Customer Reviews

Domain (Signet)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
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A day like any other in Cold War London, until the unspeakable happens. Sirens, Panic, Fire. The worst appears to be over. But whereas other authors would consider this the climax of a novel James Herbert would consider this only a backdrop for a novel which is arguably his best work in a resume of already great writing. Of course, this book is a Cold War relic, but by no means anachronistic. The threat of nuclear attack is still omniprsent in todays post Cold War society. But to say that this book is about nuclear war is the same as saying that Stephen Kings The Stand is about a plague. It's true but the real suspense occurs with this as a backdrop. This is of course, the concluding portion of the Rats Trilogy (Rats=1, Lair=2, Domain=3) and by far the best of the three. The action centers around three people, Steve Culver (the prototypical Herbert hero), Alex Dealy (the prototypical Herbert bureacratic idiot), and Kate Garner (the prototypical Herbert female lead). Yes his characters are formulaic but you don't go to a Steven Segal movie for the acting, you go to see bad guys getting beat up and stuff getting blown up. Here's how the plot line goes. The heroes first get knocked into hell with the nuclear blasts. They manage to escape the first rat onslaught because Culver gets lucky enough to find the bureacrat Dealy (actually Dealy gets lucky enough that Culver saved his arse from the nuclear blast, which made Dealy temporarily blind, instead of leaving him to die which Dealy surely would have done to Culver had positions been reversed), along with Kate, but it is Dealy who knows where the "secret entrance" to the government fallout shelter is. There is a calm where the heroes are in the government installation and being treated for the disease the rats carry. Culver gets it especially bad and we find out a lot about him from his fevered ramblings. But what happens eventually . . . You guessed it. The war ends and everybody ends up on a fallout free tropical island in Tahiti. NO, the rats come. They always do, and they always come ready to eat and with plenty of company. After that things go from bad to worse. A few of the people from the shelter barely manage to escape only to be thrust into the hell that is postnuke London. They get attacked by wandering thugs, as they wander to the "main shelter" that Dealy told them about. I'll leave you with that. I don't want to spoil the ending. All of you guys know they have to be attacked a couple of times more but the real kicker doesn't actually come until the second to last page! I thought I had Herberts formula down but I was so wrong I owe him an apology. Get this book from any out of print book dealer, Amazon's real good with this kind of thing. Get it if only for the last page alone. Herbert really delivers with this last installment in the Rats Trilogy.

Note-this is a sequel to The Rats-but it's not necessary to have read the first book-- London is hit with 5 nuclear bombs. Two men struggle to reach a secret government facility hidden within the tunnels of the subway system. Once there, relief is quickly supplanted by horror as they discover that they are sharing the tunnels with giant mutant rats--awakened and emboldened by the nuclear attack. Driven out of the tunnels into the horrible wreckage of the city, their battles continue with their hopes that help will arrive fading quickly. This book was written in a time when the Cold War was still being waged and the realistic portrayal of the decimation of the city and the horrors that follow the bombings was chilling, even now in 1998 with our amicable relationships with Russia and China. At the time I am writing this, India and Pakistan are headline news-each testing their own nuclear weapons...

London is a sprawling, busy metropolis until the unthinkable happens: a sudden, unexpected nuclear attack that takes everyone by surprise. The city is panic-stricken as people try to run from the bombs. For most of them it is too late. Steve Culver is one of the fortunate ones. With the help of a V.I.P. he reaches the safety of a secret government shelter, hidden near the Underground.

The fact that London is now a flattened jumble of twisted wreckage with a poisonous atmosphere would be bad enough in itself. But James Herbert has brought back some familiar characters from two earlier books: a mutant breed of killer rats who now have the upper hand.

The premise itself is good. Being trapped underground, beneath a city of rat-gnawed corpses, wandering what hope there is. Eventually the survivors are forced out of their shelter, and attempt to get out of London, while being chased by millions of sqeaking, bloodthirsty vermin.

"Domain" is a disturbing book to begin with. Herbert's description of things like radiation sickness and the way the rats attack helpless survivors are very graphic. But after a while the gore starts to get a little repetitive. There is a good sense of fear as the characters walk through the sewer tunnels. Very dark and claustrophobic.

