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Ash

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He's such a brilliant anti-hero. He's self-centred, smokes and drinks far too much, treats people like dirt, and he delights in his job of snapping embarrassing photos of the rich and famous. He excels at his job. Because he has no shame. He is a despicable human being and totally doesn't care. The problem isn’t the plot, which at first appears to hold a lot of promise. We are introduced – or reintroduced if you’ve read either Haunted or The Ghosts of Sleath – to paranormal investigator David Ash. According to the publisher’s description, Ash is one of Herbert’s “best loved characters”, although the truth is he could be any of Herbert’s tousled-haired, anti-establishment heroes. Ash has a troubled past and the obligatory drinking problem, all of which – apparently – makes him the perfect choice when an emissary of the Illuminati-esque group named The Inner Court turns up at his Psychical Research Institute looking for someone to investigate a haunting, and a grisly murder, at Comraich Castle – an asylum/retreat where the shamed rich and politically-troublesome go to live out the rest of their lives.

The only somewhat odd thing was the sudden switch to sex-scenes about halfway trough the book. For most of the story, any reference of intercourse was pretty tepid. The kind of sleazy stuff you expect from a guy like Creed. But all of a sudden there are like multiple chapters of detailed sex, with different people in various locations. Ah, Creed. It is a book filled with the usual Herbert charm… and yet somehow it falls short therefore preventing it from earning a spot in my top three Herbert books. Its been many, many years since I read a James Herbert book and I'm not sure whether my tastes have changed a lot more than I thought they had or whether this just isn't a good example of a Herbert book. Herbert has created a really 'human' main character in the paparazzo, Creed, who finds himself drawn into a sinister world. It was Herbert's humour, the bits that made me laugh out loud, that made me continue to read. However, there were times that the scenes and dialogue seemed somewhat amateurish for such a renowned author and they reminded me of soap opera scripts. The storyline was interesting enough but it lapsed into farce now and then, and even for a book of this genre, fantasy/horror, it seemed far too over the top.

Ash by James Herbert

More than anything, I loved the way this was written. This is a proper story-telling narrative, with the author explaining things for us and injecting some brilliant humour in the process. It's clever, witty, and I found myself just really enjoying the narrator as a character himself. Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know! Joe Creed is a paparazzo. He lives for that one shot. Sadly, his involves celebrities caught with their pants down. Preferably literally. Speaking of which, the book does a pretty good job of blending the biblical and the supernatural with our own world, creating a story in which it feels as though almost anything could happen. The stakes are pretty high, but perhaps not as high as they are in books like The Rats where the future of humanity itself is at stake, and the plot keeps on plodding along towards the finish line with an unstoppable momentum. a b Schudel, Matt (22 March 2013). "James Herbert, Britain's Stephen King, dies at 69". The Washington Post . Retrieved 24 March 2013.

Honestly, most of the time I had no idea what was happening, where it was going, what it was trying to set up. Zero ideas. It was hectic. There was so much random stuff happening - demons and vampires and bugs and faces at windows and evil toilets and ... SO MUCH. I thoroughly enjoyed how disturbing it all was, but I found it more amusing than terrifying. Did I mention the evil toilet?? David Ash, ghost hunter and parapsychologist, arrives at Comraich Castle – a desolate, ancient place with a dark heart – to investigate a series of disturbing events. An incorporeal power has been ignited by a long-ago curse, fed and now unleashed by the evil of those who once inhabited this supposed sanctuary – and by some who still do. Yet their hour of retribution is at hand . . . You aren't short-changed on horror content in this book either; in some ways I think Ash is reminiscent of some of Herbert's classic titles, such as The Magic Cottage and of course Haunted. The horror is tempered with healthy dollop of dark humour and a sprinkling of gore. There are also many interesting sub-plots, which are interlaced throughout the book to keep the story going at a fair old pace. Yes, several of James Herbert's novels, including the 'Rats' series, have seen serializations and translations in various languages. This has helped the author reach a wider audience beyond the English-speaking world, proving the universal appeal of his horror and fantasy stories. TIH 533: Joe Sullivan on Cemetery Gates Media and Publishing In this podcast, Joe Sullivan talks about Cemetery Gates Media,…All across the USA, people are showing up dead. The deaths don't appear to be connected in any way until one particular death occurs and gets the Secretary of Defense's attention. He arranges for a task force to investigate. This scholarly, joyously beautiful volume will serve as a definitive reference source on fauvism. A sweeping survey of fauvist color-drenched landscape painting, the study follows Henri Matisse, Continue reading »

I'm not going to get into the plot, the description does that. I will say that this book stoked up my Herbert jones and I can't wait to read more of his books. Highly recommended for fans of 80's horror. I think I read somewhere online that James Herbert writing on this last book was related in some way too his forthcoming passing away without knowing his cause or death we can only presume this was why his last book Ash wasn’t up too his normal gold standard of writing. RIP James Herbert you was one great British Horror Author who is sadly missed. Ash is James Herbert’s last and most controversial novel. It will make you wonder what is fact and what is fiction.Etchison, Dennis, ed. (1991a). Masters of Darkness III. New York City: Tor Books. ISBN 978-0-8125-1766-8.

The book seems to get going but then it doesn’t and there are too many lose ends which were slightly frustrating. Herbert's lastet horror novel is a turgid affair. It concerns Jonathan Childes, a schoolteacher with a psychic talent, who can occasionally see through the eyes of a certain lunatic during the Continue reading »James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) [1] was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 languages, including Chinese and Russian. [2] Biography [ edit ] The choice to use real events and people within the story does give the reader a feeling of inclusion with Mr Herbert selecting (of course) the darker stories that have graced our news in the past half century or more years, a tool he has used before in previous works such as Portent. It works well in this book, keeping the reader's interest peaked and has been used as a vehicle to give major nuggets of information and not just a nice sub-text throughout the story. For me Creed was a battle between three and four stars. I felt as though there was not much action, with things moving at a much slower pace than I would have liked, therefore leaving me to give it the three rather than the four stars. I’ve just finished reading Ash and I have to agree with this review. I was left feeling disappointed.

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