Rating: 
Summary: DISMAS CAN BE DISMAL
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: DISMAS CAN BE DISMAL
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: Strong and well written. James Herbert delivers the goods.
Review: '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.
Rating:
Summary: Good, could have been great!
Review: A couple of scary moments involving Nick Dismas, the hero of the story. But I kept waiting for a big payoff regarding Dismas's "past life"...it never really happened. All in all, Dismas is a very interesting character, especially knowing all of his disabilities and all he's gone through. The book is a good, quick read and I'd recommend it...but I kept waiting for more!!
Rating: 
Summary: Scary but makes you think
Review: A man reborn as a deformed PI. A mansion full of mutant children. A pretty but deformed nurse being prepared for a snuff movie. WOW! But all is not blood and gore in 'Others'. In fact, Herbert treats the deformed unfortunates with a deal of sympathy and compassion - it is the 'normal' folk who are the antagonists. This is the ultimate 'thinking person's' book.Nick Dismas, the unfortunate protagonist was born with deformities for a reason. His characterization is excellent - bad habits, bad attitude and all. As usual, Herbert writes smoothly and effortlessly, producing a novel that will grip you right from the off and won't put you down until the final chapter.
Rating: 
Summary: Good stuff!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Creepy
Review: At 500-pages long, OTHERS is the story that most horror novelists only wish they could write. Sure, James Herbert has a tendency to repeat himself a couple times throughout the book (and still has me wonder how much of his story is based on fact!), but his style and character development skills are above anything recent by Koontz (or King, for that matter!). OTHERS takes it's time to lure you into the world of a gum-shoe detective before exploding into the horror novel you'd expect, delicately increasing the suspense with each chapter. James Herbert has succeeded in creating a world filled with the grotesque, misfortunate and mysterious in his latest, OTHERS. He also managed to give birth to one of the most interesting protagonists: Nick Dismas, a deformed PI and reincarnation of an evil Hollywood star. I'm just sorry we had to see him put to rest so soon!
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Creepy
Review: At 500-pages long, OTHERS is the story that most horror novelists only wish they could write. Sure, James Herbert has a tendency to repeat himself a couple times throughout the book (and still has me wonder how much of his story is based on fact!), but his style and character development skills are above anything recent by Koontz (or King, for that matter!). OTHERS takes it's time to lure you into the world of a gum-shoe detective before exploding into the horror novel you'd expect, delicately increasing the suspense with each chapter. James Herbert has succeeded in creating a world filled with the grotesque, misfortunate and mysterious in his latest, OTHERS. He also managed to give birth to one of the most interesting protagonists: Nick Dismas, a deformed PI and reincarnation of an evil Hollywood star. I'm just sorry we had to see him put to rest so soon!
Rating: 
Summary: Good practice for speed-reading
Review: He do go on a bit, old Jim. This time he's trying to write "The Island of Dr. Moreau", but it's been done before and James Herbert is no H. G. Wells. I don't make a habit of skipping pages, but I found myself doing so all the time with this: 500 pages, never a telling word used where ten will do and scarcely a paragraph unstuffed by stodge. At least we're spared the sex-by-numbers routine (maybe I missed it). The story is about freaks; the author manages to make it trite and rather disgusting as well as terminally boring. I don't begin to understand how people can find this exciting and well-written, let alone read a 'serious' message into it: don't they see the creaking plot and painfully flatulent prose? For a long time James Herbert has lacked the inventiveness that might have enabled him to carry this sort of thing off. If you want intelligent 'horror' - although I don't think the author would call it that - with real atmosphere and three-dimensional characters, read Phil Rickman (also British, slow-burning, but you won't find yourself skipping any pages). My hunch is that Rickman will still be read when Herbert is a footnote; some of his novels may be flawed, but they're interestingly flawed. This one is strictly for the paid-up fan club. I give it 2 stars because it isn't quite as bad as " '48 " or that thing about fairies. Pedantic peeve: this master of the written word still hasn't fathomed the mysteries of lie/lay and lay/laid, so we get solecisms like "he lay it on the table" - not once but ad nauseam. I guess the copy-editor skips pages too.
Rating:
Summary: Good practice for speed-reading
Review: He do go on a bit, ole Jim. This time he's trying to write "The Island of Dr. Moreau", but it's been done before and James Herbert is no H. G. Wells. I don't make a habit of skipping pages, but I found myself doing so all the time with this: 500 pages, never a telling word used where ten will do and scarcely a paragraph unstuffed by stodge. At least we're spared the sex-by-numbers routine (maybe I missed it). The story is about freaks; the author manages to make it trite and rather disgusting as well as terminally boring. I don't begin to understand how people can find this exciting and well-written, let alone read a 'serious' message into it: don't they see the creaking plot and painfully flatulent prose? For a long time James Herbert has lacked the inventiveness that might have enabled him to carry this sort of thing off. If you want intelligent 'horror' - although I don't think the author would call it that - with real atmosphere and three-dimensional characters, read Phil Rickman (also British, slow-burning, but you won't find yourself skipping any pages). My hunch is that Rickman will still be read when Herbert is a footnote; some of his novels may be flawed, but they're interestingly flawed. This one is strictly for the paid-up fan club. I give it 2 stars because it isn't quite as bad as " '48 " or that thing about fairies. Pedantic peeve: this master of the written word still hasn't fathomed the mysteries of lie/lay and lay/laid, so we get solecisms like "he lay it on the table" - not once but ad nauseam. I guess the copy-editor skips pages too.
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