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Refuge
It is twelve years on from a global plague. John Suter believes himself the sole survivor. He has gradually come to terms with his fate and has settled into a steady and self-reliant daily routine. One morning he finds a mutilated body in the river near his house. In his terror, Suter knows he has no choice but to investigate. What he discovers upstream stretches his endurance to its limits and forces him to reassess not only his own humanity, but also his place within the human family he had once believed extinct. This book is not suitable for minors. It contains descriptions of violence, sexual activity and satanic worship which some readers may find disturbing. 83,825 words (about 279 conventional pages)
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
6 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Richard Herley
23 books43 followersI was born in England in 1950 and educated at Watford Boys’ Grammar School and Sussex University, where my interest in natural history led me to read biology; but from my earliest years English had been my “best” subject, and shortly before my final exams I decided to try to become a professional writer. The job of the artist – in whichever medium he or she works – is an important one, since, conscientiously practised, it helps us to make sense of ourselves and the world.
Authorship is not an easy path to follow. I continue to work at the craft and marvel at its subtlety. I prefer a conventional storytelling framework. This offers the greatest potential for the writer: a reader who wants to know “what happens next” is the most receptive and stands to gain the most of all.
Authorship is not an easy path to follow. I continue to work at the craft and marvel at its subtlety. I prefer a conventional storytelling framework. This offers the greatest potential for the writer: a reader who wants to know “what happens next” is the most receptive and stands to gain the most of all.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 23, 2017
This is a powerful, visceral great big bundle of tension. Humanity has been largely eradicated by a plague, and only a very few survivors are left. John Suter is one, thinking himself alone until he discovers a body that has been clearly murdered. He goes to investigate, and is caught in between a peaceful village brigands who terrorise them.
On paper, almost like a literary, British version of Mad Max.
I actually did think that the theology and some descriptions were perhaps over done, but Richard Herley absolutely nails the mind of the survivor, creating a thoroughly believable character, and the building tension and violence are perfectly done.
Fantastic entertainment.
On paper, almost like a literary, British version of Mad Max.
I actually did think that the theology and some descriptions were perhaps over done, but Richard Herley absolutely nails the mind of the survivor, creating a thoroughly believable character, and the building tension and violence are perfectly done.
Fantastic entertainment.
June 4, 2017
This is a cracking read. I only have time to read a chapter or so at a time and always looked forward to reading the next bit. Extremely well written, I thought, very graphic in places, but not excessively so. Good immersive story. This is my second Herley novel, the first was the 'Penal Colony' which was also very good. I recognised the style from this one.
If I had to nit pick, I would have liked the story to have started about 15 years earlier before the plague so that we could get a sense of our man pre-apocalypse and also to have made the story a bit longer!
I would recommend this to anyone who likes a gripping yarn.
If I had to nit pick, I would have liked the story to have started about 15 years earlier before the plague so that we could get a sense of our man pre-apocalypse and also to have made the story a bit longer!
I would recommend this to anyone who likes a gripping yarn.
February 20, 2012
There were a couple of things that niggled me a little with this book, the first of those being the length. It felt too short although the story was wrapped up nicely and felt as if it had been ended well I thought that there should’ve been some more preamble before John discovered the body floating in the river. For me it would’ve been nice to be eased into the world of John Suter a little, to get to know the isolated mundane existence that he had come to call his life. If there had been forty pages to get used to his world were all he has to worry about are dog attacks and growing vegetables then the significance of the body would’ve been all the greater when it came floating into his world.
The second of my minor gripes was the homo eroticism and although I know its central to the story one or two times the graphic descriptions I felt pushed it a little too far and needn’t have gone into quite so much gruesome detail.
Overall though I thought it was a good book and a very enjoyable but somewhat short read. It is not quite in the same league as The Penal Colony and at times felt, dare I say, a little rushed.
The second of my minor gripes was the homo eroticism and although I know its central to the story one or two times the graphic descriptions I felt pushed it a little too far and needn’t have gone into quite so much gruesome detail.
Overall though I thought it was a good book and a very enjoyable but somewhat short read. It is not quite in the same league as The Penal Colony and at times felt, dare I say, a little rushed.
May 10, 2023
Spoilers ahead.
This is another one of those dystopian settings where a big pandemic has killed most of the population and the characters are just surviving.
Summary:
John has been living by himself for 10 years and thought himself to be the only person alive. He finds a dead body drifting downstream and traces it upstream where to his surprise there is a village. However it's not a normal village. The village has been taken over by a marauding band of thugs who have been terrorizing and abusing the residents.
After giving one of the residents a handgun, the thugs deduce his presence and send 3 men to find his trail to follow him home. He kills 2 of them and decides he has to wipe out the thugs to be safe again. That's the basics of the plot.
I would give this book a higher rating except there is a lot of long writing where John talks to himself and many pages are devoted to the religious cult which the thugs have formed in the absence of structure in a society. I don't know how much of that is meant to be an allegory, whether about organized religion or human gullibility or what but I simply wasn't interested in a lot of the mumbo jumbo and fast read or skipped over those parts.
This is one of the books I fast read to the end to finish it. But I still like the author so I'm reading another of his books now.
This is another one of those dystopian settings where a big pandemic has killed most of the population and the characters are just surviving.
