Someone Like Me

by Tom Holt

In a world torn apart by hatred and fear, only the strongest will survive… Short, fast-paced, and priced to go, this futuristic thriller is Tom Holt at his most compulsively readable. " There was one lying in the road when I got there. She was dead. No need to look up close. You can tell from twenty yards away, when they're lying like that ." Nobody knows where they come from. Nobody knows what they want. The creatures are killing humans for meat, and nobody, it seems, can stop them. Now one man—a hunter by trade—has trapped one of the creatures. Under the ground, they face each other. And only one of them will get out alive.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Tom Holt (Thomas Charles Louis Holt) is a British novelist.
He was born in London, the son of novelist Hazel Holt, and was educated at Westminster School, Wadham College, Oxford, and The College of Law, London.
Holt's works include mythopoeic novels which parody or take as their theme various aspects of mythology, history or literature and develop them in new and often humorous ways. He has also produced a number of "straight" historical novels writing as Thomas Holt and fantasy novels writing as K.J. Parker.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very strong concept of a human being hunted in a post apocalyptic world, feels a bit reminiscent of I am Legend in that regard. Unfortunately, the writing style hurts this one a lot. The prose for some reason just isn't my cup of tea. It was exhausting to read the first time around, and I wanted to read this one again to give it a proper review and to find out why I disliked this one so much. I didn't even make it to page 20 this time around. I'm giving away my copy to charity, let's hope someone else can find more enjoyment in this one than I can.


I don't know why, but whenever someone asks me: "what is the worst book you've ever read?" This is always the first book that comes to mind.

[Lance Greenfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone Like Me by Tom Holt is a bloodthirsty, gripping thriller, which is set in the future but in a world that has regressed into almost primitive times. There is no electricity or transport system. The human race lives in fear of a race of aggressive beasts that hunt people for their flesh.

The hero, who is a hired hunter of the beasts, narrates the story in the first person. The quest of the hero and his colleagues is to eliminate all of the beasts before they can totally eliminate mankind.
The opening scene places the hero in the midst of recently inflicted carnage resulting from an attack by two of the beasts. It is not long before he finds himself trapped in dark underground tunnels with one of them. It is literally a case of kill or be killed.

The story moves at a very fast pace but the style may not be to the liking of all readers. Certainly, I would not recommend this book to anyone who faints at the first sight of blood, even if it is only in print. However, the twists at the end of the tale are worth waiting for and leave the reader deep in thought. The book took me less than ninety minutes to read, and is about the right length. Any more, and I would have begun to feel bored. Any less, and I would have felt slightly cheated.

I can't honestly say whether I would recommend it to a friend or not. That would depend on what I knew about the friend!

[Shirley Revill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version of this short story by Tom Holt.
The narration and the story was exceptional. Highly recommended.

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library basically on a whim and didn't think I'll find it all that interesting tbh (having an existential crisis bcz you should be working on your MA thesis yet you aren't bcz everything sucks and depression is kicking your ass would make such idiotic decisions the norm :/)

Yet, yet, it's quite something. It's very short, there's no plot to speak of but it's one of these books that make you think about what it means to be human. Are we all that developed and advanced and better than all other species?

I loved that the narrator (who's also the MC) is actually quite human in the sense that he makes dumb decisions, including the one that might have changed his universe.

Anyway, I'd actually recommend it if someone is in the mood for some introspection and not looking for much suspense (the reader is aware since the start that the narrator survives, so at no point there's any tension resulting from a life or death situation.)

The audiobook is very well done btw, definitely a must listen!

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t bother

[Ally Atherton · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Nobody knows where they came from.

Nobody knows what they want.


The creatures are killing humans for meat and nobody, it seems can stop them.'




It's Earth but not as we know it. Everything has stopped. Everything that we once took for granted has disappeared. Apart from the monsters. The monsters have arrived.




In many ways this is right up my street. Set in a dystopian world, it is creepy and dark and has periods of excitement. However the book as a whole suffers a little bit from what I call the Tom Gordon effect. Most of the book is centred around the main character's journey through a dark tunnel, which is great for a single chapter but for an entire novel it did tend to drag on a little bit.


It's Ok though and the writing isn't bad.


Decent.

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was never really particularly sure of this book while reading it (probably why it took me ages to read something so short!)

Personally I never felt like this story was going anywhere, it was a bit slow and clacky like a broken wind up toy- the potential was there but it never really surfaced. The build up was trying to be tense but didn't quite hit the mark. It was only the last 20 pages that held any interest for me.

[Sally Escrader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audio version, except that I was just getting really excited about what the main character would do if he got out of the pitch black tunnels.... when the book ended! A very short story which would be more suited to a first chapter in a novel as it is mainly centred around one prolonged scene. Ends up with the reader/listener disappointed, I’m afraid; unless, of course, there are more mini-novels available to continue the story.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reasonable idea for a story – but the plot twist occurs on page 100 (out of 116). The author (editor) should have cut down the first 100 pages (to say 50 – which could easily have been done), introduced the added dimension to the plot and then let the story develop. Then it could have been a reasonable book.

[Henrik Andersson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and good read. It's unmistakenly Tom Holt but without the comedy, which makes it fascinating for a Holt fan like me. A short story that absolutely deserved its own book rather than being lumped together in an anthology with 20 other rubbish stories.

[Michelle Birbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up the other night in my library in the quick reads section. It certainly was a quick read and didn't take me long to get through. I thought it dragged in a few places, but nonetheless enjoyed reading it.

[Kira K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thoughts:
I thought this book was a bit strange overall. The final premise about talking to each other, killing being subjective on the side you fall on and killing based on survival needs were really well done. However, it’s rare to read a short story and feel like some of the paragraphs are more like filler than essential to the story but I kind of did with this one.

Favourite Quote:
"There are moments when everything changes. It’s like you’ve been asleep and you wake up, and you can’t remember where you are or how you got there. It’s like you’ve just been let in on a secret that everybody else knows but you."

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a curious little tale. It wasn't particularly profound or extraordinary but it did have some stark philosophical musings on how we think about actions, fear and us vs them ideas. There was an element of learning the hunter and the hunted's thinking and understanding of morals which I felt was done well. The story itself was fairly predictable, including the twist but I liked the realism in the end choice. All in all, a nice short read (took me a little over an hour and I'm a slowish reader).

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent story, written with the plot of a short story, the narration of a mood piece, and the character of a novella. It's a short story taking its time. And it is worth the time to take. Makes the pay off more complete.

[Sami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Sondos Hw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Made me think about life and humanity

[Sharan King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my usual genre but I kept reading. Hope my other short stories are better.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cleverly written short story on what accounts as predator to prey I adore Tom Holt anyway an enjoyable read

[Zara Josephs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t like the theme, but the hook at the end was rather interesting.

[Kathryn Drinkwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read,

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent story wish it would have been longer,excellent detail and easily absorbed.

[Robert 'Rev. Bob' · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story, but not (at all!) the contemporary comic fantasy that's Holt's true strength. Also, quite short for the price.

[Joshua Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

REALLY BORING. ended up reading at least half the book. got so bored. decided to go flip up some tapes and produce pure seamen.

[Kylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book with a great message. An incredibly strong short story from a great writer. I love this book and have reread it.

[HNCKrstl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting! It felt like listening to a story, sitting around a campfire, surrounded by a dark and creepy forest.. just saying..

[Karen Desmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

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