Rating: 
Summary: Fast paced sci-fiction Robin Cook with Koontz twist book
Review: I couldn't put this book down. It was good from the beginnig to the end. It had a virus which had attack the human race shortly after WW2 sent by Hitler to destroy the entire world. Only people with AB negative blood survived the rest died either short deaths or where made to roam the world to die a slow agonizing death, since their blood slowly cloted and they started loosing parts of themselves. The characters where A-la Dean Koontz. You felt for them and it had a great ending like. This book is an excellent book for reader of Sci-Fi and WW2 war books since you could feel yourself there if it had happened. Excellent writing!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I felt that this book was by far Herbert's poorest effort yet. In general, I have enjoyed his books in the past, but this one was just plain boring.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I must agree that this wasn't the best book I have ever read, but still it was sensational. I had trouble putting it down and stole moments wherever I could throughout my day to read a few more pages. I felt part of the action from start to finish and could really feel for Hoke once it was revealed his reasons for staying in London when there really seemed no reason to do so.Definitely worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Usual under-average Herbert-stuff
Review: I've nearly read everything by James Herbert, and I have to say he writes a lot of bad books. And a lot of average books. And some rare really good books. This one belongs in the middlefield. The story sounds interesting, but he doesn't make anything of it really. The war scenario is also useless. Even the title sounds sooo interesting, but in the end... well, is has some suspense, but it's pulp suspense with no real content. This is fast-read stuff. Okay, but time can be better spent.
Rating:
Summary: A fun read.
Review: Imagine the scenario... End of WWII Herr Hitler realizes he's in for a pasting so calls in his final weapon of mass destruction - a killer virus, which he drops on London. Unfortunately the wind is in the wrong direction and he gets a load of it back in his face!! Fairly improbable, you may say, but then most horror stories are based on the improbable. It's the job of the writer to get the reader to suspend the usual parameters of disbelief for a while. And nobody does it better than James Herbert. So what we're left with is a small group of people, some of whom are totally immune to the virus and some of whom are only partially immune. The bad guys (the partially immune) would dearly like to get their hands on Hoke, an American pilot who is totally immune thanks to his AB-neg blood, in the hope that they can exchange his blood for theirs. (A sort of primitive vampire-type bood transfusion?). Meantime, Hoke races about on his Matchless 350 motor bike (I used to have one of those!!) followed by his faithful hound. As always, Herbert conjours up amazing descriptions - his haunting vision of a Ghost City with the hotels, subways and buses filled with the long-dead and dried-out. The plot hurtles forward on all cylinders, action scene upon action scene, until you feel ready to burst. And that's why I felt I could only give four stars. I needed a bit of a reprieve somewhere in the middle of the book - time to pause for breath if you like - but I never got it. Harness yourself to your chair, Herbert has written another killer.
Rating:
Summary: Don't be put off by the nay sayers!!
Review: It seems that '48 was a huge let down for the vast majority of people that have given their reviews here. Although it seems that Majority Rules would be speaking volumes in this instance, decrying the book as nothing more than pulp, I want to offer a more balanced opinion. Firstly, James Herbert is a master of horror fiction, he has always had a great ability to write with an immeadiacy that quickly pulls the reader into his world. Notice how, even though many people critisized the book, the resounding agreement was that '48 was an action packed, fast paced read. A curious oxymoron since many great reviews of populist fiction will often include the words "fast paced", "a page turner", "non-stop action". How did these reviewers turn these comments into negatives?!! Approaching '48 as an example from the Horror genre is the first mistake when reading this book. It's clear to me that the tone of '48 is dervived from the "Boy's Own" style of action/adventure stories popular in the era in which the book was set. Kudos then need to be payed to Mr Herbert for deciding to write a period piece in the style of popular fiction from the period it illustrates. On that level it was clearly a resounding success. '48 is without a doubt an exceptionally visceral novel. It doesn't make any claims to be of any social relevance, or offer any intellectual or political dogma. It is just a story created to offer high level, low brow entertainment, something you can pick up and throw yourself into on a rainy afternoon. In cinematic terms, sometimes you feel like watching "Schindlers List".... sometimes you feel like watching "Die Hard with a Vengeance".... In this case '48 is a "Die Hard". I loved it.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT idea, but...
Review: Now, to me, there can be nothing cooler than the premise of this book. A few survivors of a world destroying disease fight off all sorts of dangers, including slow dying "Brownshirts" and the elements of destroyed London. The team mix is dripping with interesting potential in the way of plot twists and turns, however that goes nowhere. In fact, the whole book goes nowhere. The writing is so poor. And the plot is so good, but destroyed. Read the book if you don't believe me. I wish I had come up with the idea myself so I could've done this plot justice. Mr. Herbert had such a great idea and just let it slip away. Tsk, tsk...
Rating:
Summary: I Am Legend Revisited
Review: OK, most of the previous reviews here have been negative. Look folks, this ain't high literature. I believe some of the problem may lie in the expectation of this being a horror novel. It isn't. This is strictly a Alternate Reality/Science Fiction novel. So take it for what it is: light, escapist reading. This is the first (and so-far only) book by Mr. Herbert that I have read, and I found it to be lots of fun. It's the kind of summer beach read that is fun and doesn't require a great deal of grey matter exercising. Although only one other reviewer mentioned this, the only thing I may have against it, was also one of it's more attractive aspects: that of it's obvious similarities to Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. This is without a doubt one of my all time favorite Horror/Science Fiction novels, and reading '48 gave me the unique feeling of reading another take on the same story that you sometimes get in well-tracked genre pieces like this. In fact, I think the best way to review this book is to compare it to two of the film versions of Mr. Matheson's wonderful novel: First there is Charlton Heston's Omega Man released in '71. This was a fast-paced, action-packed Hollywood take on the novel. On the other hand, Vincent Price's The Last Man On Earth from '64 was a much better, darker and closer to the source example. Both are good in and of themselves, yet also different in their take on the story. That doesn't make either one bad, just different. When all is said and done, I must say that it is in fact a fun read, and perfect for summer reading. Pick it up and decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: This book was a complete waste of money.
Review: Paper thin characters and mindless action fill this waste of paper and ink. The only character I cared about at all was the American's adopted mut. The whole premise of the book was flawed - I am sure that even in 1948 everyone knew what would happen if an incompatiable blood transfusion was attempted. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid...
Rating:
Summary: '48 is like a single LP, old and predictable.
Review: There were two to three things really wrong with this book. Otherwise it still had great pacing and clarity of vision. The plot is old and predictable -- I mean I love WWII spy adventures. Hut I thought Robert McCammon's treatment in Wolf's Hour to be really far superior. Herbert, on the other pen, seems to have been too caught up in getting us to choke on smoke and endure other insufferable discomforts. His character is a boderline psychotic and is quite violent, which made me really not want to follow this creep around at all. And lastly, the publisher must have a lousy typesetter because many simple words were mispelled. I don't know how many times I found myself reading the word "fight" when I should have been reading "right" but it was enough to annoy. There were other typos as well -- not a good thing to see in a major author's new work. I admire Herbert's versatility and originality whenever he decides to write a piece of fiction;! ! but this book was really mediocre at best, both in terms of story content and main character. Therefore I give it a generous 2 stars for pacing and clarity.
| 
