Customer Reviews

'48

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

_'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_).

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.

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.

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.

'48 is as about as action packed as you can get. It starts off running and never really stops, the book is almost exhausting to read.

The plot is pure b-movie pulp. Hitler uses an unstable chemical weapon that, ala The Andromeda Strain, turns blood to dusty clots in the veins of victims. Too bad it spreads and kills everyone in the world, except for a lucky few. The luckiest of the dead died quick, in a matter of minutes. But some live on, clots slowly forming throughout their bloodstream and causing gangrene and other nasty and terribly slow ways to die. It is from these last few, and quite insane, hangers on that our mixed bag of immune heroes must alternate between fleeing and fighting.

Most of the novel uses plot points taken from either the cult classic Mad Max or the cheese classic The Omega Man. It's a quick enough read that is easy to forget. Mr. Herbert may have written far better books, but this one is as about as exciting as a plate of literary whipped cream can get. Recommended to those looking for light, fast paced, and exciting reading.

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.

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

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!

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....