Customer Reviews

Others

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The public revered him for his good looks and good deeds. However that public icon hid his ugly soul very well on Earth. Now he is just another lost sinner residing in hell until angels visit him with an offer of redemption. Failure to accept or succeed will condemn in hell for eternity. The former movie star jumps at the opportunity.

With no memory of his previous life, he returns to earth in a different body. Nicholas Dismas is a private investigator with a thriving practice in England. Still, he is an unhappy soul. In his own eyes and that of the world, Nicholas is monster and his misshapen body leaves people staring in stunned horror.

A client hires him to locate her missing son that she thought died during childbirth. Nicholas goes through the motions of an investigation, but does not believe there is any chance of success. The client introduces Nicholas to a clairvoyant who becomes his ally by warning him of imminent danger. He finds danger in Perfect Rest, a nursing home that allows its elderly patients to hide a horror that is capable of allowing to surface the dark nature in Nicholas, soul.

James Herbert is one of the recognized masters of the horror genre. Though OTHERS centers on efforts to regain Paradise Lost in the face of extreme adversary, the horror of this tale lies in the brutality humans inflict on less fortunate beings. It is the beauty of the physical form that matters. A handsome person freely walks the earth with admiring glances even if their inside rivals that of Lucifer. On the other hand, those with hearts like Mother Teresa but in deformed bodies will probably be treated as freaks. Could Mr. Herbert be Stoker bound?

'Others' is James Herbert's latest book. It follows '48' which was a superb story - easily his best. I was interested to see whether 'Others' would deliver the goods and for the most part I would have to say that it does. The story is intriguing, well-plotted and has a main character, Nic Dismas, who is unlike anything James Herbert has ever created before. Indeed, this was one of the joys of the book, to meet a main character who was far from perfect, who was terribly afflicted and who you really cared for. He drove the story forward and brought a freshness to it. It was nice to see a main character who was flawed. If I have any reservations, they concern the length of the story and its ending. At over five hundred pages, the book is too long and the story seems to drag at the very end. The action sequences seem repetitive. More interesting twists could have been made in the plot, but nonetheless it was a strong story, horrific at times, and well told.

Others is the book that lovers of horror fiction dream about, and James Herbert is the author that all Horror writers should strive to be. Without a doubt I have never read a horror novel of this calibur, nor have I read an author with this amount of talent.

Herbert himself has a tendancy to take us through some amazing twists and turns in his stories, tugging at our emotions and at our fear, digging up within the reader the thing that terrifies him or her most so that he brings us to the point where we are as terrified as we can become.

Others takes this terror one step further, with a story that is based on fact in a way that leaves the reader trembling with exhaustion and terror. Herbert takes us on a trip into some of the most depraved minds imaginable, and leads us through twists and turns that truly brings the reader right into the amazing plot of the outstanding novel.

Thrill seeking readers will enjoy this book for the pumping adrenhalin it provides. Lovers of horror fiction will be on the edges of their seats. And if this is the first James Herbert book you buy... Read it in the dark, and see how you sleep.

When I finished this book I was as they say, totally creeped. I was expecting something along the lines of Haunted or Ghosts of Sleath (both 5-star books, by the way) but Others was very different. I was more caught up in the morality of it all than with the clairvoyance or more "spooky" aspects. At the end of the book where the author says this book was somewhat based on true events he'd heard about from someone else, I did a double take thinking that his statement couldn't possibly be true. Or could it? That part scared me the most, to be honest. I would recommend this book to anyone but I wouldn't let my 13 year old read it because of the incredibly disturbing images. It is one of those books that, aside from the fictional aspects, really leads a person to think.

This book had me from cover to cover. I was totally captivated by all of his characters. Unlike most authors that take hundreds of pages to create a character, James Herbert get right into the subject with each character in the book. The reading is quick and enjoyable. I have now given this book to several of my friends and they say the same. WOW what a book. I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a little scare.

