I am not a James Herbert fan but .....
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Having received this as a gift I felt obliged to give it a chance - despite not being a fan of James Herbert's other books - I was pleasantly surprised to find an entertaining and fast moving story. James Herbert is a very well liked author, but for me he does "go on a bit". Why use 1 paragraph to describe the weather when you can fill a whole page, eh James? I have read a few of his books in the past and must confess to skipping the odd page (and this usually means you miss none of the plot!). With this book, that was not the case at all. The "description" passages are in there but they are appropriate and add to the atmosphere of the book without slowing down the pace.
If you like ghost stories, you'll like this. If you like horror stories, you'll like this.
If you like James Herbert, you'll wonder where all the boring descriptions of the weather have gone - but at least you'll read every page!
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Better than the past couple..
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James Herbert has been the recipient of my cash for a number of years now and in return I like him to scare me. Not 'come around to my house and shout "Boo"' scare me, rather the 'don't turn the light off just yet' scare me. I've got all his books and have both enjoyed and suffered along with many readers, I'm sure. 'Ghosts of Sleath' and 'The Magic Cottage' have been high points and 'Nobody True', 'Others' low points.
With this book, I hope and think that once more I will be pausing and checking before turning off the light.
Yes, it is long. Yes, it is slow in parts. It took me ages to start it and for the first 200 pages I was struggling. Eventually we seemed to get underway and into more of the Herbert style of old. A couple of twists thrown in and a reasonable finish. Too many dead ends along the way though, kept the overall pace of the book down. Certainly better than his last one though.
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Beaten with the ugly stick
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"The Secret of Crickley Hall" spins a tale about a family that recently moved to a creepy manor in a quaint English village. The major plot revolves around solving the mistery of Crickley Hall's haunting and discovering the fate of Gabe and Eve's missing child.
Without venturing into spoiler territory, I initially thought that the book met all the requirements for a good haunted house story - a respected writer, a nice setting and an interesting (if not innovative) tale to tell.
But, and this is a big "but", mind you, the book has some major flaws. The one I find most annoying is the author's necessity (in my opinion) to hand-guide you through most of the book, expressing the same ideas over and over again. This nagging aspect reminded me of tv soap operas that treat viewers as if they are brain-damaged. Plus, Eve and Gabe are just plain stupid characters, in a way that goes well beyond the limits of conventional clichés.
Still, I found the story engaging enough. The writing style is very clear, but the constant repetition of facts and events made me skip several pages.
To sum it all up, if you are looking for a light read about haunted houses, perhaps this one is for you. Just don't expect scares and/or plot twists...
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mostly good
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Recently I've rediscovered James Herbert, and found him to be a good writer and storyteller. The problem I do have with this, and other Herbert books, is that most of them tend to follow a predictable pattern. Obviously I'm not going to give away any specifics but too often they start well, with a very good idea at the heart of the plot but then descend into a good guy vs. bad guy showdown while girl lies crumpled in a heap nearby, clutching her throat in anticipation of the outcome of this duel. This technique may have had audiences on the edge of their seats in 1920 but that particular plot device has been a cliché for decades. Hopefully in future, James Herbert will use his excellent imagination to dream up a better ending because I for one find these "dramatic" finales anything but.
That said, I do think the majority of this book makes very good reading and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good ghost story. It's just those endings!
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Not up to his usual standard
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James Herbert's latest novel is not a bad read, but compared to some of his previous books, it is something of a dissapointment. It's far longer than any book he's ever written and this wouldn't be a bad thing if the story could support the length - unfortunately it dosen't. The plot is very slim and rather underwhelming. Very little happens for a large part of the book, instead Herbert tries to build up a creepy atmosphere. The story itself is pretty tame and there's little in the way of real scares or gorey-stuff. The main villain is pretty sinister and the house is well described, but the story moves along at a snails pace and feels a little pointless by the time you get to the end. If it was half it's length it would have been far more impressive. As it is, it's not a bad old fashioned ghost story, but is certainly a lesser effort from Britain's king of horror.
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