'48

Rating:
Summary: Is this really a Herbert book?
Review: This is a departure from the normal James Herbet writing. I was a bit disappointed. I wish he would get back into the true horror/suspense writing he normal does. This book gives you a twist on history. A different point of view of what could happen.

Rating:
Summary: A good book first time book
Review: This is the first time that I have read anything by Mr. Herbert, and I loved it. I am also new to this genre, and this was a great book to start out with. It was fast paced and exciting.

Rating:
Summary: What a page turner
Review: This sci-fi/horror/thriller page turner from James Herbert takes place, obviously enough, in 1948, after the allies have lost the second world war in ravaged London. Due to one of Hitler's biological devices, the vast majority of the citizenry have been killed, while only those with the extremely rare AB- blood type have been spared, and a slightly larger minority have been condemned to a slow, lingering death.

The main character, Hoke, is one of the fortunate few that has been spared the disease, and he spends a good deal of his time fleeing those who are dying the slow death (they are attempting to capture him to steal his blood and in theory his immunity to the disease through a transfusion). Along the way he meets a few other survivors, and, of course, races towards a final showdown with his pursuers.

By no means a deep, meaningful, or socially conscious novel, '48 simply offers vivid scenery and top notch entertainment, and I was completely incapable of putting it down. (I stayed up till 4AM to finish it) It's non-stop action from cover to cover, and its the perfect answer for an otherwise quiet evening. Don't listen to all the negative reviews, because in terms of sheer entertainment value this book is quality. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: What a page turner
Review: This sci-fi/horror/thriller page turner from James Herbert takes place, obviously enough, in 1948, after the allies have lost the second world war in ravaged London. Due to one of Hitler's biological devices, the vast majority of the citizenry have been killed, while only those with the extremely rare AB- blood type have been spared, and a slightly larger minority have been condemned to a slow, lingering death.

The main character, Hoke, is one of the fortunate few that has been spared the disease, and he spends a good deal of his time fleeing those who are dying the slow death (they are attempting to capture him to steal his blood and in theory his immunity to the disease through a transfusion). Along the way he meets a few other survivors, and, of course, races towards a final showdown with his pursuers.

By no means a deep, meaningful, or socially conscious novel, '48 simply offers vivid scenery and top notch entertainment, and I was completely incapable of putting it down. (I stayed up till 4AM to finish it) It's non-stop action from cover to cover, and its the perfect answer for an otherwise quiet evening. Don't listen to all the negative reviews, because in terms of sheer entertainment value this book is quality. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: A New Herbert
Review: Unfortunately I was disappointed with this offering from the man who gave us classics such as "The Rats" and "The Survivor". The idea for the plot is not the most original ever concieved but still reasonably chilling. The descriptions of London were vivid and enjoyable but page after page of Sten clutching action became a little much. I would have also liked to discover a little more about the characters other than Hoke. At times they felt a little like five names running around London. Herbert terrified me with "The Dark" but this was not even close to being in the same class.

Rating:
Summary: The Future we ALL dread becomes reality...
Review: What a journey! Just after you've opened the front cover of this book, you are transported into a world of true hell where Hitler has had his final victory. This book is nothing short of excellent. You just can't put it down. The half Zombie soldiers give the books hero a hard time from start to finish. The leader of these evil and vile villans is hell bent on sucking the blood out of every living person in London and that's the feeling you get when you read this book. The book twists through the underground of London and out onto the deserted streets where twisted evil lives. You never know what's going to happen on the next page and this with the high paced action keeps you glued to the pages until the very end.. Essential reading to anyone who enjoys a gripping and fast paced book....

Rating:
Summary: Pulp action spectacular
Review: When '48 came out, James Herbert had been a published writer for over twenty years. Plenty of time for him to leave behind the shlock straight-for-the-jugular horror of his early novels, and prove himself to be the master of many genres. However, in this novel he returns to his old stamping grounds, and outdoes the pulp writers at their own game. '48 isn't horror, though, it's nothing less than a non-stop action thriller. The first third of the novel alone is one long intense action scene, by the end you're 120 pages in and have barely had time to breathe. And he keeps topping himself, with brilliant setpiece after brilliant setpiece. Reading this book is like watching a top action film.

There is subtlety, too. If this book was nothing but surfaces, it'd still be excellent, but Herbert has given his characters motivation and depth. Hoke, the first-person narrator, has an intense, pathological hatred of Germans, and the others have similar defining traits (I can't say much more, as that would give away a great deal of the plot). At the heart of the novel is a subplot about class conflict in Britain which rings true. But Herbert doesn't get too involved with these nuances, as they would just bog the plot down and kill the story. Better a 300-page page-turner than those depressingly numerous 700-page doorstopper horror novels.

I haven't said anything about the plot; you can read the reviews below for that. Suffice to say, this is excellent.

Rating:
Summary: So fast-paced that it is ... extremely boring
Review: You open the book and start to read. It starts right away with an action-scene. Fast start. You read on. You begin to wonder, when do we learn a little bit more about the characters? The action-scene goes on. You begin to feel annoyed. The action-scene still goes on. You get the feeling that this book will not live up to its wonderful premise but will just use it as backdrop for.. an action-scene. The action-scene goes on. You don't care any more. The action-scene goes on. You close the book. The action-scene will go on. Don't get me wrong: The approach to first introduce the characters and THEN start the action is old-fashioned and not a MUST. You can also learn something about the characters in the way they behave during, well, action-scenes (good example: The movie "Speed"). This book gives you no one to root for and many, many not very exciting action set-pieces. Mr. Herbert, even if you're getting older, I assure you that your audience will still follow you and does not think that you're getting slow and boring even if you're not throwing one action-scene after the other on us. Review by Oliver Naujoks, Marburg/Germany

Rating:
Summary: A stripped-down, fast moving horror/fantasy--vintage Herbert
Review: _'48_ is the sort of book James Herbet writes better than anyone. It's not a classic by any means, but this is a lean, mean novel, which reminded me again why I was attracted to Herbert's novels in the first place. More than half of the book consists of extended chase scenes, with economical descriptions and well-defined characters. Plenty of twists and turns in a plot reminiscent of the film _The Omega Man_ (adapted from Richard Matheson's _I Am Legend_). Definitely recommended for fans of James Herbert's earlier novels (like _The Rats_ and _The Fog_).