky enough to find the bureacrat Dealy (actually Dealy gets lucky enough that Culver saved his arse from the nuclear blast, which made Dealy temporarily blind, instead of leaving him to die which Dealy surely would have done to Culver had positions been reversed), along with Kate, but it is Dealy who knows where the "secret entrance" to the government fallout shelter is.There is a calm where the heroes are in the government installation and being treated for the disease the rats carry.Culver gets it especially bad and we find out a lot about him from his fevered ramblings.But what happens eventually . . . You guessed it.The war ends and everybody ends up on a fallout free tropical island in Tahiti.NO, the rats come.They always do, and they always come ready to eat and with plenty of company.After that things go from bad to worse.A few of the people from the shelter barely manage to escape only to be thrust into the hell that is postnuke London.They get attacked by wandering thugs, as they wander to the "main shelter" that Dealy told them about.I'll leave you with that.I don't want to spoil the ending.All of you guys know they have to be attacked a couple of times more but the real kicker doesn't actually come until the second to last page!I thought I had Herberts formula down but I was so wrong I owe him an apology.Get this book from any out of print book dealer, Amazon's real good with this kind of thing.Get it if only for the last page alone.Herbert really delivers with this last installment in the Rats Trilogy.

Breathtaking..
I reckon this is one of the best horror books ever written. The pace of this novel is amazing - the first character we're introduced to meets with a grisly ending on the second page!! The idea is fantastic: not only does London get destroyed by a nuclear holocaust (the only place to avoid the fallout being the underground) but deadly rats thrive on the radiation and cause havoc to the few remaining survivors!! Wow! (Deep breath) The best scene is where a search party leaves the underground tunnels for the first time to check that the radiation levels are low enough to survive. They meet rabid dogs, walk through destroyed shops and generally see a world in the light of day that is so totally removed from before. This would make a fantastic film!! I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ABSOULTELY ANYBODY.. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Rats 2 delivers the gruesome goods.
The only thing connecting this novel to the previous entry, as well as the one that followed it, are the rats themselves.Here they have escaped to a wooded area that surrounds London and are gulping down campers and hikers as well as rural townfolk.Herbert's vignette laced narrative is a deceptive breeze to read, for it makes the blood curdling attacks, of which there are quite a few, all the more effective.Animal attack fans should need no encouraging to hunt this down, but others will find something to enjoy as well.Recommended.

An enjoyable follow up to The Rats
If you liked The Rats, then you will like this one, as it is more of the same, except this time the rats are on the rampage in a forest just outside London. (This is the second part of a trilogy, although the books can be read separately.)No-one does this quite like Herbert: The action is taut, the description is vivid, and the story is gripping. If the characterisation is a little one dimensional and the story a bit predictable, it doesn't ruin the enjoyment of the book. Come to it with average expectations and enjoy. Not his best but a good one nevertheless.

Pleasantly Surprised About This Great Suspense Story
For those of you who don't know the order of the Rats trilogy already, let me go ahead and get that out of the way first.It starts off with Rats, then Lair, and finally concludes with Domain.All are great books but I must admit when I started Lair I wasn't ready to give it the credit it deserved.It was a sort of neglected middle child out of the "Rats" family.The first book, Rats, sets up the plot for the entire trilogy, as would be expected and while the premise by itself (people being mutilated and killed by giant mutant rats) seems like something out of a 50's B Horror movie, Herbert actually manages to pull it off, due probably more to his skill as a writer than anything else.And this was when he was an up and coming writer.Reading his later works one can see how much he has evolved [kind of like his rats :):)].Rats was the starting point and was pretty interesting in and of itself, while Domain was a straight home run out of the park.When I started Lair, with the knowledge of what was to come in Domain, I read it mainly so I could get to Domain, kind of how you drive through Jersey so you can get to New York.But I guess the surprise was on me because I actually really enjoyed reading the book.The rats come back and in full force, except instead of being in the London docks they are in Epping Forest, an outskirt of London.The no nonsense, tough as nails hero with a vendetta in this book is Luke Pender (although if you like Pender you'll really like Captain Mather, a sort of British John Wayne).Pender works for Ratkill, the extermination agency that helped stop the London outbreak four years earlier.People looking for recurring characters might be disappointed (although not surprised since many of the main characters in Rats either got terribly mauled or killed) as the only one we get is Stephen Howard, a grunt in the original Rats novel, but now the big cheese at Ratkill in Lair.The book is action packed with lots of rat attacks, as would be expected, the usual gratuitous sex scenes one always expects from Herbert (just joking Mr. Herbert) and a great finale worthy of the House of Usher.This book can be thought of as an extension of the first book, Rats.One could read Lair in and of itself but it would make more sense if they read Rats first then Lair, as it involves the reader more in the story.Yes, the book has some predictable scenes.One sometimes wants to shout "Don't go in there" but Herbert's prose does make up for any misses.For richness of plot you might want to turn to Harlan Ellison or Ray Bradbury, but if you like smooth prose that floats off the mind like a fine wine as well as a riveting action adventure novel then give Herbert a try.(And don't forget to read the other two books in the trilogy).