Summary:
John has been living by himself for 10 years and thought himself to be the only person alive. He finds a dead body drifting downstream and traces it upstream where to his surprise there is a village. However it's not a normal village. The village has been taken over by a marauding band of thugs who have been terrorizing and abusing the residents.
After giving one of the residents a handgun, the thugs deduce his presence and send 3 men to find his trail to follow him home. He kills 2 of them and decides he has to wipe out the thugs to be safe again. That's the basics of the plot.
I would give this book a higher rating except there is a lot of long writing where John talks to himself and many pages are devoted to the religious cult which the thugs have formed in the absence of structure in a society. I don't know how much of that is meant to be an allegory, whether about organized religion or human gullibility or what but I simply wasn't interested in a lot of the mumbo jumbo and fast read or skipped over those parts.
This is one of the books I fast read to the end to finish it. But I still like the author so I'm reading another of his books now.
September 18, 2017
This novel had an intriguing description, and I was ready to start reading this one on my first day of vacation as I have been on the science fiction "end of the world" genre lately. The book description was subsequently changed in order to reflect its true content.
Needless to say, I quit reading it at the Kindle's 5% mark because it was just too disgusting. I do not consider myself a prude in the slightest, but the author seems to have a fascination of describing men sodomizing each other as well as their breathless anticipation of a recurrence; this title is obviously miscategorized and needs to have something alerting potential readers of the same. If you cut most of that garbage out, you might have a pretty good tale that others would want to read. I couldn't. I picked this one up for free - if they ever start charging for this book I would strongly recommend passing this one up for something else.
Needless to say, I quit reading it at the Kindle's 5% mark because it was just too disgusting. I do not consider myself a prude in the slightest, but the author seems to have a fascination of describing men sodomizing each other as well as their breathless anticipation of a recurrence; this title is obviously miscategorized and needs to have something alerting potential readers of the same. If you cut most of that garbage out, you might have a pretty good tale that others would want to read. I couldn't. I picked this one up for free - if they ever start charging for this book I would strongly recommend passing this one up for something else.
September 3, 2009
When this novel first came to my attention, I was excited, since Richard Herley had already authored one of my favorite books, the outstanding The Penal Colony. Then, when I read the blurb and realized what Refuge was about, I admit my excitement faltered a bit. I felt the post-apocalyptic, I'm-the-last-man-on-Earth survival milieu had already been pretty well strip-mined in a hundred works ranging from I Am Legend to Children of Men to The Stand, and I thought it would be difficult for an author to come along in 2008 and give the genre a treatment that was anything other than derivative and tired.
Happily, I was wrong. Herley immediately puts his stamp on the proceedings, much as he does in his other works, with concise, economical detail, great pacing, and a level of research and thinking-through that leaves the reader wondering why other novelists didn’t think of these things. Here is just one small example: the protagonist, John Suter, is shown to be obsessive about flossing and brushing his teeth, because he understands that a simple cavity or abscessed tooth, to a man living alone, could prove fatal. In this and many other similarly mundane details, the author shows just what it would truly be like to live in a post-civilization world.
Herley's chops as a writer are simply amazing - several wide cuts above the average writer of popular fiction. Several themes from Herley’s other works are revisited here, most notably the villains’ Christian/Satanic delusions and the protagonists’ struggles for survival in a wild, uncaring natural world, but it’s a very different novel to The Penal Colony.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. If you like brainy, propulsive thrillers with characters who are complex, flawed and not always easy to love, this is the book for you.
Happily, I was wrong. Herley immediately puts his stamp on the proceedings, much as he does in his other works, with concise, economical detail, great pacing, and a level of research and thinking-through that leaves the reader wondering why other novelists didn’t think of these things. Here is just one small example: the protagonist, John Suter, is shown to be obsessive about flossing and brushing his teeth, because he understands that a simple cavity or abscessed tooth, to a man living alone, could prove fatal. In this and many other similarly mundane details, the author shows just what it would truly be like to live in a post-civilization world.
Herley's chops as a writer are simply amazing - several wide cuts above the average writer of popular fiction. Several themes from Herley’s other works are revisited here, most notably the villains’ Christian/Satanic delusions and the protagonists’ struggles for survival in a wild, uncaring natural world, but it’s a very different novel to The Penal Colony.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. If you like brainy, propulsive thrillers with characters who are complex, flawed and not always easy to love, this is the book for you.
December 27, 2012
A really good book, well-written. Maybe a bit heavy on the violence and homo-eroticism for some, but it is integral to the story.
Update: In retrospect, I bumped "Refuge" up to five stars. This book has remained in my consciousness like very few do. Both story and character development are outstanding.
Update: In retrospect, I bumped "Refuge" up to five stars. This book has remained in my consciousness like very few do. Both story and character development are outstanding.
November 3, 2015
I recently discovered Richard Herley, and can't believe most of his books are self-published! His male relationships in particular are fantastic. I will continue working my way through his catalogue on e-book.
February 28, 2009
I really felt that something was missing in this book, although I cannot put my finger on exactly what it was. I felt the ending was not 'GOOD' enough
February 5, 2013
Awesome story - but I didn't quite like the ending (no worries it is still a very good book).
August 19, 2013
Good story line with an interesting look at the possible implication to the human psyche if civilization ended.
November 7, 2014
I finished it but it wasn't the greatest.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews