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Summary: The Rats
Review: As the result of genetic engineering gone wrong, the rats of London have evolved. They are no longer the small black dirty things that sculk about under floorboards and flee at the first sight of man. They are big, and getting bolder by the day. After their first of human victim, they have decided they want more. It is with a chill that man decides it cannot stop them.This is one of James Herbert's best books. It is incredibly difficult to put it down, and it keeps its qualities to the last page. The morbid horror of it grips you, as well as the involvement you feel with the main character as he tries to face the rats. It is not a book for the faint hearted.
Rating: 
Summary: Exercise in Mediocrity
Review: Herbert is a British writer, and like many of his literary countrymen, generally adopts understatement as his prefered method of delivery. While there are hundreds of thousands of murderous rats in this novel, and plenty of people are killed horribly, Herbert doesn't quite seem to take the same gruesome delight in the exquisite details as one of his American colleagues like Stephen King might, and he certainly cuts to the chase much quicker--The Rats isn't quite 200 pages, whereas King or Koontz could stretch a similar tale to over 500 without breaking a sweat. But Herbert's greater economy doesn't necessarily make him the better storyteller--The Rats is an extremely average horror story. Yes, there are rats; yes, they are giant mutant rats (but thankfully not vampiric, as one of the other critics seemed to imply); yes, they swarm by the thousands and attack humans with malicious intent, especially enjoying the flesh of infants; yes, they are the spawn of a mad scientist's experiments with radioactive mutants; yes, there is the obligatory twist at the end which any horror reader will have come to expect; yes, every other chapter offers up fresh meat whose pathetic lives almost call out for extermination; yes, Our Hero is at every important attack and eventually saves the day with a plan that England's top scientists couldn't have figured out. No, the whole thing isn't very interesting at all. Maybe in Britain in the 70s this might have been a good read, but it isn't today. Save your time, save your money, save your cheese.
Rating:
Summary: Exercise in Mediocrity
Review: Herbert is a British writer, and like many of his literary countrymen, generally adopts understatement as his prefered method of delivery. While there are hundreds of thousands of murderous rats in this novel, and plenty of people are killed horribly, Herbert doesn't quite seem to take the same gruesome delight in the exquisite details as one of his American colleagues like Stephen King might, and he certainly cuts to the chase much quicker--The Rats isn't quite 200 pages, whereas King or Koontz could stretch a similar tale to over 500 without breaking a sweat. But Herbert's greater economy doesn't necessarily make him the better storyteller--The Rats is an extremely average horror story. Yes, there are rats; yes, they are giant mutant rats (but thankfully not vampiric, as one of the other critics seemed to imply); yes, they swarm by the thousands and attack humans with malicious intent, especially enjoying the flesh of infants; yes, they are the spawn of a mad scientist's experiments with radioactive mutants; yes, there is the obligatory twist at the end which any horror reader will have come to expect; yes, every other chapter offers up fresh meat whose pathetic lives almost call out for extermination; yes, Our Hero is at every important attack and eventually saves the day with a plan that England's top scientists couldn't have figured out. No, the whole thing isn't very interesting at all. Maybe in Britain in the 70s this might have been a good read, but it isn't today. Save your time, save your money, save your cheese.