Formulaic
James Herbert is Englands Dean Koontz. His books are formulaic, samey and predictable. They consist of a main character who is oddly similar to every other main character he has written, a love interest who's general purposeis to provide a lurid, by-numbers sex scene, and vignettes of peoplegetting killed in elaborate ways. Lair is the extremely tedious tale ofkiller rats, like 'rats' basically but with different killings. Herbertdoes has talent, he wrote a really good book called 'Shrine' (set nearwhere i live!) which was a generally scary book and another book called'The Jonah' whose plot i can't remember but it was quite sexy. So checkthose out and ignore this piece of amateur 'shock' writing.

The best of the 'Rats' Trilogy
Being 13 and still reading comics was too much for my brother, so he threw a copy of 'Lair' at me, with instruction to 'start reading something more grown up'.

Ever since that day I have been a fan of not just this book,but of James Herbert too.

This is a follow up to 'Rats' and a prequel tothe last of the trilogy - 'Domain'.Having read Lair first, then Rats,then Domain (and then all again in the right order), only Lair is the one Icontinually return to. Rat's reads like what it is - his earlier work, andDomain can be a little too heavy going.

Lair is a perfect balance, andjust like sitting down to watch you fave movie for the hundreth time, thisbook just calls out to be read every so often and you never put it downtill you reach the end.

Along with Moon and The Dark, Lair rates as myfavourite horror novel and a masterpiece of the genre.

Incidentally,whereas the pages of Amazon list this as now being out of print, my localBritish stores stock recently reprinted copies of all his work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good book set in World War Two Cornwall
Maizie Blackare is a woman living in Cornwall, running the family hotel while her husband Sam is in the merchant navy. Christian Le Gall is stilling recovery wounds he recieved at Dunkirk. He decideds to travel to the Hotel Paris where he meets Maizie and dispite her being married these two lonely people fall in love.
"Wild Strawberries" by Emma Blair, is different to the location, but the story line is pretty much the same. As before Ms. Blair gives good the reader a good pace to the book that holds the reader interest. The characers and plot are interesting,wanting the reader find out what happens in the end. Overall "Wild Strawberris is a good book that Ms. Blair fans or newcomers will want to read. ... Read more

Book Description
On a secret sea maneuver just before D-Day, American Colonel Hugh Kelso goes down in the English Channel. Wounded and adrift for days, he washes ashore on the German-occupied island of Jersey. The news spreads panic through the Allied high command: Kelso knows the time and place of the invasion. He must be rescued -- or silenced.

A British professor turned Nazi impersonator and a young Jersey girl posing as his mistress set off to find Kelso in the fiercely guarded island fortress. The pair join a deadly game of wits that they must win....or perish in the darkness of the Night of the Fox

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Customer Reviews (16)

Great WW2 adventure
I have read most of Higgins works. This is one of the best books he has written. I cant say that there was a whole lot of action in this novel but it is still good non the less.

I am an avid fan of WW2 fiction and nonfiction and this ranks among the top.

probably his best book!
I give 5 stars but consider it just for Higgins. He is not Le Carre or Forsyth. But he tells his story well. And I think this one is better than Higgins's other books. Exciting. Try also Eagle has landed.

A GREAT SPY Adventure.
This is my all time favorite book by Jack Higgins. His storytelling shines throughout this well crafted sly dark crafted spy adventure.I won't tell you anything here but do READ this well crafted spy adventure today! Its his best since The Eagle Has Landed and The Eagle Has Flown.

