'48 [Paperback]

James Herbert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 1997

The unmissable new action-thriller from one of the biggest names in British fiction -- the No 1 bestselling author of The Ghosts of Sleath, Haunted, The Magic Cottage and The Rats. As millions of readers around the world will testify, James Herbert's ability to shock and enthral is matchless. Now, in '48, he has surpassed his own remarkable achievements to create an electrifying new novel of pure heart-stopping action and invention that will take readers to new levels of terror and excitement. In 1945, Hitler unleashes the Blood Death on Britain as his final act of vengeance. Hoke, an American pilot and one of a tiny minority with a rare blood group unaffected by the deadly disease, has survived alone among the debris and the dead of London for three years. Now, in 1948, a slow-dying group of Fascist Blackshirts believe their only hope is a transfusion of blood from one of Hoke's kind. Ever more desperate as their deaths approach, they're after his blood.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Mad Max meets dystopian London bloodsuckers three years after the Allies lose WW II, in a what-if tale by the author of (among 18 others) the much richer, or at least completely different, Portent (1996). Hitler hits London with his V1 rockets but still finds himself losing the war. So he fires off V2 rockets, which hold a deadly virus that freezes human blood and causes fast death, although some rare victims die more slowly. Only that three percent of the population with AB negative blood survive the virus--so that gangs of slowly dying Blackshirts roam the city looking for AB-negs whose blood they hope to exchange for their own. One of those fighting the Blackshirts as they pursue him is Hoke, an American once with the RAF who now holes up in a vacated luxury hotel, the Savoy. Hoke has been cleaning the streets around the Savoy of dead bodies and hauling them to a stadium where he expects someday to have a mass cremation, his little gift to mankind. Meantime, he races about on his Matchless 350 motorcycle, locked into anger against the Germans because the virus killed his wife and child, while the Blackshirts are Nazi sympathizers sprung from England's worst prewar racists. So when an AB-neg German pilot and two women save Hoke from an attack by Blackshirts at the National Gallery, Hoke leads them to safety through Tube lines filled with dried corpses and houses them in his well-stocked digs at the Savoy. Eventually, the Blackshirts are led to the group by one of the women, an upper-class Nazi sympathizer, and once more the chase is on. All praise to Herbert for his haunting vision of Ghost City, the hotels and subways and buses filled with the long-dead and dried-out. But the plot goes forward like a tiresome movie crunchfest, action scene upon action scene, boom upon boom. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'Break-neck pace! a story for those who like their plots exploding with excitement and fear, set against an apocalyptic backdrop. A perfect adrenalin-packed alternative to Booker Prize pretension.' Daily Express

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Publishers; First Edition edition (June 16, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006476007
• ISBN-13: 978-0006476009
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,927,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Am Legend Revisited, June 24, 2001

By 

Steve-O "Steve-O" (Stuttgart, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 48 (Hardcover)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A stripped-down, fast moving horror/fantasy--vintage Herbert, June 30, 1998

By 

Craig Larson (Maple Grove, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: '48 (Mass Market Paperback)

_'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_).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a page turner, February 28, 2004

By 

... "vilbs" (Montreal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: '48 (Isis) (Audio CD)

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.