The Dark

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A tad boring' is not a good thing to say about a horror book. It wasn't bad, but the writing was so eighties' thriller that it was slightly annoying. The characters were about as empty as empty can be. The plot itself, however, was not too bad. I mean, nothing really surprising, but still kept me reading one more chapter way more often than I'd care to admit. So it wasn't all bad. Just... you know, mostly bad. It wouldn’t be a James Herbert story without a woman who is hard on the outside but vulnerable on the inside. His lead female characters always seem to just be waiting for the hero to come along & ‘fix’ them, it’s cringe-worthy. He was one of our greatest popular novelists, whose books are sold in thirty-three other languages, including Russian and Chinese. Widely imitated and hugely influential, his 19 novels have sold more than 42 million copies worldwide.

The Dark by James Herbert - Audiobook | Scribd The Dark by James Herbert - Audiobook | Scribd

On a positive note, the characters were interesting and likeable. The dynamics between them were also cleverly developed throughout. Sadly, though, I just did not enjoy the chapters which pulled the reader away from the main protagonists and into the perspectives of some random people who I didn't care for. Unfortunately, this became a major part of the novel towards the end. Likewise, I did not care for the ending - admittedly, I haven't fully wrapped my head around what occurred at the end but I do not have the motivation to do so. Having said that, I do admire the way in which Herbert melded the elements of the paranormal and science together at the end.

I can see why Stephan King loves Herbert! Stunning displays of violence perpetuated by 'normal' people and London is ripped asunder. The Dark is one of my favorite Herbert novels, and I think he set a record for introducing characters before they succumb to some sort of nasty foo. First published in 1980, The Dark rides the paranormal wave that was so popular in that era. There isn’t a memorable character in this book, the only highlights being the more chaotic moments. These small snippets that show off the damage the dark does are fun to read but hardly scary. They bear much similarity to The Fog (an earlier Herbert book) but with less imagination. The Fog felt very raw in its depiction of horror, possibly due to it being Herbert's second novel, despite the writing being kinda mediocre. By the time Herbert wrote The Dark he had become a slightly better writer, however, the rawness was gone, and the book definitely suffered for this. The Dark felt disjointed at times, overblown, and, the cardinal sin, boring. Yes! there are big (really big at times) scenes involving pretty decent horror, but the book is constantly bouncing around the point-of-view from the main characters, and minor characters who are just there for the body count.

Moon by James Herbert | Goodreads Moon by James Herbert | Goodreads

From the title and the cover art I had assumed that it was going to be a werewolf tale. But, I was wrong. There are no werewolves in the novel whatsoever. There is a mysterious killer however. Anyway, I am not going to delve in the story in detail. In brief the major events of the novel take place in the island of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel near the French coast. The island really exists. The Dark, a fictional character in the role-playing game Villains and Vigilantes; basis for the comics series (see above)

We watch as he comes to terms with that, working alongside the police to try to get to the bottom of things. Now, I’ve always found that crime and mysticism don’t go together too well, which is one of the reasons why I found Stephen King’s Bill Hodges books so underwhelming after a solid start. Here, though, Herbert gets the balance just right, and I don’t have any complaints about the story. He released his final book ‘ Ash‘ in 2012 which is a sequel of ‘Haunted’ and ‘the Ghosts of Sleath’. It seems he took quite a lot of time over this book as it is decidedly more indepth than any other book he has written.

The Dark by James Herbert | Goodreads The Dark by James Herbert | Goodreads

It's not as bad as I'm writing it to be, as I said. It's okay... Well, kinda. I'd be lying if I said that the ending isnt a mess. In fact the entire final third of this book just really lost me. I don't know if the publisher had a word count in mind or not but the ending chapters feel like an eternity. The pacing entirely goes off a cliff. For those who have read the book, I'm mainly talking about "The Fire". From "The Fire" until the end felt incredibly dull and drawn out. I just wanted it to end. Sadly, it did then end and I was left relieved that I could put the book down but also pretty disappointed at how the ideas here were left squandered.Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Luna (publicación original: Moon, 1985) nos presenta a Jon Childes, ingeniero y profesor de informática en una pequeña escuela de una isla del Canal de la Mancha. Jon está divorciado, tiene una hija que vive con su exesposa y desde joven tuvo visiones sobre su madre muerta, pero terminaron por desaparecer. Ya casado, tuvo visiones sobre crímenes y terminó ayudando a la policía, lo que le costó el matrimonio por cómo se vio afectado, aunque fueron incapaces de capturar al asesino con vida. Tres años después, Jon empieza a tener nuevas visiones sobre crímenes. An excellent horror story with supernatural overtones. Bishop is a psychic investigator who goes to Beechwood a house in the London suburbs where 37 people killed themselves. He has a vision of what happened and we enter a rabbit hole where a scientist has created an evil through the dark. Events of murder, suicide and violence slowly begin where people are infected or influenced to do evil acts by the dark. They also become zombies once their infected. The police and army are helpless as the craziness spreads throughout London. Jonathon Childes a pyschic is the main character and very believable. He sees the crimes being committed through the eyes of the person committing the murder and he is aware that this is two way thing putting people he loves in danger.