The book that keeps on surprising!
This book really made me feel like i was there with the characters, and speaking of the characters they are so discriptive and actually have depth to them. I'm a fan of world war II and this book brings it closer to your doorstep. I love the storyline jack higgans uses to get the reader into the story and the characters. I love the event this book is based on because it was such a pivital point in history. After all jack higgans is my favorite author, I hope he becomes yours also.

Not quite enough
This was the first Jack Higgins book that I've read, and likely not my last.This book was easy to read and the action was consistent throughout.

I do think Higgins could have done more to develop his characters.I don't feel that I really got to know the book's most exciting character, Harry Martineau. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (13)

Whats for dinner?
Brutal, graphic and at times quite unsettling. The characters are entertaining if somewhat non-dimensional. Having read the book before listening to the audiotape,it was intriguing to go back and listen to it for the first time. It was more horrific making you feel you had become an actual participant in the hide and seek game. The rats are of course the real stars and the humans merely hor d oeuvres on the main menu. Overall a genuine feast.

Harris was just a teacher...
and one day one of his students got attacked by a rat.That was all it took to pull him into the mess.The mess was an invasion of giant rats that carried a deadly disease.And I mean invasion - the rats were taking over the city.They had the numbers and they lacked any fear of men.Soon the public knew that a war had started - a war that London might NOT win.
The book really pushed buttons.I happen to like rats or at least I have no fear of them but even I have to shiver at some of the blood splashing scenes.

The Rats
As the result of genetic engineering gone wrong, the rats of London have evolved. They are no longer the small black dirty things that sculk about under floorboards and flee at the first sight of man. They are big, and getting bolder by the day. After their first of human victim, they have decided they want more. It is with a chill that man decides it cannot stop them.

This is one of James Herbert's best books. It is incredibly difficult to put it down, and it keeps its qualities to the last page. The morbid horror of it grips you, as well as the involvement you feel with the main character as he tries to face the rats.

It is not a book for the faint hearted.

I like rats, but not these rats!
Okay, the basic story is killer rats.Rats have never ever scared me. I've had a few for pets.But I do enjoy a good gory book and i'd heard this one was pretty gross.Well, it was.I thought i might not enjoy it given the fact that i like rats, but i was delighted to find how good the book actually was.Its short and bloody.The details are great.You get thrown in with each characters struggle.I loved it and can't wait to read the other two books in the trilogy.

The horror novel that launched an entire genre!
This slim, grim piece of b-movie trash (and believe me, I mean that in the most positive and respectful way) actually launched a sub-genre in the british horror novel industry - the mutant pet and/or pest novel.The next few years would see bookshelves stuffed with grue dripping books about killer cats, dogs, bats, crabs, slugs (yes, I said slugs), spiders, jellyfish, and assorted other nasties.For this alone Herbert's novel deserves some kind of special recognition.

The novel itself was written, by hand I believe, on a lark.In one interview Herbert even admitted to not even bothering to do a rewrite!The story is simple: giant mutant rats gobble down assorted victims as, in between the gruesome attacks, scientists and members of the government scratch their heads and wonder how to do away with the seemingly indestructable beasties.In what would grow to be a trademark storytelling style, Herbert lavishes as much character detail on the victims to be as he does on the actual characters.An essential book for animal on the rampage buffs and rodent lovers everywhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Superb gripping read
This book was just excellent.I could not put it down and got very involved with the characters.A compassionate, enthralling novel which is based on a true story.This made it even more enthralling.It is based during WW2 but whether you love or hate war books you will love this book. ... Read more

Book Description
Adventure/SuspenseLarge Print EditionAlistair MacLeans gritty heroes from Navarone are not dead, and definitely not forgotten. Mallory, Miller and Andrea, the surviving commandos of Force 10 from Navarone, are sent on operation Storm Forcea perilous mission through the Pyrenees to disable the greatest threat to the success of the D-Day landings, the Werwolf U-boats. They have less than six days to locate the subs and destroy them, operating outside of normal channels, without any backup . . . a true mission impossible, and a worthy modern successor to the original novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Continuing the Navarone adventure
I have read this book several times, after noticing it in a book shop, the title Navarone caught my eye, as I realised Alistair McLean is actually dead. Sam LLewelyn has carried on the adventures of Captain Keith Mallory, Dusty Miller, and Andrea Stavros of the SOE, through another European theatre of war, the pyrenees of France and Spain, it naturally led on from Force 10, set in Yugoslavia, into another mission, this time to track down two 'Wulfe'(Wolf) class German submarines, damaged by allied bombs and subsequently taking refuge in supposedly neutral Spain and the SOE team's job to destroy them.The adventure that ensued is probably the closest anyone could get to Mclean's style of writing, the characters were brought back to life and the plot as intelligently thought out as McLean's.I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am currently trying to find a new copy as mine was stolen.I believe that any McLean fan would enjoy this story as much as the originals.