If you like survival novels, "Domain" is certainly worth a read.

Domain is a truly disturbing Cold War era disaster thriller. WWIII breaks out and, in a spine tingling opening, London is flattened by a nuclear bomb. As survivors as well as the walking dead (i.e. those suffering from the slow death of radiation poisoning) struggle out of the rubble, the giant rats once again arise to feed.

In this final entry in the rats saga, bestselling British horror novelist James Herbert expertly combines the then popular post apocalyptic survival yarn with the standard rats action for a truly awesome read. His vignette narrative style is perfectly suited for the location hopping that the epic scope of the story calls for. One chapter in particular, concerning a survivor in a sealed off bomb shelter with a most unwelcome cat for a companion, has been reprinted as a short story in several horror anthologies. Even if you have not read the previous entries, and, considering that the rats themselves are the only returning characters, you don't need to, any fan of action laced horror will find something to enjoy here. Herbert was at the height of his game with this novel and I give it my highest recommendation.

I reckon this is one of the best horror books ever written. The pace of this novel is amazing - the first character we're introduced to meets with a grisly ending on the second page!! The idea is fantastic: not only does London get destroyed by a nuclear holocaust (the only place to avoid the fallout being the underground) but deadly rats thrive on the radiation and cause havoc to the few remaining survivors!! Wow! (Deep breath) The best scene is where a search party leaves the underground tunnels for the first time to check that the radiation levels are low enough to survive. They meet rabid dogs, walk through destroyed shops and generally see a world in the light of day that is so totally removed from before. This would make a fantastic film!! I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ABSOULTELY ANYBODY..

This is the third book in Herberts Rats trilogy (The Rats being first and Lair second) and this time a new twist is added to the story: a nuclear holocaust.

The first few chapters are very gripping and brilliant as the book starts out wit London being hit and destroyed by 5 nuclear bombs. Few lucky survivors manage to stay alive by getting to shelters of the London Underground before they are distroyed the the bombs and their devistating aftermath.

Once the bombs are over and all has settles, some people return to the streets or come out of hiding, only to succumb to the horrific effects of radiation poisoning as after the bombs highly radioactive nuclear ashes fall and the streets wont be safe for at least four weeks.

Culver is protected by a partically falling building from the damage by the bombs and manages to get into a governemnt shelter - along with a blind government agent who he happened to be with at the time - in the little time they have before they radioactive ashes fall to earth.

However, our survivours are not as lucky as they think as they find themselves being brutally attacked and killed by killer black rats, who have lived underground since the events of Lair, but now that their home has bee invaded they are back with a vengeance. Now nowhere is safe Culver and the other survivours as they cannot go above ground for the radiation and are trapped with the Rats underground.

I really loved this book and didnt want it to end. Even though it's almost 500 pages it is a quick read as it's so addictove you find it very difficult to put down.

Reccomended to fans of the rats books, James Herbert, or horror in general.

Once again James Herbert delivers the goods in this novel about Post World War 3 London. The author introduces the reader to Alex Dealy, the Civil Servant and loner Steve Culver who take refuge in an underground Nuclear Fall Out Shelter.All is well at first in this microcosm of Society which exists in the Shelter but tensions soon arises between individuals as they all have different expectations of what their lives should be post WW3.What is even worse is that is appears that 'Super Rats" have taken over the streets of London which is discovered when a group of survivors leave the safety of the Shelter to explore what is happening at street level. This novel is compulsive reading for anybody who likes their Horror well written and believable.

This is James Herbert's best book ever and one of the best horror novels ever written. WWIII erupts over London and the survivors hide below the destroyed capital and away from the radiation. But below, the huge, mutant rats wate for them. Man's final struggle with these killers is the basis for this awesome novel. The action, suspense, gore and horror is incredible. What a book!

This book was such a great guilty pleasure to read, I didn't want it to end. A nuclear attack on London forces survivors to take refuge under the streets in the subways and fallout shelters, little do they realize...there are large mutant flesh eating rats searching for food!. Scary/gory (B) movie fun ensues. Flawed in parts but great in others, what a powerful beginning!, hooks you in the first few pages and moves along like a freight train to it's shudder inducing climax.