Another reader compared this to the work of Ed Gorman, and that is not a bad description. Part crime thriller, part horror, part morality tale, loads of spooky moments. Others is the most fun I have had this year, perhaps next to Shannon's outrageous "Night of the Beast" and it is a darned good yarn. Herbert is always a reliable novelist and if you liked to get spooked out, this one is worth your time, especially in paperback.

this book was scary. the possibilities of what happens to deformed children who are not wanted or are left to die are examined in fiction by james herbert. scary, in your face and compelling, no thought is left undone. a man (who has intelligence) but is deformed in a physical sense has been reborn as such to redeem himself from a life before that was amoral and filled with depravity. so our hero is put on this earth to redeem himself and make do with the scorn of "normal" people. it is not easy to read this book and think of all the times we have judged the disabled as less than us. to take for granted in a physical sense what we have. in a very descriptive way by herbert, he articulates how the abuse is internalized. this is not a happy book. there are few brief moments of joy and love. our hero finds a rest home that is the secret jail of others like him, who are worse off than him. Of course he was put on earth for a purpose, for himself (the redemption) and for others (to save). i do not agree that he writes (as the flap bragged) that he is like stephen king - who has a tendency to be more subtle and there with kings books there is always a conclusive ending. herbert wrote in his brief and last chapter that this was taken from actual and true events and that he hoped the reader was disturbed. this is a thinking person's book - despite the fiction and horror of it all, you cannot finish reading it without giving a nod to the reality of what if and hope that there are people who are in position with presence of mind to use their powers appropriately.

"My redemption started in hell . . ." Thus begins a most intriguing book that outlines (according to the author) details of an event that actually happened in London.

Nicolas Dismas - "Dis" - is actually a reincarnated soul released from hell in order to redeem himself. In his past life a handsome and well-known movie star, he is currently horribly deformed and was raised by nuns after being abandoned in an alley shortly after his birth. He has achieved an uneasy peace with himself and runs an investigative agency. When a lawyer friend of his refers a recently-widowed woman who insists that she "knows" that her son - born 18 years ago and whom she was told was dead - is still alive and she wants Dis to find him, he begins an investigation and starts to have many most curious experiences. His investigations lead him to Peaceful Rest, a nursing home for elders - but is that all it is? What he eventually discovers there will shock you.

Not really a part of the horror genre, I would have difficulty classifying this book. I suppose it would be considered psychological suspense wrapped up with the paranormal. I haven't covered even half of what goes on in the book, as I do not want to ruin it for those who have not read it - however, I would highly recommend it to everyone.

Quite an enjoyable read. I have to say that I couldn't wait to finish the book to see what other reviewer's had said. I waited though, as I did not want the ending to be revealed before I had finished it. Surprisingly, I found the reviews to be quite mixed. Not necessarily someone who would classify themselves as a "reader", I eagerly looked forward to reading the next chapter or page (a few mornings making myself a few minutes late for work!). The driving force behind my interest was the strong development of main character, Nick Dismas. Dismas seems so real and endearing, you wish you could have a drink with him at his favorite pub. I do have to agree with quite a few reviewers here and elsewhere though that the book is not scary in the least. At times, it can be rather intense or sad, but never frightening like I had hoped. With that said, I enjoyed the book very much and look forward to reading other books by Herbert. Some of his earlier novels have received much more praise than "Others", but since I enjoyed this book so much, I imagine I will be more than pleasantly surprised by other Herbert works.

"Others" is quite possibly the strangest book I've read in a long time. It's quite voluminous and at time tedious and boring; in fact, I had to force myself to continue after the first 100 or so pages. But I stuck with it. And although it's not a classic, Herbert does manage to create the most unusual protagonist in some time. Nick Dismas, a PI, reincarnated from a major Hollywood star, is not your typical private investigator. He is hideously deformed, and Herbert doesn't let you forget it as he continues to reiterate this awkward self-pity in the first half of the book over and over again. He also spends much too much time on explaining how Dismas' investigative service works, and he does it too much as well.
However, if you stick with it, the last section picks up and features some rather gruesome spectres and some suspenseful moments. The characters of Constance Bell and Louise are also very well-developed. There are many things that happen in the book that are quite far-fetched and incredulous, but nonetheless spooky. The denouement in the Restless Peace nursing home is full of scares and thrills. However, the last scene is somewhat "dismal" and ends on a rather down note.
Herbert obviously is preaching about our society's attitude toward those who are not physically perfect, and it's ironic in some ways that the handsome Hollywood star is sent back from Hell in such a despicable guise. Herbert also preaches on the use of drugs, the existence of God, and the loneliness of homsexuality.
A rather difficult read, but for its originality it gets the three stars. RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS. DON'T EXPECT A CLASSIC.