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David Ash #3
Ash
Fear will let you in. Terror will keep you there.
Ash is James Herbert’s most controversial novel to date, and will make you wonder what is fact and what is fiction.
They were miscreants with black souls, roaming the corridors and passageways. Infamous people thought long-deceased. Hiding and nurturing their evil in a basement full of secrets so shocking they would shake the world if they were ever revealed.
David Ash, ghost hunter and parapychologist, arrives at Comraich Castle – a desolate, ancient place with a dark heart – to investigate a series of disturbing events. An incorporeal power has been ignited by a long-ago curse, fed and now unleashed by the evil of those who once inhabited this supposed sanctuary – and by some who still do. Yet their hour of retribution is at hand . . .
Ash is James Herbert’s most controversial novel to date, and will make you wonder what is fact and what is fiction.
They were miscreants with black souls, roaming the corridors and passageways. Infamous people thought long-deceased. Hiding and nurturing their evil in a basement full of secrets so shocking they would shake the world if they were ever revealed.
David Ash, ghost hunter and parapychologist, arrives at Comraich Castle – a desolate, ancient place with a dark heart – to investigate a series of disturbing events. An incorporeal power has been ignited by a long-ago curse, fed and now unleashed by the evil of those who once inhabited this supposed sanctuary – and by some who still do. Yet their hour of retribution is at hand . . .
693 pages, Paperback
First published September 14, 2012
264 people are currently reading
2646 people want to read
About the author
James Herbert
100 books2,378 followersJames Herbert was Britain's number one bestselling writer (a position he held ever since publication of his first novel) and one of the world's top writers of thriller/horror fiction.
He was one of our greatest popular novelists, whose books are sold in thirty-three other languages, including Russian and Chinese. Widely imitated and hugely influential, his 19 novels have sold more than 42 million copies worldwide.
As an author he produced some of the most powerful horror fiction of the past decade. With a skillful blend of horror and thriller fiction, he explored the shaded territories of evil, evoking a sense of brooding menace and rising tension. He relentlessly draws the reader through the story's ultimate revelation - one that will stay to chill the mind long after the book has been laid aside. His bestsellers, THE MAGIC COTTAGE, HAUNTED, SEPULCHRE, and CREED, enhanced his reputation as a writer of depth and originality. His novels THE FOG, THE DARK, and THE SURVIVOR have been hailed as classics of the genre.
He was one of our greatest popular novelists, whose books are sold in thirty-three other languages, including Russian and Chinese. Widely imitated and hugely influential, his 19 novels have sold more than 42 million copies worldwide.
As an author he produced some of the most powerful horror fiction of the past decade. With a skillful blend of horror and thriller fiction, he explored the shaded territories of evil, evoking a sense of brooding menace and rising tension. He relentlessly draws the reader through the story's ultimate revelation - one that will stay to chill the mind long after the book has been laid aside. His bestsellers, THE MAGIC COTTAGE, HAUNTED, SEPULCHRE, and CREED, enhanced his reputation as a writer of depth and originality. His novels THE FOG, THE DARK, and THE SURVIVOR have been hailed as classics of the genre.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 668 reviews
November 14, 2021
I understand this was James last book. I read it in two days. The mystery that is Balmoral. Very worth the read.🐯👍👍🐯
Balmoral, dark, a mysterious place, Balmoral
After reading Ash, things there seem, immoral
A vast Royal place, fifty thousand acres
A secret retreat, for politicians, and money makers
For Lords on the run, to disappear, to fade from public view
Fake their death, and just be a memory, to me and you
For assassins to retire, to live out their secret lives
And a sanctuary, for Royal battered wives
Where magicians practice the occult, cast a spell
Hidden away, in that secret place, a direct link to Hell
Studying the writings of Sir John Dee, Druidic priest, advisor to the Queen
Like Sir Jimmy Saville, centuries later, Mi6, it is all it has ever been
With wild cats, and a presence so evil, undulating and tangible, beneath the castle grounds, hidden
Ancient, dark, worshipped, invoked, esoteric, forbidden🐯👍
James Herbert. He was well aware of the dark, shadowy, esoteric world that runs parallel to the one in which we live. In ASH we get an insight to this very world...All wrapped up in his last ever book. A fictional horror tale. (Tongue in cheek). 🐯👍
Secrets. Lies. Murder.
Balmoral, dark, a mysterious place, Balmoral
After reading Ash, things there seem, immoral
A vast Royal place, fifty thousand acres
A secret retreat, for politicians, and money makers
For Lords on the run, to disappear, to fade from public view
Fake their death, and just be a memory, to me and you
For assassins to retire, to live out their secret lives
And a sanctuary, for Royal battered wives
Where magicians practice the occult, cast a spell
Hidden away, in that secret place, a direct link to Hell
Studying the writings of Sir John Dee, Druidic priest, advisor to the Queen
Like Sir Jimmy Saville, centuries later, Mi6, it is all it has ever been
With wild cats, and a presence so evil, undulating and tangible, beneath the castle grounds, hidden
Ancient, dark, worshipped, invoked, esoteric, forbidden🐯👍
James Herbert. He was well aware of the dark, shadowy, esoteric world that runs parallel to the one in which we live. In ASH we get an insight to this very world...All wrapped up in his last ever book. A fictional horror tale. (Tongue in cheek). 🐯👍
Secrets. Lies. Murder.
June 6, 2024
So me and James Herbert have such a hit and miss relationship. This book ended up frustrating me, it could have been a five star read for me but it just didn't cut it.
I love the horror/gore descriptions in this book, James Herbert really builds up suspense well too. I liked his nod to one of his other series Rats, I do love an Easter egg! I think the research gone into this book was pretty good too, the feeling of being trapped and claustrophobic is done beautifully too, and the way James Herbert can make you hate a character is masterful too. There are a lot of moments in this book that were 5 stars but then there were some 1 star moments too so infuriating for me. Some of the death's were really well done too and there were some really horrible people dying in some really horrendous ways which is right up my street!
The awkward strange sex scenes are just bad! There is a little bit of repetition in this book too and it is a big book which I think it didn't really need to be. When we find out what is going on in the book it takes much too long to end. We have a couple of reveals that were done fine, but were over explained. I think there is a whole chapter missed too, because we never go back to Kate?
My childish brain when a lipstick taser was mentioned just couldn't stop thinking about the minions.
James Herbert is an author I will keep trying to read from because I think I can find a five star read! I think you do need to read the other books in the series to get the full effect of everything
I love the horror/gore descriptions in this book, James Herbert really builds up suspense well too. I liked his nod to one of his other series Rats, I do love an Easter egg! I think the research gone into this book was pretty good too, the feeling of being trapped and claustrophobic is done beautifully too, and the way James Herbert can make you hate a character is masterful too. There are a lot of moments in this book that were 5 stars but then there were some 1 star moments too so infuriating for me. Some of the death's were really well done too and there were some really horrible people dying in some really horrendous ways which is right up my street!
The awkward strange sex scenes are just bad! There is a little bit of repetition in this book too and it is a big book which I think it didn't really need to be. When we find out what is going on in the book it takes much too long to end. We have a couple of reveals that were done fine, but were over explained. I think there is a whole chapter missed too, because we never go back to Kate?
My childish brain when a lipstick taser was mentioned just couldn't stop thinking about the minions.
James Herbert is an author I will keep trying to read from because I think I can find a five star read! I think you do need to read the other books in the series to get the full effect of everything
December 1, 2012
I'm a horror fan, and everywhere I went this book was being advertised at me. I saw it on the tube, I saw it on YouTube... and when I went to Amazon, it was only 99p so I grabbed it. And boy was I disappointed.
I found out later that this was the third book in a trilogy, I don't think I missed much by not having read them.
I've not read anything else by this author, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was pretty unbearable. It was actually worse than some of the free things I've read from Amazon, and that's a feat.
Instalove, in an adult novel. No explanation, nothing but twoo wuv from the instant they laid eyes on each other. With all of the play about how connected he felt to her, I thought it was a set up for something horrible and supernatural. How disappointed I was.
Some truly dire graphic sex scenes as a result. Sex scenes I actually skipped over whole paragraphs of because they were so goddamn boring.
A woman who had a night of Hot Lesbian Sex That We Can Discuss Endlessly But Really Only Wants Men (tm). A ragingly jealous, bitter, jilted lesbian.
Throughout the whole novel, I just thought David Ash was a wimpy idiot. Yes, he's supposed to be SO BRAVE with all his wandering and not being afraid of anything and talking back, but meh. He just seemed so lackluster, not like any kind of hero (which I'm sorry, if you're the lead in a novel, you're the hero, even if you're an everyman).
Delphine was SO PERFECT and yet SO PERFECTLY USELESS and as a result so flat it was painful. I didn't want to read one more thing about the woman. Their dialogue together was stilted to the point of being painful.
The premise was barely believable (really, this castle that rich people disappear into and no one ever hears from them again and this is just the done thing? No family or friends have anything to say about this? I know, I know, tragedy and criminals but meh. And NO ONE knows where it is, to the point that they try to "trick" him by driving around for ages before going there? Bullshit. It's a ginormous building, everybody and their mother is going to know it's there.). The name dropping drove me INSANE .
And let's not forget the writing. This was at least a hundred pages longer than it needed to be, dragging where it should have been suspenseful and full of overly descriptive prose. Also, EVERYONE in the book, even the so-called high minded doctors continually referred to the people as "lunatics". Are we in 1976?
And do NOT even get me started on the antagonist (of sorts) and "The Boy". I nearly threw the book then, but it's on my Kindle.
There are so many other things I hated about this book, but frankly I don't even want to think about it any more.
Format: Kindle
Price Paid: 99p
Recommended: No
Value: overpriced
Will I Buy the Next: No power on this earth could make me
I found out later that this was the third book in a trilogy, I don't think I missed much by not having read them.
I've not read anything else by this author, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was pretty unbearable. It was actually worse than some of the free things I've read from Amazon, and that's a feat.
Instalove, in an adult novel. No explanation, nothing but twoo wuv from the instant they laid eyes on each other. With all of the play about how connected he felt to her, I thought it was a set up for something horrible and supernatural. How disappointed I was.
Some truly dire graphic sex scenes as a result. Sex scenes I actually skipped over whole paragraphs of because they were so goddamn boring.
A woman who had a night of Hot Lesbian Sex That We Can Discuss Endlessly But Really Only Wants Men (tm). A ragingly jealous, bitter, jilted lesbian.
Throughout the whole novel, I just thought David Ash was a wimpy idiot. Yes, he's supposed to be SO BRAVE with all his wandering and not being afraid of anything and talking back, but meh. He just seemed so lackluster, not like any kind of hero (which I'm sorry, if you're the lead in a novel, you're the hero, even if you're an everyman).
Delphine was SO PERFECT and yet SO PERFECTLY USELESS and as a result so flat it was painful. I didn't want to read one more thing about the woman. Their dialogue together was stilted to the point of being painful.
The premise was barely believable (really, this castle that rich people disappear into and no one ever hears from them again and this is just the done thing? No family or friends have anything to say about this? I know, I know, tragedy and criminals but meh. And NO ONE knows where it is, to the point that they try to "trick" him by driving around for ages before going there? Bullshit. It's a ginormous building, everybody and their mother is going to know it's there.). The name dropping drove me INSANE .
And let's not forget the writing. This was at least a hundred pages longer than it needed to be, dragging where it should have been suspenseful and full of overly descriptive prose. Also, EVERYONE in the book, even the so-called high minded doctors continually referred to the people as "lunatics". Are we in 1976?
And do NOT even get me started on the antagonist (of sorts) and "The Boy". I nearly threw the book then, but it's on my Kindle.
There are so many other things I hated about this book, but frankly I don't even want to think about it any more.
Format: Kindle
Price Paid: 99p
Recommended: No
Value: overpriced
Will I Buy the Next: No power on this earth could make me
February 20, 2013
First of all, I didn’t read any of the other books in the David Ash series. I came across this one in my local bookshop and I picked it up because the synopsis intrigued me. A creepy, haunted castle. A parapsychologist with a disturbing past. A secret, elite organization harboring more secrets than the Illuminati. So far, it all sounded good. The only downside was the execution. I enjoyed the premise, but this book was so sloppily executed I had trouble getting to the end.
The plot is actually pretty simple and straightforward, which means there’s no excuse for why it takes 700+ pages to get to the end. David Ash is a seasoned ghost hunter asked to solve the gruesome mystery surrounding Cromraich Castle, a secluded fortress where one person has been brutally murdered by a ghost. Other, smaller events have happened in the castle as well and its inhabitants are terrified. Said inhabitants are a mix of wealthy people who did something wrong at one point in their lives, then vanished off the face of the earth and chose to spend their remaining days in the luxury of the castle. They’re protected by an organisation called “The Inner Court” who has roots dating back to the middle ages and blackmail material on every influential person including the royal family. Some of these people committed smaller crimes, whereas others commited full-on genocide. Not exactly the crowd I would like to mingle with, or would bother to save, but Ash doesn’t seem to mind all that much.
Parapsychologist David Ash is an intriguing and memorable main character. He struggles with a rather cliché drinking problem, and he’s lost many people he cares about. What makes him interesting was that, at the beginning of his career, he was very skeptical toward the existence of ghosts and supernatural phenomena. It was only when he saw for himself that he became a believer. I liked this aspect about him, as well as his sharp, analytical mind. Unfortunately, the rest of his personality fell flat. He’s described in such a dry, monotone way that he never came alive on the pages. He was never more than a figure in a book. Part of this is thanks to Delphine, his supposed love interest. Delphine is a psychologist and the moment Ash meets her, he falls for her. I can understand attraction, but true love at first sight? That’s so ridiculous I can’t believe a seasoned author wanted to pull that off. Also, Delphine has a problem with her lingering sexuality because at one point she spent a passionate night with her co-worker and head nurse of Cromraich castle, Rachel. She acts like she’s terribly ashamed for the act afterward, and that might very well be, but the way the author describes it comes across like A) women are only meant to be with men, and can’t have meaningful relationships with other women (mainly because during the sex scenes with Delphine and Ash, the author mentions how it finally felt right for Delphine and a whole lot of other crap like that, which makes it seem like same-sex couples are the spawn of Satan) and B) every lesbian is evil and jealous. It’s so ridiculous and offensive I couldn’t grasp why any editor would allow such crap to remain in a book.
Another problem is that the author constantly refers to the main character as “Ash”, which is his last name. It put such distance between the main character and the reader that it was almost impossible to cross the distance and get into the main character’s head. This could’ve been easily solved by calling him “David” instead. Also, David doesn’t act like an actual ghost hunter. He’s more busy probing his nose into the political mess going on at the castle than trying to solve the mystery. Talking about the mystery, it’s basically one huge joke. Nothing is ever truly solved. I don’t want to spoil the book for you, but there’s never given any actual reason for the murder at the start, and we just have to believe it happened completely randomly because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. We’re given a stupid, annoying, ignorant, offensive explanation half-way through of how it is that the dark forces only gathered in Cromraich after hundreds of years, and at that point I was ready to rip my hair out. But more about that later: let’s focus back on the characters first.
Delphine suffers from major Mary Sue syndrom. She’s perfect. Except that she’s useless and a waste of pages. She has no purpose in the book except to cling to Ash’s arm and cry for help, and make for some disgusting sex scenes I skipped through. I had serious problems with Ash falling for her right away, and vice versa, as well. That’s just not believable. Especially since this book is for adults, and I expect a thirty or forty something man (I have no idea how old Ash is) to know better than to fall for someone right away. Especially since he’s supposedly gone through all this crap with past lovers. Anyway, I was kind of hoping something big would be revealed and Delphine would be on the bad side all along, but alas. Such clever plot devices clearly weren’t thought of during the writing of this book.
The second problem was that the author suffered from “God-syndrome”. He wanted to look into the mind of all occupants of Cromraich Castle. He switches perspective from Ash to one of the inhabitants every so often. We get into the mind of people like Ubuntu and Khadaffi, and it doesn’t help the plot one bit. If anything, it slows it down. I don’t want to look into these people’s mind – it adds nothing to the story. I want to know what Ash is thinking and what he’s doing, because by the end I had the feeling he hadn’t been doing much to solve the mystery.
Also, the people in the castle are clearly retarded, and with that I’m not meaning the ‘lunatics’ held in custody in the subbasement of the castle, but the staff and leaders. Seriously? If you have people suffering from mental illnesses, you do not stuff them in a basement in inhumane circumstances, in tiny rooms with no sunlight, barely any food or accomodations. We’re 2013, and shit like that, THANKFULLY, doesn’t happen anymore. The people staying at Cromraich pay enormous amounts of money to stay there or have their loved ones stay there, so I doubt any single one of them would be happy to know they’re kept like rats in a cage and treated worse than animals. When I came to these passages, I wanted to burn the book. I’ve never come that close to burning a book either. And you’d think that, even if the people doing these terrible, terrible things were evil enough to do them, at least Ash or Delphine, near-perfect Delphine, would try to stop them. But no. The moment Ash finds his way into the subbasement, he gets attacked by almost feral ‘lunatics’ who somehow managed to escape their cells. It would’ve been better if the author, before writing this utter ridiculous piece of crap, would’ve bothered to visit a contemporary asylum and see the workings there. I can’t believe anyone, even someone as powerful as the Inner Court, would get away with threating their patients like that nowadays. And I think Ash, as opposed to being a brave ghost hunter, is in fact the world’s biggest coward for not trying to do something about it.
Next up is the supposed culprit of the haunting. I’m going to start giving out some spoilers, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know them. It wasn’t that surprising though. The culprit is actually Hitler’s daughter, born from an affair he had with an English woman. Turns out that not only was his offspring a girl, but she was also handicapped. She has an ‘enormous head’, which makes me think maybe she has Down’s syndrome. In any case, she’s been held in a small, confined room in the subbasement without any sunlight or company ever since she was born. And the staff is SURPRISED that she tries to attack them. During this entire book, she’s painted as the ‘bad guy’, and I wonder why. At some point she was raped and gave birth to a baby. Nobody even saw the baby, except when it was dead. I can’t imagine what that poor girl must’ve gone through. She probably had no idea what was going on, and she did try her best. But then the author comes and adds some more gruesome details, trying to paint her as the bad guy in all this. She was an innocent child, and the staff of Cromraich decided to experiment on her, lock her up in a room without a toilet or proper bed, and then somebody raped her. If anyone is the ‘bad guy’ in this, it’s not her. And I wished the author would stop trying to make her into that, simply because she’s Hitler’s daughter.
Then there’s ‘the boy’. Oh, well, that certainly wasn’t a big surprise to me. The boy has a curious condition. His skin is so translucent you can see his veins, organs and what not. This is because he was born ridiculously early. Also, he’s a hermophiliac, which instantly said ‘royal family’ to me. So he’s apparently Diana’s son, but they never told her he was born alive because of his condition. We’re to believe in all this that ‘the boy’ is the good guy, and hey, he is. He’s pretty good and decent, but his treatment is such a stark contrast as to how Hitler’s daughter is treated that it made me even more angry. Why should he get all the love and care? Because his mind functions properly and his only special condition has to do with his body? Everyone deserves to be treated with the same care, regardless of who their parent is.
As you can guess, by now I was ready to torch the book. The plot was all over the place and quite frankly, made no sense at all. The book isn’t about a ghost hunter solving a paranormal mystery, as I’d hoped. The paranormal takes on such a small spot in this book it might as well not have been there. Even the haunting is random. The castle is apparenlty cursed because some lord was murdered there five hundred or more years ago. It has had a history of bloodshed and horror, and now the ghosts of the past decided to cling on to Hitler’s daughter to make their return into the world of the living. A hired assassin for the Inner Court is facing an illness and decides to kill his employers before he dies himself. His apprentice assassin gets killed by large cats stalking the territory of the castle for no reason. These cats apparently don’t work in packs, but now they do, and it’s never really explained why. All this together, you’d think there was some common ground. There isn’t. It’s like the author threw three or four random storylines together, without bothering if they worked or not. In my opinion, the book could use an entire rewrite, and maybe even cut some storylines because they offered little to nothing to the story.
Oh, and the end was so freaking confusing. SPOILERS ahead, so don’t read on if you haven’t read it yet. But Cedric Twiggs, the assassin, makes the entire castle explode by carefully-placed bombs and then goes back to the cabin, but why the heck is the decaying corpse of his apprentice there and why the heck is he still alive (zombie-alive though)? This makes absolutely NO sense. None of the other dead people in the castle come back to life either. Why he? Ugh. That’s just one of the major plot holes in this book, and I’m long done counting.
Last but not least, the writing. It took over a hundred pages for Ash just to get to the castle. The pace was slow, the writing repetitive and dense. Some of the sentences were wonderfully crafted pieces of art, but not everything needs to be described, and you don’t need half as many adjectives or adverbs as the author used in this book. Seriously. This book could’ve been easily 100 to 200 pages shorter, and the pace would’ve been much more consistent if the writing wasn’t so overly flowery and descriptive. It slowed down the pace so much that at times it was imbearable to read.
On top of that, there was no real, no real storyline, and that resulted in no real tension. For a horror or thriller novel, one of the most important parts is the tension. When I picked up this book, I fully expected to shiver in fear while reading. Alas, nothing of the sort happened. This book wasn’t scary. It wasn’t even suspenseful. It was nothing but shallow characters, a hollow plot and run-on sentences filled with adverbs.
I don’t recommend Ash to anyone, unless everything you’ve read so far sounds like you’d like to read it. But if you’re looking for a ghost story, then there are tons of books out there that are a million times better than this one. This book lacks in every single aspect, and I couldn’t find any redeeming qualities. It was a waste of twenty bucks, and a struggle to get to the end.
The plot is actually pretty simple and straightforward, which means there’s no excuse for why it takes 700+ pages to get to the end. David Ash is a seasoned ghost hunter asked to solve the gruesome mystery surrounding Cromraich Castle, a secluded fortress where one person has been brutally murdered by a ghost. Other, smaller events have happened in the castle as well and its inhabitants are terrified. Said inhabitants are a mix of wealthy people who did something wrong at one point in their lives, then vanished off the face of the earth and chose to spend their remaining days in the luxury of the castle. They’re protected by an organisation called “The Inner Court” who has roots dating back to the middle ages and blackmail material on every influential person including the royal family. Some of these people committed smaller crimes, whereas others commited full-on genocide. Not exactly the crowd I would like to mingle with, or would bother to save, but Ash doesn’t seem to mind all that much.
Parapsychologist David Ash is an intriguing and memorable main character. He struggles with a rather cliché drinking problem, and he’s lost many people he cares about. What makes him interesting was that, at the beginning of his career, he was very skeptical toward the existence of ghosts and supernatural phenomena. It was only when he saw for himself that he became a believer. I liked this aspect about him, as well as his sharp, analytical mind. Unfortunately, the rest of his personality fell flat. He’s described in such a dry, monotone way that he never came alive on the pages. He was never more than a figure in a book. Part of this is thanks to Delphine, his supposed love interest. Delphine is a psychologist and the moment Ash meets her, he falls for her. I can understand attraction, but true love at first sight? That’s so ridiculous I can’t believe a seasoned author wanted to pull that off. Also, Delphine has a problem with her lingering sexuality because at one point she spent a passionate night with her co-worker and head nurse of Cromraich castle, Rachel. She acts like she’s terribly ashamed for the act afterward, and that might very well be, but the way the author describes it comes across like A) women are only meant to be with men, and can’t have meaningful relationships with other women (mainly because during the sex scenes with Delphine and Ash, the author mentions how it finally felt right for Delphine and a whole lot of other crap like that, which makes it seem like same-sex couples are the spawn of Satan) and B) every lesbian is evil and jealous. It’s so ridiculous and offensive I couldn’t grasp why any editor would allow such crap to remain in a book.
Another problem is that the author constantly refers to the main character as “Ash”, which is his last name. It put such distance between the main character and the reader that it was almost impossible to cross the distance and get into the main character’s head. This could’ve been easily solved by calling him “David” instead. Also, David doesn’t act like an actual ghost hunter. He’s more busy probing his nose into the political mess going on at the castle than trying to solve the mystery. Talking about the mystery, it’s basically one huge joke. Nothing is ever truly solved. I don’t want to spoil the book for you, but there’s never given any actual reason for the murder at the start, and we just have to believe it happened completely randomly because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. We’re given a stupid, annoying, ignorant, offensive explanation half-way through of how it is that the dark forces only gathered in Cromraich after hundreds of years, and at that point I was ready to rip my hair out. But more about that later: let’s focus back on the characters first.
Delphine suffers from major Mary Sue syndrom. She’s perfect. Except that she’s useless and a waste of pages. She has no purpose in the book except to cling to Ash’s arm and cry for help, and make for some disgusting sex scenes I skipped through. I had serious problems with Ash falling for her right away, and vice versa, as well. That’s just not believable. Especially since this book is for adults, and I expect a thirty or forty something man (I have no idea how old Ash is) to know better than to fall for someone right away. Especially since he’s supposedly gone through all this crap with past lovers. Anyway, I was kind of hoping something big would be revealed and Delphine would be on the bad side all along, but alas. Such clever plot devices clearly weren’t thought of during the writing of this book.
The second problem was that the author suffered from “God-syndrome”. He wanted to look into the mind of all occupants of Cromraich Castle. He switches perspective from Ash to one of the inhabitants every so often. We get into the mind of people like Ubuntu and Khadaffi, and it doesn’t help the plot one bit. If anything, it slows it down. I don’t want to look into these people’s mind – it adds nothing to the story. I want to know what Ash is thinking and what he’s doing, because by the end I had the feeling he hadn’t been doing much to solve the mystery.
Also, the people in the castle are clearly retarded, and with that I’m not meaning the ‘lunatics’ held in custody in the subbasement of the castle, but the staff and leaders. Seriously? If you have people suffering from mental illnesses, you do not stuff them in a basement in inhumane circumstances, in tiny rooms with no sunlight, barely any food or accomodations. We’re 2013, and shit like that, THANKFULLY, doesn’t happen anymore. The people staying at Cromraich pay enormous amounts of money to stay there or have their loved ones stay there, so I doubt any single one of them would be happy to know they’re kept like rats in a cage and treated worse than animals. When I came to these passages, I wanted to burn the book. I’ve never come that close to burning a book either. And you’d think that, even if the people doing these terrible, terrible things were evil enough to do them, at least Ash or Delphine, near-perfect Delphine, would try to stop them. But no. The moment Ash finds his way into the subbasement, he gets attacked by almost feral ‘lunatics’ who somehow managed to escape their cells. It would’ve been better if the author, before writing this utter ridiculous piece of crap, would’ve bothered to visit a contemporary asylum and see the workings there. I can’t believe anyone, even someone as powerful as the Inner Court, would get away with threating their patients like that nowadays. And I think Ash, as opposed to being a brave ghost hunter, is in fact the world’s biggest coward for not trying to do something about it.
Next up is the supposed culprit of the haunting. I’m going to start giving out some spoilers, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know them. It wasn’t that surprising though. The culprit is actually Hitler’s daughter, born from an affair he had with an English woman. Turns out that not only was his offspring a girl, but she was also handicapped. She has an ‘enormous head’, which makes me think maybe she has Down’s syndrome. In any case, she’s been held in a small, confined room in the subbasement without any sunlight or company ever since she was born. And the staff is SURPRISED that she tries to attack them. During this entire book, she’s painted as the ‘bad guy’, and I wonder why. At some point she was raped and gave birth to a baby. Nobody even saw the baby, except when it was dead. I can’t imagine what that poor girl must’ve gone through. She probably had no idea what was going on, and she did try her best. But then the author comes and adds some more gruesome details, trying to paint her as the bad guy in all this. She was an innocent child, and the staff of Cromraich decided to experiment on her, lock her up in a room without a toilet or proper bed, and then somebody raped her. If anyone is the ‘bad guy’ in this, it’s not her. And I wished the author would stop trying to make her into that, simply because she’s Hitler’s daughter.
Then there’s ‘the boy’. Oh, well, that certainly wasn’t a big surprise to me. The boy has a curious condition. His skin is so translucent you can see his veins, organs and what not. This is because he was born ridiculously early. Also, he’s a hermophiliac, which instantly said ‘royal family’ to me. So he’s apparently Diana’s son, but they never told her he was born alive because of his condition. We’re to believe in all this that ‘the boy’ is the good guy, and hey, he is. He’s pretty good and decent, but his treatment is such a stark contrast as to how Hitler’s daughter is treated that it made me even more angry. Why should he get all the love and care? Because his mind functions properly and his only special condition has to do with his body? Everyone deserves to be treated with the same care, regardless of who their parent is.
As you can guess, by now I was ready to torch the book. The plot was all over the place and quite frankly, made no sense at all. The book isn’t about a ghost hunter solving a paranormal mystery, as I’d hoped. The paranormal takes on such a small spot in this book it might as well not have been there. Even the haunting is random. The castle is apparenlty cursed because some lord was murdered there five hundred or more years ago. It has had a history of bloodshed and horror, and now the ghosts of the past decided to cling on to Hitler’s daughter to make their return into the world of the living. A hired assassin for the Inner Court is facing an illness and decides to kill his employers before he dies himself. His apprentice assassin gets killed by large cats stalking the territory of the castle for no reason. These cats apparently don’t work in packs, but now they do, and it’s never really explained why. All this together, you’d think there was some common ground. There isn’t. It’s like the author threw three or four random storylines together, without bothering if they worked or not. In my opinion, the book could use an entire rewrite, and maybe even cut some storylines because they offered little to nothing to the story.
Oh, and the end was so freaking confusing. SPOILERS ahead, so don’t read on if you haven’t read it yet. But Cedric Twiggs, the assassin, makes the entire castle explode by carefully-placed bombs and then goes back to the cabin, but why the heck is the decaying corpse of his apprentice there and why the heck is he still alive (zombie-alive though)? This makes absolutely NO sense. None of the other dead people in the castle come back to life either. Why he? Ugh. That’s just one of the major plot holes in this book, and I’m long done counting.
Last but not least, the writing. It took over a hundred pages for Ash just to get to the castle. The pace was slow, the writing repetitive and dense. Some of the sentences were wonderfully crafted pieces of art, but not everything needs to be described, and you don’t need half as many adjectives or adverbs as the author used in this book. Seriously. This book could’ve been easily 100 to 200 pages shorter, and the pace would’ve been much more consistent if the writing wasn’t so overly flowery and descriptive. It slowed down the pace so much that at times it was imbearable to read.
On top of that, there was no real, no real storyline, and that resulted in no real tension. For a horror or thriller novel, one of the most important parts is the tension. When I picked up this book, I fully expected to shiver in fear while reading. Alas, nothing of the sort happened. This book wasn’t scary. It wasn’t even suspenseful. It was nothing but shallow characters, a hollow plot and run-on sentences filled with adverbs.
I don’t recommend Ash to anyone, unless everything you’ve read so far sounds like you’d like to read it. But if you’re looking for a ghost story, then there are tons of books out there that are a million times better than this one. This book lacks in every single aspect, and I couldn’t find any redeeming qualities. It was a waste of twenty bucks, and a struggle to get to the end.
June 24, 2015
This was the first ever James Herbert book I've read and I'll definitely be going back for more. I actually didn't realise this was part of a series, but apart from some references, it did well as a stand alone book. I bought this before reading and researching the reviews on here. But frankly, I'm glad I did that. I'd have been put off by a lot of the reviews on here, and I'd have missed out on a book that I really enjoyed. And seeing as I hadn't read any of his work before, I had nothing for a comparison.
Okay, so some of the sex scenes were cringy, but I basically find all sex scenes in books to be cringy and awkward. (So as you can guess, I don't read lovey dovey romance or super lust filled stuff as I'd likely projectile vomit onto the pages) gross image, I know. I found the story overall to be incredibly intriguing and I genuinely wanted to keep turning the pages. Apparently it was his most controversial book. That definitely made me want to read it more. I can see why it might be seen as slightly controversial, *no spoilers*, but it would only seem possibly 'damaging' to certain people mentioned in the book. (People who've read this, please tell me that last comment actually makes sense, as I don't want to post spoilers?!) Some of the descriptions and paragraphs could have been left out, but the same goes for plenty of other books out there.
One interesting thing I've learnt since getting Goodreads regards the reviews books receive. So far, out of the books I've read that have had generally bad reviews, I've only agreed with them on one occasion. Granted the book in question had an average rating of below 3 stars, but the point stands: while reviews may be helpful, if something has a mixed response and you like the sound of it, go for it.
Okay, so some of the sex scenes were cringy, but I basically find all sex scenes in books to be cringy and awkward. (So as you can guess, I don't read lovey dovey romance or super lust filled stuff as I'd likely projectile vomit onto the pages) gross image, I know. I found the story overall to be incredibly intriguing and I genuinely wanted to keep turning the pages. Apparently it was his most controversial book. That definitely made me want to read it more. I can see why it might be seen as slightly controversial, *no spoilers*, but it would only seem possibly 'damaging' to certain people mentioned in the book. (People who've read this, please tell me that last comment actually makes sense, as I don't want to post spoilers?!) Some of the descriptions and paragraphs could have been left out, but the same goes for plenty of other books out there.
One interesting thing I've learnt since getting Goodreads regards the reviews books receive. So far, out of the books I've read that have had generally bad reviews, I've only agreed with them on one occasion. Granted the book in question had an average rating of below 3 stars, but the point stands: while reviews may be helpful, if something has a mixed response and you like the sound of it, go for it.
September 12, 2012
If I could give more than 5 stars I would as this is James Herbert at his greatest!
The third in the David Ash series but equally the third that can be read as stand alone books.
David Ash is a renowned Parapsychologist who is asked to investigate the seemingly supernatural murder of a guest in a remote castle in the farthest reaches of Scotland. The whole premise being pre-empted by signing a contract of utmost secrecy about all his findings. Something which is utterly unheard of in the society he works for.
The castle is a retreat for the heads of society and those rich enough to afford any scandal. David soon realises the kind of patronage includes those members of society that have needed to escape the prying ever present media. Bringing back to life many cold conspiracy theories he had long since forgotten.
This is not the only evil lingering in and around the castle grounds. A brooding and malicious event is conjuring strength from someone or something and it's David's job to stop it, if he can.
An amazing piece of writing from the master of British horror, filled with macabre musings and un fettered humour. I honestly didn't want to finish this book but couldn't stop greedily turning the pages.
The third in the David Ash series but equally the third that can be read as stand alone books.
David Ash is a renowned Parapsychologist who is asked to investigate the seemingly supernatural murder of a guest in a remote castle in the farthest reaches of Scotland. The whole premise being pre-empted by signing a contract of utmost secrecy about all his findings. Something which is utterly unheard of in the society he works for.
The castle is a retreat for the heads of society and those rich enough to afford any scandal. David soon realises the kind of patronage includes those members of society that have needed to escape the prying ever present media. Bringing back to life many cold conspiracy theories he had long since forgotten.
This is not the only evil lingering in and around the castle grounds. A brooding and malicious event is conjuring strength from someone or something and it's David's job to stop it, if he can.
An amazing piece of writing from the master of British horror, filled with macabre musings and un fettered humour. I honestly didn't want to finish this book but couldn't stop greedily turning the pages.
November 4, 2025
’There are dark forces at work in this country about which we know little’.
- Queen Elizabeth II (allegedly)
I found this even more outrageous the second time around! And I don’t mean ‘outrageous’ as in doing a ‘Karen’ outrageous, I mean, it was hugely entertaining! 😂 You did a great job Mr H, even though it was completely OTT and far from perfect.
‘Ash’ is without a doubt, a most CONTROVERSIAL story, but pass me the salt, I’ll take a big pinch.
I wonder if any “VIP’s” (Governments/the Royals/people with obscene amounts of wealth/power) have read this! 🤔 Because, well, hell, these revelations are damning - they’d be adding it to a banned book list if they knew what really went on at Balmoral…*coughs*, I mean… Comraich Castle, Christ alive*! (Among others..)
*Jesus wasn’t actually in this, that’s just me trying to get to grips with writing this review.
Anyway, my take? For starters, it could’ve done with some serious editing. The final chaotic scenes just went on and on and on. But even so, Herbert’s last novel was an absolute BELTER. He literally went out with a BANG! 💥
’I could cheerfully shoot the guy who wrote those bloody horror books about rats’, said Ash mildly’.
5 ⭐️ - Brilliant. I loved it.
- Queen Elizabeth II (allegedly)
I found this even more outrageous the second time around! And I don’t mean ‘outrageous’ as in doing a ‘Karen’ outrageous, I mean, it was hugely entertaining! 😂 You did a great job Mr H, even though it was completely OTT and far from perfect.
‘Ash’ is without a doubt, a most CONTROVERSIAL story, but pass me the salt, I’ll take a big pinch.
I wonder if any “VIP’s” (Governments/the Royals/people with obscene amounts of wealth/power) have read this! 🤔 Because, well, hell, these revelations are damning - they’d be adding it to a banned book list if they knew what really went on at Balmoral…*coughs*, I mean… Comraich Castle, Christ alive*! (Among others..)
*Jesus wasn’t actually in this, that’s just me trying to get to grips with writing this review.
Anyway, my take? For starters, it could’ve done with some serious editing. The final chaotic scenes just went on and on and on. But even so, Herbert’s last novel was an absolute BELTER. He literally went out with a BANG! 💥
’I could cheerfully shoot the guy who wrote those bloody horror books about rats’, said Ash mildly’.
5 ⭐️ - Brilliant. I loved it.
July 14, 2018
In his final published novel before his death, James Herbert returns with his third novel featuring David Ash, the sometimes skeptical and haunted psychic investigator. This time, Ash is summoned to a mysterious castle in coastal Scotland where strange and bizarre occurrences have left both caretakers and tenants puzzled and terrified. But Comraich Castle has a dark past and holds dark secrets, which Ash believes may hold the key to the current events. However, even his adept abilities and skills may be not be enough to solve the mystery and stop the unimaginable horror from wreaking its final deadly havoc.
Quite simply, while Herbert may have often been referred to as Britain's version of Stephen King, he was one of the best storytellers of horror and a must read.
Highest of recommendations!
Quite simply, while Herbert may have often been referred to as Britain's version of Stephen King, he was one of the best storytellers of horror and a must read.
Highest of recommendations!
June 9, 2023
This is the second time reading this book. I actually listened to it this time and enjoyed it a little more. I've been a massive fan of JH work from reading them as a young adult & feel this is a favourite. Sure, some of the characters are clichéd but you cannot beat JH,s skill of writing dark and haunting tales.
October 5, 2024
I really enjoyed this series and I think James Herbert was a talented author. However, this book, even though it turned out good, could have been a little shorter. And I only say that because it took nearly 300 pages before I got really interested in it. That being said and out of the way I do not regret hanging in there and finishing. David Ash will be a memorable character and I was very pleased at how things turned out for him.
February 13, 2022
What a mess of a book. What a disappointment. And (with dripping sarcasm) what a fucking surprise.
The days of proclaiming myself a fan of James Herbert are long since gone. I haven't read a good book by him since 2013 (the year this was published, incidentally). Indeed, of the now ten books I have read by this silly, ugly man, I only really enjoyed two of them. Fluke, the story of a murdered man reincarnated as a dog, is a brilliant novel. The other one - partly the reason I actually had higher hopes for Ash - was the second in the David Asshole series: that is The Ghosts of Sleath. I remember finding that book terrifying when I read it back in 2010 or something. But even there I now have my serious doubts it was actually good. I fear if I read it again now, I would like it a lot less. It was my first time reading Herbert after all; as a less mature reader (and one who still primarily liked horror fiction, from which I have long since grown out of) I was wooed by his excessive and graphic violence, his insanely detailed sex scenes, his attractive writing style, and what appeared to be a highly adequate ability to actually, genuinely frighten. Of that last point, few popular horror authors actually do manage to properly scare me. Stephen King can do it pretty consistently, Stoker and Blatty are masterful in Dracula and The Exorcist respectively, and even (dare I say it) Dean Koontz, when he isn't writing abysmal novels, has gotten under my skin occasionally. Parts of his Watchers and much of From the Corner of His Eye were bloody intense.
But now, having read so much more of Herbert's work, his stuff just gets older and less impactful every time. Maybe he is a perfect example of why working with extremes (in either terror or violence) doesn't pay off in the end, because eventually readers just become desensitised and it all starts to feel cartoonish. I think it is this - and also the fact Herbert so rarely shakes things up and surprises his readers - that has gradually turned me off him. That he has never once strayed from writing horror (with the sole exception of Fluke, which still has half a foot in the genre to be honest) makes any comparison between him and Stephen King one of the most detestably stupid ideas tossed around between certain readers and critics.
And yet, I continue, every second or third year, to read this guy's books. It's become more of a lark at this point. Have a disappointing experience with one of his mediocre novels, avoid him for at least a year, then finally return thinking surely he must have a few more worthwhile stories out there. He is, after all, one of Britain's "most celebrated authors".
I always tend to give Herbert the benefit of the doubt, because he isn't by any means a terrible writer technically speaking. Pretty economical, but not without flair or flow. And as always, I started this book genuinely wanting to be thrilled, rather than have my dislike of him further confirmed. But still, kind of like reading trashy rubbish by the likes of John Saul, Herbert books are more of a "see how long it takes before he fucks it up" kind of situation.
And, despite my high hopes for this one (his last book before dying, and in many ways a bloated homage to many of his former works), Ash raises its red flags almost immediately. We are reintroduced to the painfully morose David (poor cliche of a man is the ghostbuster version of any cardboard-cutout detective with a troubled mind, a traumatic past, and of course an alcohol addiction). His boss and her contact have decided to send him back into the field with a compelling case that cannot fail to arouse his curiosity. An ancient castle in remote Scotland, where something terrifying has recently transpired. I was eager to see what creepy kind of happenings were going on. But the lure floats on the surface like a dead fish ...
Apparently, as the staff were having dinner, the lights began waning, then flared up again. They did this several times. And a mysterious mist began permeating the castle. Fucking yawn. I mean, seriously.
But I'm being a little facetious. There was also, it soon transpires, a random death where a man was held to the wall and crucified by ghosts. But really, in this day and age of gruesome, Conjuring-level jump scares, is that really the best Britain's No. 1 horror author can come up with? In the context of modern horror, it's so pedestrian it isn't funny. And no, I'm not saying crucifixion is any less brutal a way to die in the 21st century. As a Christian that is not my meaning at all. I just mean, with clear distinction between the real-life torture and execution of Jesus, and the mind-bending level of violence we see even in movie trailers for unrealistic horror fiction these days, it hardly makes for a mouth-dropping moment.
But apparently it does for David Ash, ever the cynic by words alone, and off he goes to this bullshit castle which is basically just a lamer version of Shutter Island, containing way too many famous (and presumed dead) evil men throughout history. And the story just trips over itself in so many ways.
I need not bother detailing the plot any further. Suffice to say that throughout its 700 pages, with banal and one-dimensional characters, a piss-weak plot, overlong action sequences, hyperbolic reactions to things that aren't even scary and make Ash, the hardened parapsychologist, look like a pussy (he shakes uncontrollably when he sees a tunnel full of spiderwebs), cheap homophobia and sexism even I (a despiser of political correctness) found offensive, absurdly indulgent cameos from famous people, overlong but boring sex, incest, blasphemy, stereotypes and cringey monarchist adulation, cheesy self-homages, predictable twists, illogical writing and immoral treatment of the mentally disabled ... well, let's put it gently and just say this book left a little room for improvement.
David Ash is such an asshole, and a dumbshit. After signing two serious confidentiality agreements, his boss lets him in on some secrets about the people he's going to be working for - oh, they're just some highly secretive behind-the-scenes organisation like the Illuminati (or Opus Dei, that dreaded conservative Catholic group Dan Brown has made the world stupidly terrified of) - and there's David just advertising the fact he knows all this shit about them, trying to stir them up and greatly reducing any reason for them wanting to let him leave in the first place - hell, I'm surprised they didn't put a cap in his boss's head for clearly spilling the beans.
He's such a condescending asshole to everyone - except the girl he falls instantly in love with once he meets her on the plane. Their instalove thing was just pathetic. What was James Herbert on when he wrote this nonsense? And Ash is apparently traumatised, but there's nothing to actually demonstrate this. He's just your typical everyman hero who always knows what to say and what to do in any situation. And yet, despite being a cynical prick, be fawns over the royal family and the institutions of the country like nothing else. Herbert's old-world conservatism has never shone through stronger than it does in this book. And there's nothing wrong with being pro-Thatcher or or having the Queen's face on your dinner plate or anything. Hell, I'm a right-of-centre conservative who thinks Thatcher gets a bad wrap. But my God, it gets cringey and seems so out of character for David Ash.
Like, shit, there is so much I hated about this novel. It's one of those books where you could comb through the entire thing and point out a million flaws and explain how fucking stupid it all is. But this review is already way too long, so I will just get a few random other things I hated off my chest.
1. Delphine sucked. She was the most boring and useless heroine I have had to endure for a long time. So perfect and so physically "well-proportioned" that even in the height of danger, David can't help frothing over how sexy she is. And to spice things up even more, she's a lesbian. Well, she had wild sex with one of the female nurses once, just so Herbert can salivate over that idea - but from a distance, so that he can also play the finger-waving anti-lezzo moralist as well ("It was an abberation," she cries). And aside from being really hot, Delphine just cowers in Ash's arms and cries about rats and spiders and bats and other scary things no woman can handle. She's like Tanya Roberts in A View to a Kill. In 2013, I'm surprised Herbert got away with this.
2. Nurse Krantz. The jilted lesbian. She was also like a James Bond character - the one-dimensional villainous sidekick. And a rip-off of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Never mind the fact she had red hair. I couldn't help picturing her as Louise Fletcher and so just stopped trying not to. And what a terrible character she was. All she does (100% honest) is scowl at David, even before he's done anything to annoy her. Again, Britian's "most celebrated author".
3. David punches Nurse Krantz in the face and breaks her nose. This is questionable enough in the first place, and Herbert tries to justify it by saying the evil influences in the castle made him do it and he feels guilty for having struck a woman. But this is total bullshit because, I kid you not, every single goddamned time Ash sees her with a bandage over her face, and her voice comes out all nasally, after this, he can hardly keep himself from giggling. Or else he and Delphine share a "conspiratorial" glance or wink at each other. You're an asshole, David. Ugly lesbian or not, you punched a woman in the face and you're grinning like a school-kid over it.
4. The one character I actually liked - Andrew Deriman - was killed for daring to do something decent for someone else. In itself I wouldn't have minded this - it actually made me feel something aside from anger for once in the story - but it's passed over so quickly that it feels disrespectful and unfair. He even has an "almost comical" expression on his face when he dies.
5. So much time is spent on random one-off characters we don't care about - bullshit character portraits for people with absolutely no significance to the story.
6. There aren't even any ghosts in this story!! Just some shit about ley lines and evil influences in the air. I don't know why so many British authors are obsessed with ley lines. I hate them. They're boring and stupid. There is literally one ghost at the very end, but given the lack of them everywhere else, this singular appearance makes no bloody sense.
7. It was way too long. The last hundred pages of David's escape from the castle are painfully thorough. If I used those two last words to describe a rectal examination, I would be close to describing Hell.
8. So many plot elements are introduced but no follow-up or closure is ever given. Not even Ash's character gets any kind of closure at the end. For fuck's sake, this feels like an unedited first draft.
9. Herbert makes a lame inside joke about his novel, The Rats. If I had been digging the story, I might have chuckled at this wink to the reader. But I wasn't, so I didn't. It was self-indulgent and came off like he was sucking his own dick.
10. Louis sucks. Why is his character so normal? You'd think being locked up in a tower all his life would have messed him around a bit. But all Herbert's good guys are boringly ordinary - that's the only way he can attempt to make them in any way likable. And haemophiliac my ass. Not after those last hundred pages of scrounging over rocks and shit.
11. Even at his old age, Herbert never seems to have had sex far from his mind. Even when Ash is in the dungeons with the mental patients (literally referred to as "lunatics" and "retards" in the enlightened year of 2013), one old women has her garment slip down, revealing her massive breasts. Ever the gentleman, David throws the exposed women into the throng of brain-dead "crazies", using her gang-rape and probable death as a convenient distraction. What a nice man.
And there are more. So many more.
So why on earth did I give this two stars, and not one?
Well, I came so close. Sooo close, my friends. Indeed, I give it two with great reluctance. But even with the copious flaws and issues this book has - even though I can wholeheartedly say it was absolutely awful and it scares me that many people actually like it - there is one, very tiny thing that saves it from that worst of ratings.
It is rarely boring. Now fuck off, James.
The days of proclaiming myself a fan of James Herbert are long since gone. I haven't read a good book by him since 2013 (the year this was published, incidentally). Indeed, of the now ten books I have read by this silly, ugly man, I only really enjoyed two of them. Fluke, the story of a murdered man reincarnated as a dog, is a brilliant novel. The other one - partly the reason I actually had higher hopes for Ash - was the second in the David Asshole series: that is The Ghosts of Sleath. I remember finding that book terrifying when I read it back in 2010 or something. But even there I now have my serious doubts it was actually good. I fear if I read it again now, I would like it a lot less. It was my first time reading Herbert after all; as a less mature reader (and one who still primarily liked horror fiction, from which I have long since grown out of) I was wooed by his excessive and graphic violence, his insanely detailed sex scenes, his attractive writing style, and what appeared to be a highly adequate ability to actually, genuinely frighten. Of that last point, few popular horror authors actually do manage to properly scare me. Stephen King can do it pretty consistently, Stoker and Blatty are masterful in Dracula and The Exorcist respectively, and even (dare I say it) Dean Koontz, when he isn't writing abysmal novels, has gotten under my skin occasionally. Parts of his Watchers and much of From the Corner of His Eye were bloody intense.
But now, having read so much more of Herbert's work, his stuff just gets older and less impactful every time. Maybe he is a perfect example of why working with extremes (in either terror or violence) doesn't pay off in the end, because eventually readers just become desensitised and it all starts to feel cartoonish. I think it is this - and also the fact Herbert so rarely shakes things up and surprises his readers - that has gradually turned me off him. That he has never once strayed from writing horror (with the sole exception of Fluke, which still has half a foot in the genre to be honest) makes any comparison between him and Stephen King one of the most detestably stupid ideas tossed around between certain readers and critics.
And yet, I continue, every second or third year, to read this guy's books. It's become more of a lark at this point. Have a disappointing experience with one of his mediocre novels, avoid him for at least a year, then finally return thinking surely he must have a few more worthwhile stories out there. He is, after all, one of Britain's "most celebrated authors".
I always tend to give Herbert the benefit of the doubt, because he isn't by any means a terrible writer technically speaking. Pretty economical, but not without flair or flow. And as always, I started this book genuinely wanting to be thrilled, rather than have my dislike of him further confirmed. But still, kind of like reading trashy rubbish by the likes of John Saul, Herbert books are more of a "see how long it takes before he fucks it up" kind of situation.
And, despite my high hopes for this one (his last book before dying, and in many ways a bloated homage to many of his former works), Ash raises its red flags almost immediately. We are reintroduced to the painfully morose David (poor cliche of a man is the ghostbuster version of any cardboard-cutout detective with a troubled mind, a traumatic past, and of course an alcohol addiction). His boss and her contact have decided to send him back into the field with a compelling case that cannot fail to arouse his curiosity. An ancient castle in remote Scotland, where something terrifying has recently transpired. I was eager to see what creepy kind of happenings were going on. But the lure floats on the surface like a dead fish ...
Apparently, as the staff were having dinner, the lights began waning, then flared up again. They did this several times. And a mysterious mist began permeating the castle. Fucking yawn. I mean, seriously.
But I'm being a little facetious. There was also, it soon transpires, a random death where a man was held to the wall and crucified by ghosts. But really, in this day and age of gruesome, Conjuring-level jump scares, is that really the best Britain's No. 1 horror author can come up with? In the context of modern horror, it's so pedestrian it isn't funny. And no, I'm not saying crucifixion is any less brutal a way to die in the 21st century. As a Christian that is not my meaning at all. I just mean, with clear distinction between the real-life torture and execution of Jesus, and the mind-bending level of violence we see even in movie trailers for unrealistic horror fiction these days, it hardly makes for a mouth-dropping moment.
But apparently it does for David Ash, ever the cynic by words alone, and off he goes to this bullshit castle which is basically just a lamer version of Shutter Island, containing way too many famous (and presumed dead) evil men throughout history. And the story just trips over itself in so many ways.
I need not bother detailing the plot any further. Suffice to say that throughout its 700 pages, with banal and one-dimensional characters, a piss-weak plot, overlong action sequences, hyperbolic reactions to things that aren't even scary and make Ash, the hardened parapsychologist, look like a pussy (he shakes uncontrollably when he sees a tunnel full of spiderwebs), cheap homophobia and sexism even I (a despiser of political correctness) found offensive, absurdly indulgent cameos from famous people, overlong but boring sex, incest, blasphemy, stereotypes and cringey monarchist adulation, cheesy self-homages, predictable twists, illogical writing and immoral treatment of the mentally disabled ... well, let's put it gently and just say this book left a little room for improvement.
David Ash is such an asshole, and a dumbshit. After signing two serious confidentiality agreements, his boss lets him in on some secrets about the people he's going to be working for - oh, they're just some highly secretive behind-the-scenes organisation like the Illuminati (or Opus Dei, that dreaded conservative Catholic group Dan Brown has made the world stupidly terrified of) - and there's David just advertising the fact he knows all this shit about them, trying to stir them up and greatly reducing any reason for them wanting to let him leave in the first place - hell, I'm surprised they didn't put a cap in his boss's head for clearly spilling the beans.
He's such a condescending asshole to everyone - except the girl he falls instantly in love with once he meets her on the plane. Their instalove thing was just pathetic. What was James Herbert on when he wrote this nonsense? And Ash is apparently traumatised, but there's nothing to actually demonstrate this. He's just your typical everyman hero who always knows what to say and what to do in any situation. And yet, despite being a cynical prick, be fawns over the royal family and the institutions of the country like nothing else. Herbert's old-world conservatism has never shone through stronger than it does in this book. And there's nothing wrong with being pro-Thatcher or or having the Queen's face on your dinner plate or anything. Hell, I'm a right-of-centre conservative who thinks Thatcher gets a bad wrap. But my God, it gets cringey and seems so out of character for David Ash.
Like, shit, there is so much I hated about this novel. It's one of those books where you could comb through the entire thing and point out a million flaws and explain how fucking stupid it all is. But this review is already way too long, so I will just get a few random other things I hated off my chest.
1. Delphine sucked. She was the most boring and useless heroine I have had to endure for a long time. So perfect and so physically "well-proportioned" that even in the height of danger, David can't help frothing over how sexy she is. And to spice things up even more, she's a lesbian. Well, she had wild sex with one of the female nurses once, just so Herbert can salivate over that idea - but from a distance, so that he can also play the finger-waving anti-lezzo moralist as well ("It was an abberation," she cries). And aside from being really hot, Delphine just cowers in Ash's arms and cries about rats and spiders and bats and other scary things no woman can handle. She's like Tanya Roberts in A View to a Kill. In 2013, I'm surprised Herbert got away with this.
2. Nurse Krantz. The jilted lesbian. She was also like a James Bond character - the one-dimensional villainous sidekick. And a rip-off of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Never mind the fact she had red hair. I couldn't help picturing her as Louise Fletcher and so just stopped trying not to. And what a terrible character she was. All she does (100% honest) is scowl at David, even before he's done anything to annoy her. Again, Britian's "most celebrated author".
3. David punches Nurse Krantz in the face and breaks her nose. This is questionable enough in the first place, and Herbert tries to justify it by saying the evil influences in the castle made him do it and he feels guilty for having struck a woman. But this is total bullshit because, I kid you not, every single goddamned time Ash sees her with a bandage over her face, and her voice comes out all nasally, after this, he can hardly keep himself from giggling. Or else he and Delphine share a "conspiratorial" glance or wink at each other. You're an asshole, David. Ugly lesbian or not, you punched a woman in the face and you're grinning like a school-kid over it.
4. The one character I actually liked - Andrew Deriman - was killed for daring to do something decent for someone else. In itself I wouldn't have minded this - it actually made me feel something aside from anger for once in the story - but it's passed over so quickly that it feels disrespectful and unfair. He even has an "almost comical" expression on his face when he dies.
5. So much time is spent on random one-off characters we don't care about - bullshit character portraits for people with absolutely no significance to the story.
6. There aren't even any ghosts in this story!! Just some shit about ley lines and evil influences in the air. I don't know why so many British authors are obsessed with ley lines. I hate them. They're boring and stupid. There is literally one ghost at the very end, but given the lack of them everywhere else, this singular appearance makes no bloody sense.
7. It was way too long. The last hundred pages of David's escape from the castle are painfully thorough. If I used those two last words to describe a rectal examination, I would be close to describing Hell.
8. So many plot elements are introduced but no follow-up or closure is ever given. Not even Ash's character gets any kind of closure at the end. For fuck's sake, this feels like an unedited first draft.
9. Herbert makes a lame inside joke about his novel, The Rats. If I had been digging the story, I might have chuckled at this wink to the reader. But I wasn't, so I didn't. It was self-indulgent and came off like he was sucking his own dick.
10. Louis sucks. Why is his character so normal? You'd think being locked up in a tower all his life would have messed him around a bit. But all Herbert's good guys are boringly ordinary - that's the only way he can attempt to make them in any way likable. And haemophiliac my ass. Not after those last hundred pages of scrounging over rocks and shit.
11. Even at his old age, Herbert never seems to have had sex far from his mind. Even when Ash is in the dungeons with the mental patients (literally referred to as "lunatics" and "retards" in the enlightened year of 2013), one old women has her garment slip down, revealing her massive breasts. Ever the gentleman, David throws the exposed women into the throng of brain-dead "crazies", using her gang-rape and probable death as a convenient distraction. What a nice man.
And there are more. So many more.
So why on earth did I give this two stars, and not one?
Well, I came so close. Sooo close, my friends. Indeed, I give it two with great reluctance. But even with the copious flaws and issues this book has - even though I can wholeheartedly say it was absolutely awful and it scares me that many people actually like it - there is one, very tiny thing that saves it from that worst of ratings.
It is rarely boring. Now fuck off, James.
July 14, 2020
Honestly, the book started out not so great. So I decided to read part 1 only.
And wow towards the ending it got better and better...
David Ash, a parapsychologist(if you don't know what that means google it ;) arrives at Comraich Castle on a mission to investigate about mysterious events happening there. A curse made a long time ago, is now unleashed by the evil of those who live there. And the evil people's life is at stake. Will Ash be able to save them? Is the curse going to affect in any way towards Ash?
Some questions that I thought when reaching the end of part 1. So I read part 2.
Annnndddd it was amazing!!! Well if I describe it might be a spoiler so I better not!! Well, it is a really good book and I hope I get to read all other books by James Herbert.
And wow towards the ending it got better and better...
David Ash, a parapsychologist(if you don't know what that means google it ;) arrives at Comraich Castle on a mission to investigate about mysterious events happening there. A curse made a long time ago, is now unleashed by the evil of those who live there. And the evil people's life is at stake. Will Ash be able to save them? Is the curse going to affect in any way towards Ash?
Some questions that I thought when reaching the end of part 1. So I read part 2.
Annnndddd it was amazing!!! Well if I describe it might be a spoiler so I better not!! Well, it is a really good book and I hope I get to read all other books by James Herbert.
May 2, 2023
Wow what an end to a trilogy, loved all the twists and turns, the romance, the paranormal and the castles. This author has major skill in pure darkness
April 23, 2013
Cannot believe in the time ive bought and read this the author passed away - ive grown up reading James Herbert and my mum loves him too, so sad. (also spooky reference to Maggie Thatcher within the book who also died whilst i was reading it!!)
However that said, I thought it was a real disappointment, far too drawn out. More like a travel guide for Comraich and surrounding areas. Good ideas but too many to give them real depth or credence at all and it went off all over the place with a frantic mopping up of characters near the end to try and tie things together. Never before felt so cheated on the last page. Its a week of reading I really did not enjoy but can never put a book down once ive started.
Dont want to spoil saying this so dont read if you going to give it a go - a few sloppy mistakes, Delphine calling Lewis Louis before she knew it was his real name. How did Louis know what a piggy back was? And for someone who had been locked away in a tower since birth and almost totally uneducated he had a marvelous command of the english language, his manners were impeccable and his social skills amazing given his past - with the hint that this was due to who his mother was? Sudden appearance of more wild cats (missed by the marksmen) and the zombie in the cottage...well what can I say. Would have enjoyed a more sticky end for one of the most interesting characters, Cedric Twigg.
Love you James and many many of your books over the years. This one just doesnt seem to have your stamp on it
However that said, I thought it was a real disappointment, far too drawn out. More like a travel guide for Comraich and surrounding areas. Good ideas but too many to give them real depth or credence at all and it went off all over the place with a frantic mopping up of characters near the end to try and tie things together. Never before felt so cheated on the last page. Its a week of reading I really did not enjoy but can never put a book down once ive started.
Dont want to spoil saying this so dont read if you going to give it a go - a few sloppy mistakes, Delphine calling Lewis Louis before she knew it was his real name. How did Louis know what a piggy back was? And for someone who had been locked away in a tower since birth and almost totally uneducated he had a marvelous command of the english language, his manners were impeccable and his social skills amazing given his past - with the hint that this was due to who his mother was? Sudden appearance of more wild cats (missed by the marksmen) and the zombie in the cottage...well what can I say. Would have enjoyed a more sticky end for one of the most interesting characters, Cedric Twigg.
Love you James and many many of your books over the years. This one just doesnt seem to have your stamp on it
February 27, 2016
This was actually the first James Herbert book I read meaning I ended the Ash stories before even starting them. With that being said it is possible to read the books in any order without needing any prior knowledge. The one point I would make is that if you start here and then go back there are references in this book which ruin some aspects of the past books (in which you know what will happen before it does).
It is a wonderful piece in itself, keeping you interested from start until end. David Ash is a really loveable character (one of my favourites of all time, in fact) and out of his three stories this is by far my favourite. With your mind being filled with questions from the very start, curious to find out what the truth of the story is. There are those moments of heartbreak but overall it isn’t as heart-breaking as some of the books I have worked my way through, with those moments of lightness which brought a smile to my face.
Once I started reading I found it next to impossible to put it down. A few people I suggested it to were put off by the length of it but it is very much worth it.
It is a wonderful piece in itself, keeping you interested from start until end. David Ash is a really loveable character (one of my favourites of all time, in fact) and out of his three stories this is by far my favourite. With your mind being filled with questions from the very start, curious to find out what the truth of the story is. There are those moments of heartbreak but overall it isn’t as heart-breaking as some of the books I have worked my way through, with those moments of lightness which brought a smile to my face.
Once I started reading I found it next to impossible to put it down. A few people I suggested it to were put off by the length of it but it is very much worth it.
May 12, 2013
It's sad to think that there will be no more David Ash adventures, with Mr. Herbert's passing, but if a series had to end, this was a pretty good ending to it. Long, quite massive in fact, about the size of the first two Ash books combined, this was a bit slow to start, but once it picked up the pace, it moved along at a nice speed. At first more disturbing than scary, stick with the story and it'll offer as much gore, blood and mayhem as any good genre book. The best part was the wild, wildly entertaining conspiracy theory behind it, something different from the straight up, lean and mean horror story like some other Herbert's books. I suggest reading Ash trilogy in order, since the later books do give away some of the events in the earlier ones. Very fun read, another reminder of what a great talent the world in general and horror genre in particular lost. Highly recommended.
September 29, 2012
Not quite sure what shelf to add this too, and can't believe I am giving a James Herbert book only 1 star. A mammoth read and only just stuck with it to the end, so not what I was expecting after Haunted & Ghosts of Sleath.
More conspiracy theories than horror the book was painfully slow and I couldn't wait to get it out of the way to move onto my next book. Not as fluid as his previous novels, I couldn't make a connection with any of the characters, found the link to Princess Diana was in bad taste and the horror/paranormal element was not explored enough.
This review is not intended to disrespect Mr Herbert as I respect him as an author emmensely and found Secret of Crickley Hall an amazing read, this just didn't rock my boat!
More conspiracy theories than horror the book was painfully slow and I couldn't wait to get it out of the way to move onto my next book. Not as fluid as his previous novels, I couldn't make a connection with any of the characters, found the link to Princess Diana was in bad taste and the horror/paranormal element was not explored enough.
This review is not intended to disrespect Mr Herbert as I respect him as an author emmensely and found Secret of Crickley Hall an amazing read, this just didn't rock my boat!
September 3, 2012
Its been a long wait since The Secret Of Crickley Hall, but well worth it. Herbert accomplishes another fine ghost story, richly embellished with elements of a conspiracy thriller. David Ash has grown into a likeable hero.
While some of the Royal elements pushed my acceptance a little (nicely timed in this Jubilee year), they gave some added gravitas.
Unputdownable.
While some of the Royal elements pushed my acceptance a little (nicely timed in this Jubilee year), they gave some added gravitas.
Unputdownable.
April 22, 2020
What a cray-cray book. For his grand finale, Herbert took his classic haunting style of book with David Ash and mashed in as much of the over-the-top craziness of several of his early and last books. This was certainly one of his better works from his latter years, but it did drag on too much and got ridiculous at times. But overall satisfying for fans of Herbert.
May 2, 2024
Hmm, really enjoyed the first 2 David Ash books, this one started off well. Decent story with some chilling moments but I felt that there were too many silly and for the most part unnecessary tie ins with real life figures. I found that this book started to drag towards what I found to be a dissapointing end.
September 17, 2012
Comraich Castle, a reclusive fortress on the west coast of Scotland provides the setting for this rather disturbing novel, featuring the enigmatic ghost hunter and parapsychologist, David Ash. When sinister paranormal events start to disturb the equilibrium of this unusual sanctuary, there is no one more suited to the task than this ghost hunter extraordinaire, but the dark forces which hang like a miasma over the inhabitants of the castle, soon start to take centre stage.
The book starts off a little slowly; there is a gradual introduction to the major characters and an opportunity to get to know the castle and its surroundings, before unrelenting horror is unleashed. As always, David Ash is an interesting protagonist, he’s as deeply flawed as ever, but no less brilliant because of it, and his ability to deal with terrible events, makes for compelling reading. The slow build up of terror is well done, and as you read, almost without realising, you start to look into shadows before you turn off the bedroom light!
I always want to read a James Herbert book with my eyes closed, which I know makes no sense, but as I turn the pages, sometimes I’m just a little too frightened to find out what’s happening. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable, fascinating, and downright creepy story, probably best read in the cold light of day before the creeping shadows of night begin to fall.....
Ash comes in at a whopping 690 pages, but believe me once the story gets under way, you won’t want to put the book down...
The book starts off a little slowly; there is a gradual introduction to the major characters and an opportunity to get to know the castle and its surroundings, before unrelenting horror is unleashed. As always, David Ash is an interesting protagonist, he’s as deeply flawed as ever, but no less brilliant because of it, and his ability to deal with terrible events, makes for compelling reading. The slow build up of terror is well done, and as you read, almost without realising, you start to look into shadows before you turn off the bedroom light!
I always want to read a James Herbert book with my eyes closed, which I know makes no sense, but as I turn the pages, sometimes I’m just a little too frightened to find out what’s happening. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable, fascinating, and downright creepy story, probably best read in the cold light of day before the creeping shadows of night begin to fall.....
Ash comes in at a whopping 690 pages, but believe me once the story gets under way, you won’t want to put the book down...
April 29, 2013
Wow I loved this book from start to finish.
I've not read the 2 previous David Ash books and at the time didn't realise it was the 3rd, but the happenings in the other 2 were only briefly mentioned and didn't have any bearing on this novel.
I found the character of David to be a very deep and troubled person who was still really trying to find him self, yet not knowing he is looking.
He came across as a beleievable character and I found him to be multi layered and full of surprises, his open mind and not too trusting attitude worked well together.
Delphine to me was your usal female lead and I felt that not a lot of thought went in to her.
The story was ace, secret societies and a hidden scottish castle that is a hide away for certain people I thought was really believable and not as far fetched as some people might think.
The Inner Court was just what you'd expect from a shady secret society, all secrets and threats.
The reclusive head and the wanna be head were done perfectly.
The supernatural twist just added to the story even tho I was dissappointed by the lack of supernatural goings on at the end.
But I loved this book and found it to keep me engrossed for all the 700+ pages and I'm now reading the first David Ash book.
James Herbert is fast becoming a new favourite authour!
I've not read the 2 previous David Ash books and at the time didn't realise it was the 3rd, but the happenings in the other 2 were only briefly mentioned and didn't have any bearing on this novel.
I found the character of David to be a very deep and troubled person who was still really trying to find him self, yet not knowing he is looking.
He came across as a beleievable character and I found him to be multi layered and full of surprises, his open mind and not too trusting attitude worked well together.
Delphine to me was your usal female lead and I felt that not a lot of thought went in to her.
The story was ace, secret societies and a hidden scottish castle that is a hide away for certain people I thought was really believable and not as far fetched as some people might think.
The Inner Court was just what you'd expect from a shady secret society, all secrets and threats.
The reclusive head and the wanna be head were done perfectly.
The supernatural twist just added to the story even tho I was dissappointed by the lack of supernatural goings on at the end.
But I loved this book and found it to keep me engrossed for all the 700+ pages and I'm now reading the first David Ash book.
James Herbert is fast becoming a new favourite authour!
September 23, 2012
why on earth i bought this i have no idea !....bored in the local supermarket and needed a quick fix of escapism i unthinkingly threw the thing into my trolley, well i have never read such a crock of shite in my entire life, so bad i thought it was perhaps a horror pastiche, but no , it's supposed to be like this. The writing is so bad my 12 year old son could have constructed better sentences, my cat could have written better sex scenes and a small piece of cheese could have come up with a better plot, it is perhaps one of the worst books i have ever read.At least i've kept the reciept and will be taking it back tomorrow in a vain attempt to try and get a credit note. Avoid.
March 26, 2016
Not a brilliant novel, but certainly not a terrible novel, though wouldn't say this is James Herbert at his finest. It is a compelling idea; and the writing hits that lovely level of composition use without coming across as pretentious.
July 1, 2020
Technically, James Herbert's best book.
But, as a 800 page behemoth, Ash is one of those books where too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
But, as a 800 page behemoth, Ash is one of those books where too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
June 18, 2013
Having never read any of the other books in the David Ash series I was rather pleased to pick this up having recalled fondly James Herbert's earlier horror offerings in my youth. I was looking forward to a suspenseful, gripping and genuinely frightening read. The premise looked interesting; though I should have been wary as one by one, cliches of the horror genre were ticked off: Old hunted castle, check. Moody tortured protagonist, check. Top secret political cover up, check. Totally contextually inappropriate love interest, check, local psychopath with an axe to grind, check. And they just kept rolling in - one big unsteady bag of well used Hollywood cliches.
I was sorely disappointed. And I really didn't want to be. I really wanted to like this book. It started ok actually, I was only mildly annoyed by the writing, and hungry to get to the good stuff: who's doing the hunting, why, what's the back story, what do they want, how is it connected in this time and place to who is present, why now? But like a carrot on a stick, it was promised but just never came out in any satisfying sensible presentation.
The further through it I got, the more I found myself frustrated at the sheer volume of exposition that didn't actually explain anything that particularly needed to be explained. I almost felt I was being read a story by my teacher in primary school. The amount of space filling really began to get on my nerves after a while, which is when I started to get picky about the suspension of disbelief. Now one of the reasons I love reading so much is that I am all signed up to suspension of disbelief. I WANT to be there with the protagonist as the story unfolds, but there has to be some plausibility, if not in the plot then at least in the writing and character dialouge, but I found myself reading parts aloud to see if it sounded any less absurd. It didn't. It was lumbering ponderous and felt uncoordinated. It was infuriating to be so clumsily given hints and insinuations which didn't end up going anywhere. The plot hung on a flimsy haunting, the narrative of which was never satisfyingly evolved or resolved. I was horribly disconnected the whole way through. I simply could not develop any emotional attachment to any of the characters, their actions and words were stilted and awkward, and for the most part I thought them tedious. The ending had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head, but I'm not going to spoil it here.
It actually felt as if J.H's editor had told him the next book he wrote would be paid by the word. So much stuffing and so little substance.
I feel horrible giving it such a poor review. As I said, I really did want to like this. I almost feel I need to go back and read some of the older stuff again to see if I'm missing something. Sorry J.H. Not your finest effort.
I was sorely disappointed. And I really didn't want to be. I really wanted to like this book. It started ok actually, I was only mildly annoyed by the writing, and hungry to get to the good stuff: who's doing the hunting, why, what's the back story, what do they want, how is it connected in this time and place to who is present, why now? But like a carrot on a stick, it was promised but just never came out in any satisfying sensible presentation.
The further through it I got, the more I found myself frustrated at the sheer volume of exposition that didn't actually explain anything that particularly needed to be explained. I almost felt I was being read a story by my teacher in primary school. The amount of space filling really began to get on my nerves after a while, which is when I started to get picky about the suspension of disbelief. Now one of the reasons I love reading so much is that I am all signed up to suspension of disbelief. I WANT to be there with the protagonist as the story unfolds, but there has to be some plausibility, if not in the plot then at least in the writing and character dialouge, but I found myself reading parts aloud to see if it sounded any less absurd. It didn't. It was lumbering ponderous and felt uncoordinated. It was infuriating to be so clumsily given hints and insinuations which didn't end up going anywhere. The plot hung on a flimsy haunting, the narrative of which was never satisfyingly evolved or resolved. I was horribly disconnected the whole way through. I simply could not develop any emotional attachment to any of the characters, their actions and words were stilted and awkward, and for the most part I thought them tedious. The ending had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head, but I'm not going to spoil it here.
It actually felt as if J.H's editor had told him the next book he wrote would be paid by the word. So much stuffing and so little substance.
I feel horrible giving it such a poor review. As I said, I really did want to like this. I almost feel I need to go back and read some of the older stuff again to see if I'm missing something. Sorry J.H. Not your finest effort.
January 13, 2023
This final novel from the late and great Mr Herbert was published just over a decade ago. I have spent the past year catching up on all of his other books I had yet to read which included the other two David Ash novels. This is the final in the Ash trilogy and it closes his story well.
I had seen a very mixed variety of reviews and thoughts on this last Herbert work. Many loyal and devoted fans seemed to have felt let down or disappointed with it, frustrated that his final work of fiction had not been satisfying enough or lived up to expectations, especially with it being another and as it turned out, final Ash story. Many Herbert and Ash fans in particular may have wished this to have been more closer in atmosphere to the other previous more supernatural Ash adventures.
With those kind of expectations I can see how many may have easily and quickly felt short-changed. It did seem to take a fairly long while for the story to really get moving, but with it being possibly the largest book from Herbert that was understandable.
This was not an outright simple supernatural ghost filled chiller as the previous Ash books had largely been. With this book we are taken to a secluded secret castle which contains a vast variety of unexpected and at times incredulous characters and events.
It might not be as chilling or fear-inducing as some previous Herbert novels but as it unravels it is most definitely a very surprising and entertaining tale. It may not please at fans of Herbert and his earlier classic terror tales but it is still very much worth reading.
I had seen a very mixed variety of reviews and thoughts on this last Herbert work. Many loyal and devoted fans seemed to have felt let down or disappointed with it, frustrated that his final work of fiction had not been satisfying enough or lived up to expectations, especially with it being another and as it turned out, final Ash story. Many Herbert and Ash fans in particular may have wished this to have been more closer in atmosphere to the other previous more supernatural Ash adventures.
With those kind of expectations I can see how many may have easily and quickly felt short-changed. It did seem to take a fairly long while for the story to really get moving, but with it being possibly the largest book from Herbert that was understandable.
This was not an outright simple supernatural ghost filled chiller as the previous Ash books had largely been. With this book we are taken to a secluded secret castle which contains a vast variety of unexpected and at times incredulous characters and events.
It might not be as chilling or fear-inducing as some previous Herbert novels but as it unravels it is most definitely a very surprising and entertaining tale. It may not please at fans of Herbert and his earlier classic terror tales but it is still very much worth reading.
October 17, 2013
I am really in a loss of how to describe this book. I would say it is the worst book I have ever read in the point that I wanted to start crying or bang my head on the wall or jump out the window with the things I read.
The main character Ash is a clown who just travels to a castle and with the help of his super special equipment, a MAGLITE and a VEST with many POCKETS, (really, I mean really?) concludes that the castle is hunted after everybody's meal turns to worms and flies. I mean you should be a genius to see through that. In the meantime in the 2 days that the story goes on he has the time to explore a castle, dungeons, forest, caves, eat lunch and dinner, kill a guy, kill 20 wildcats and bang his new found girl some 5 times. He should be on a damn Duracell commercial.
His Girlfriend is of course super sexy, super intelligent and super in love with him after just laying eyes on him. Sure, he is a ghoooostbuuuussteeeer after all. And of courser after a day chased by the 20 wild cats and 3 or 4 times getting laid she goes in the middle of the night to her office to do some paperwork, who wouldn't?
Not to mention the super secret IC, I don't date to reveal the initials, that is so secret and big and great and dangerous that everybody speaks for it like last nights game.
Thowvin the deformed child of Hitler with special powers, the translucent??? son of Lady D, some orbs that fly, a nurse that is a lesbian and a driver that is gay (without any meaning, they are just there and they are being GAY) and you can understand that i was ripped off when i payed for this pile of rubbish.
Really the worst book i have ever read by far.
The main character Ash is a clown who just travels to a castle and with the help of his super special equipment, a MAGLITE and a VEST with many POCKETS, (really, I mean really?) concludes that the castle is hunted after everybody's meal turns to worms and flies. I mean you should be a genius to see through that. In the meantime in the 2 days that the story goes on he has the time to explore a castle, dungeons, forest, caves, eat lunch and dinner, kill a guy, kill 20 wildcats and bang his new found girl some 5 times. He should be on a damn Duracell commercial.
His Girlfriend is of course super sexy, super intelligent and super in love with him after just laying eyes on him. Sure, he is a ghoooostbuuuussteeeer after all. And of courser after a day chased by the 20 wild cats and 3 or 4 times getting laid she goes in the middle of the night to her office to do some paperwork, who wouldn't?
Not to mention the super secret IC, I don't date to reveal the initials, that is so secret and big and great and dangerous that everybody speaks for it like last nights game.
Thowvin the deformed child of Hitler with special powers, the translucent??? son of Lady D, some orbs that fly, a nurse that is a lesbian and a driver that is gay (without any meaning, they are just there and they are being GAY) and you can understand that i was ripped off when i payed for this pile of rubbish.
Really the worst book i have ever read by far.
September 4, 2012
James Herbert's 'Ash' has been a long time coming. Protagonist David Ash returns after a long hiatus after 'Ghosts of Sleath' to be sent to the mysterious Comraich Castle in Scotland to investigate strange goings on.
Part conspiracy thriller and part horror, this novel is a great addition to the Herbert canon, with gruesome hauntings and it's fair share of nostalgic nods to previous novels including The Rats.
Whilst not quite what I was expecting, I was half expecting the recurrence of his sister at some point down the line, the novel is an excellent read and well worth the read.
Let down slightly by some of its conspiratorial sub plots involving the royal family, which add to the sense of grandness in a way, but overall make some of the later parts of the book a little cheesy.
Overall well recommended. I just hope that James Herbert continues his reign as the master of horror with another new novel in the future.
Part conspiracy thriller and part horror, this novel is a great addition to the Herbert canon, with gruesome hauntings and it's fair share of nostalgic nods to previous novels including The Rats.
Whilst not quite what I was expecting, I was half expecting the recurrence of his sister at some point down the line, the novel is an excellent read and well worth the read.
Let down slightly by some of its conspiratorial sub plots involving the royal family, which add to the sense of grandness in a way, but overall make some of the later parts of the book a little cheesy.
Overall well recommended. I just hope that James Herbert continues his reign as the master of horror with another new novel in the future.
January 20, 2023
This was James Herbert's last book before he passed away and it is by far the absolute worst one by far that I've read from him.
First of all, it did not need to be 700 pages at all. Second, he sucks at writing sex scenes so we can all be glad there won't be any more of those. Third, I find it insanely weird that he decided to write about Princess Diana having a secret, disabled son who was locked away in a castle in Scotland. I'm no Royals supported but this was such bad taste???? Fourthly, was this entire novel sponsored by Maglite torches? I wish I had this digitally so I could search how many times the word maglite was mentioned. It was WAY too many.
Format: Audiobook
Price paid: £0, via Audible Plus
Recommended: Absolutely NOT
Value: I want my time back
Will I buy the next: I will read more Herbert in the future but if this series hadn't ended here I would not have continued.
First of all, it did not need to be 700 pages at all. Second, he sucks at writing sex scenes so we can all be glad there won't be any more of those. Third, I find it insanely weird that he decided to write about Princess Diana having a secret, disabled son who was locked away in a castle in Scotland. I'm no Royals supported but this was such bad taste???? Fourthly, was this entire novel sponsored by Maglite torches? I wish I had this digitally so I could search how many times the word maglite was mentioned. It was WAY too many.
Format: Audiobook
Price paid: £0, via Audible Plus
Recommended: Absolutely NOT
Value: I want my time back
Will I buy the next: I will read more Herbert in the future but if this series hadn't ended here I would not have continued.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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