When Steadman agreed to investigate the disappearance of a young Mossad agent, he had no idea he would be drawn into a malevolent conspiracy of neo-Nazi cultists bent on unleashing an age-old unholy power on an unsuspecting world.
The Spear
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
James Herbert is not just Britain's No 1 bestselling writer of chiller fiction, a position he has held ever since publication of his first novel, but is one of our greatest popular novelists, whose books are widely imitated and hugely influential. worldwide.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Predicable thriller/horror but not bad for a Sunday afternoon,
By
This review is from: The Spear (Paperback)
There are many stories surrounding the Heilige Lance or the Spear that pierced the side of Christ at the time of the crucifixion.
In "The Spear" right from the outset, I mean the title does kind of give it away, as does a small quote from Wagner's Parsifal (Which also deals with this subject), you guess that at some stage there will be a battle between Good the private detective Harry Steadman and Evil who is represented by some rather sadistic Nazis with the Spear/Lance having a part to pay. As with other books that I have reviewed, great premise for a good thrilling read, the only problem that I had was it took too long to get the reader into the race of the story, and then the ending to me seemed rushed with more of a horror component thrown in to keep the reader entertained. Don't get me wrong it wasn't that the work was bad its just that in my humblest of opinions it could have been that little bit better
2.0 out of 5 stars
three strikes, he's out,
By Larry Latham (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Spear (Hardcover)
This is the third and last book I'm going to read by James Herbert. I kind of liked Sepulchre, hated Haunted, and this one was just tedious in the extreme. Characterization would have to be ramped up several notches to approach the level of cardboard cutouts As in the other books, the plot twists are apparent long before they occur. The first third or so is passable, up to the point when the bad guy captures the hero and gives a four page rant to explain his master plan. It is so over the top, so cliched and cornball, that I doubt it would have been acceptable in a pulp magazine of the 1930s. Herbert writes action scenes pretty well, but his horror is almost exclusively of the gag reflex variety and is just dropped in unannounced whenever convenient, with no build up to or transition away from. The final scene is a good idea but is dragged out interminably and then is just what you've expected all along, the most obvious choice. I was hoping for some clever twist, but Herbert never came close. There are way too many authors writing better books to waste anymore time on him.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Horror Classics Book Review,
This review is from: The Spear (Paperback)
THE SPEAR by James Herbert
Review by Nickolas Cook When Herbert is on, he's one of the best horror writers in the world. And I'm not just saying that. For anyone who's ever read "The Rats", "The Fog", or "The Dark" can tell you he writes splatter horror like no one else in the business. But he has been known to write a quieter horror as well, as evidenced by such books as "The Magic Cottage" and "Fluke". "The Spear" falls into that quieter category, as he tells the story of Harry Steadman, ex agent for Mossad living in London and working as a private investigator. When he's asked to find a missing Mossad agent for his old spy fraternity, he refuses, tired of the violence of his old life. But his partner is tortured and killed at his front step and he makes it his business to find and destroy the people responsible. What he doesn't bargain for is the desperate depths that his old Nazi enemies have sunk to regain world power. "The Spear" plays more as a spy novel than a horror novel, and with that caveat having been said, fear not...there are moments of horror. For Herbert has attempted one of the few true mummy novels in horror. There are only a few of them around, and most were written long before this one. He does an admirable job of working the Nazi angle into his tale, and if nothing else "The Spear" makes for one heck of a rousing action story. But the horror isn't going to come as a surprise to anyone who's actually reading the book. There are plenty of hints of what's to come, as we learn how Heinrich Himmler never actually died and the body identified as his was only someone pretending to be him to save the last power circle of Nazi masters from the righteous fury of the conquering armies. There is a certain surprising conservative message between the lines, as hedonistic sex and a hermaphrodite are made the targets of some pretty vile remarks, something I would never have seen coming from Herbert, who may be one of England's most subversive living authors. But as this was written in the early 80s, things do change, so perhaps his philosophy has as well. There is also a nice subplot about Hitler and his love for Wagner's works, and a pseudo-religious one about the spear used to stab Jesus Christ as a weapon of mass evil destruction. But in the end, as much as the story seemed to rely on these dual components, neither of them carry through to the end as much as the spy angle, or the Himmler angle. Herbert's use of the solitary hero strongman was also used in another excellent horror novel, much like "The Spear" in its quiet insinuations instead of full blown blood and guts extremes: "Sepulcher". And if you find "The Spear" to your liking, then I would suggest finding a copy of this one as well. --Nickolas Cook
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