This one has it all: from a mysterious maniac who was hanged before World War II, the original Nosferatu, shapeshifting succubi, a killer toilet, costume parties in loony bins, a grinning cat, the legacy of Aleister Crowley, guest appearances by Jack Nicholson and Princess Fergie, plus so much more! The pattern was to be repeated time and again: he scared the living daylights out of readers with books such as The Dark, The Magic Cottage, Haunted and Creed. Not necessarily one of his best (that would be “Magic Cottage”), but well worth the read and a reminder for me of why I got hooked on his books in the first place.

James Herbert obituary | James Herbert | The Guardian James Herbert obituary | James Herbert | The Guardian

I also liked the island setting where this game of cat and mouse unfolds in fact this book worked better as a psychological thriller for me and I think it could have done with loosing a lot of the supernatural psychic mumbo jumbo.

The book was a good read from start to finish and I definitely recommend it to fans of strange, vintage horror! After the funeral ceremony of a major Hollywood actress, he photographs a man of ravaged appearence desecrating the grave. Investigating the mysterious events that led to an otherwise unassuming family falling foul of the effect of LSD. Although a good officer, he doesn't work well in a team and colleagues see him as a Jonah as officers with him on jobs often suffer mishaps yet Kelso always comes through unscathed. He is good at his job and has a knack of snapping the unsnappable, a skill which is helped by the fact that he is almost totally without morals.

James Herbert dies aged 69 | James Herbert | The Guardian James Herbert dies aged 69 | James Herbert | The Guardian

On paper, this book is everything I should have enjoyed, but it took me a lot longer to read than I anticipated, because I never really had the urge to pick it up again. He has some psychic powers, despite the fact that he doesn’t really believe in them, and he finds himself witnessing all sorts of horrible things, including some brutal killings. 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. I think, because Creed never entirely believed any of this horrific stuff was happening, it took the threat out of it.Much more of a thriller with a splash of chiller whilst I loved the relationship between the protagonists the supernatural element felt under utilised and thus the reveal failed to give me the same feeling of revealtion as other books by James Herbert like The Survivor. The Jonah is in large part the story of a police investigation, albeit by a policeman whose life is overshadowed by a supernatural presence. The odd occasions when the third person narrator breaks through the 4th wall did not overly bother me (even if it interrupted the flow of the story to some extent). There are few things I would like to do less than lie under a cloudy night sky while someone read aloud the more vivid passages of Moon," Andrew Postman wrote in The New York Times Book Review. He's a quiet type, a recluse and I can see how the idea of having a character like this would be good but the execution here is not great.

Sepulchre by James Herbert | Goodreads Sepulchre by James Herbert | Goodreads

It was good, but I expect so much more from a James Herbert novel that I really missed the big scare!

And, especially this, be careful when you take pictures; things can look quite different when you stare at it through the lens of a camera. travellers bring back reports of a strange light seen shining above the endless dunes of the Taklimakan Desert.

Creed by James Herbert | Waterstones

The overly detailed and gratuitous sex scenes just had me rolling my eyes and rushing through the words as fast as I possibly could. The book's brief, historical prefaces led to problems, when Herbert and NEL were sued for plagiarism.

Creed carries this trait into his private life as well and he is; it has to be said, a bit of a sleaze. His ex-wife and daughter live in England, but he’s found a new relationship with a fellow teacher, Amy Sebire.