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Summary: AN EXCELLENT CHILLE. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
Review: I am 13 years old and I found this book excellent. James Herbert describes the rats in such ways that it makes a chill go down your spine. James Herbert puts the image in your mind of these monstorous rats tearing up humans throats. An excellent book which I highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Fiction From A Great Writer
Review: I read a review of this book that said that the book starts with Chapter 1 introducing a character and then having him/her killed horribly, Chapter 2 doing the same, and so on until the end of the book. I'd like to think that Herbert's book has a little more depth than that. Don't get me wrong, this isn't Les Miserables, but in its own right it is a pretty darn good book. It's the kind of book you can read when your brain is tired of reading Les Miserables. This is however, a pretty gory little novel, with dozens (perhaps hundreds if I really took the time to count) of characters dying horribly at the hands of the mutant black rats. I do believe that Herbert did have a plan when writing this book and didn't just wake up one day and say that he wanted to write a book where Londoners get mutilated by rats. In one of the first chapters we are introduced to a character (a homeless, previously successful businessman) who is for all intended purposes dead already. He has given into crippling despair and has no true life left in him. His soul is dead already from despair and he is only alive because his body is still ticking. The rats attack him first and quickly kill him as would be expected. But the key point here is that HE WAS ALREADY DEAD EVEN BEFORE THE RATS KILLED HIM. Rats eat dead things and when they ate this person they were just doing something that came naturally to them. But as Herbert says "They had tasted their first human blood." Herbert seems to think the real crime here is not that they are killing people but that they are killing people who are still "alive" in every sense of the word. The rats next attack a child (a child who goes to the school where the main character teaches) and then a small baby (whose death Herbert grusomely relates to us). These crimes are infinitely worse than the first because the first character was "dead" and these characters were "alive". As the rats thirst for blood becomes greater so do their atrocities. An attack on a school house and on a crowded subway are a few examples. This seems to be Herberts underlying theme here, that after the rats stopped doing what Nature intended them to do (living off dead and decaying things) and started doing something "unNatural" (living off things that are alive) they became evil. But Herbert ultimately reveal to us that we, human beings, were responsible for the rats creation and we are therefore, in a sense, responsible for all the atrocities the rats committed. All the debts we have accumulated as human beings are responsible for the rats being here and it is time to pay the bill. I know you're probably thinking I'm looking way too deep into a second rate horror novel, but let me tell you two things. One, this is NOT a second rate horror novel, and Two, Herbert is one of the most underappreciated horror writer of modern times. True, this work is not near as good as his later writing like Haunted, 48, or Domain(aka Rats III) and you should all go out and read these books, but before you do start with this book right here. You'll be amazed that a writer could get any better than this but Herbert managed to do it. So start with Rats and work your way up, you won't be disappointed and hopefully you'll soon see James Herbert as the amazing writer he truly deserves to be noticed as.
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Summary: This book really scared me.
Review: If this is the book I think it is, I read it in high school many moons ago. It scared me so bad I kept thinking there were rats in my bedroom at night while I was sleeping. It is one of few horror stories that had that effect on me. The only other I can think of that left that big of an impression on me was Steven King's " IT". The Rats is more creepy because it could really happen. If you are a horror fan, and you like losing sleep for a few days after reading a book, This book is definately for you. It is about some rats who go crazy and start eating up this town. The people try to poison them but they are too smart for that. So they have to try something else. Meantime the rats are in the school, the hospital, everywhere. REALLY CREEPY!
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Summary: No relation to BEN........
Review: My first book getting to know James Herbert and I must say this British writer is in a class all by himself. I picked this paperback up on a wimp (written mid 70's) and started reading and could not put it down until I finished it, well into the night. I'll also ad I will never look at rats the same way again. This book really distrubed me and chilled me, yet I've discovered a new favorite Horror/Thriller author who actually writes visually and you can feel every detail. This guy really knows his stuff and in my opinion writes just as good as any of "The KINGS", its great to read a book that is so finely crafted yet will make your skin crawl. Nice change of pace.
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Summary: I like rats, but not these rats!
Review: Okay, the basic story is killer rats. Rats have never ever scared me. I've had a few for pets. But I do enjoy a good gory book and i'd heard this one was pretty gross. Well, it was. I thought i might not enjoy it given the fact that i like rats, but i was delighted to find how good the book actually was. Its short and bloody. The details are great. You get thrown in with each characters struggle. I loved it and can't wait to read the other two books in the trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: I like rats, but not these rats!
Review: Okay, the basic story is killer rats. Rats have never ever scared me. I've had a few for pets. But I do enjoy a good gory book and i'd heard this one was pretty gross. Well, it was. I thought i might not enjoy it given the fact that i like rats, but i was delighted to find how good the book actually was. Its short and bloody. The details are great. You get thrown in with each characters struggle. I loved it and can't wait to read the other two books in the trilogy.
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Summary: What if?
Review: The Rats is a chilling story about some rats believe it or not who mutate into a clever blood sucking animal which go round bringing terror to the streets of London. At first it is a very fast paced book with at least five killings in the first four chapters but then it slows down and gets a bit boring after a while. Near the end it recovers but not enough to name this book a classic. It just leaves you wondering...What if?
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