Do not try to imitate something so great as MacLean!!
Imagine the thrill you must feel, picking up a new book by your favorite authou now long gone. You open the book, but after the first chapter, you are utterly disappointed.Sam Llewelyn has abused the good name and memory of Alistair Maclean to his own profits by trying to imitate one of the worlds greatest writers in crime and suspence.There are no points in the book, they are never shocking like the finalé in "Where Eagles Dare", and there is no suspence, since all they do are run from Germans.And to make the Germans shoot people just to get some sort of effect is also abusing the way MacLean wrote his novels. Stay away from this book, but if you want to read the horror to yourself, pleace, borrow it on the library, so you don't have to spend money on that attrap. ... Read more

Book Description
Robert has come back from a horrible ordeal in a strange parallel world. Now he can't stop thinking about the people he left behind to face a winter that most won't survive. When Robert sees a chance to save his friend Lorn, he is desperate to succeed. But is he prepared for the realities of her world? Meanwhile, Lorn struggles to lead the little band of survivors, even as she feels herself drawn to a secret tunnel where an unknown menace lurks.

Seamlessly blending fantasy with a hard-hitting survival tale, Gillian Cross has created a completely original psychological thriller. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Missing Links and Dark Truths
Gillian Cross is back with the second book in her Dark Ground Trilogy!Quick note to readers who have not read the first book: The Dark Ground.This review will contain spoilers for the first story, so you may want to read it before you continue on in this review.Fans of Gillian Cross have been waiting quite a time for this next book in the trilogy.Fortunately, the Black Room is now out and this strange saga can continue!

The story reopens not long after we left characters in The Dark Ground.Robert and his sister continue to try and help those tiny folk he left behind, providing them with materials to last out the winter.But the Robert who has returned to his old life is not the same boy he was before--and his best friend Tom is beside himself trying to figure out what's happened to change him so drastically.Tom is not about to lose his friend quietly, but when he discovers what Robert and his sister are doing he's reluctantly forced to accept that something impossible and incredible is going on.Robert desperately wants to help his small friends rediscover their own lives and when he discoversa chance to help his friend Lorn, he'll do anything he can to save her.With Tom's help, Robert is determined to find Lorn and rescue her before the coming winter, but can he deal with the dark truths that he will discover?

This is one of those books where it is nearly impossible to explain the story properly without giving huge amounts of it away.Ms. Cross' work continues to be profoundly different from the usual fantasy story.There is nothing cute or twee or sparkly in this tale, despite using the convention of miniature people and the strange magic that has caused them to be "shrunk".In fact, it's easy to forget this is a fantasy, despite the strangeness that goes on.The author's writing style takes what is strange so matter-of-factly that it becomes just one more piece in a gripping and bizarre story.The style is refreshing after reading so many stories where characters spend endless time reflecting and considering and analyzing things.Characters relate through confrontation and action, all of which seems real without falling into stereotype and painful cliché.Some readers might find the style a bit brusque, but it worked for me.The plot may be less satisfying for some readers in that it doesn't clear up the pervading mystery nor does it exactly hint what's going to happen to our characters by the end of the trilogy.If the author intends to illuminate the why's of what's happened, there's going to be a lot of ground for book 3 to cover!Still, the ending is unexpected and satisfying in its own unique way.

Given the disturbing nature of some of the things our hero discovers about Lorn, this book is not light reading and may be inappropriate for younger readers.This is likely best for those readers who are young adults, although if a mature younger reader liked the first book, they'll probably enjoy this one.I'm hoping it won't be another long wait for the third book in the trilogy, because I'm eagerly looking forward to finding out what will happen next!Those who enjoyed this might want to try The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix.For those who are looking for lighter books on little people, try Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy!

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad
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