The Rats: The Chilling, Bestselling Classic from the the Master of Horror

James Herbert

May 2011 · The Rats Trilogy Book 1 · Pan Macmillan

About this ebook

A special fortieth anniversary edition of The Rats, the classic, bestselling horror novel that launched James Herbert's career.

With a foreword by Neil Gaiman, author of Norse Mythology.

It was only when the bones of the first devoured victims were discovered that the true nature and power of these swarming black creatures with their razor sharp teeth and the taste for human blood began to be realized by a panic-stricken city. For millions of years man and rats had been natural enemies. But now for the first time – suddenly, shockingly, horribly – the balance of power had shifted . . .

Continue the chilling series from the Master of Horror, with Lair and Domain.

Ratings and reviews

Although the story was well plotted and entertaining, I thought it was poorly written. Thankfully I read the introduction and knew that this was his first novel and he didn't have much of a clue as to what he was doing, so I can only hope his other titles are show improvement. If I hadn't been entertained by the story, I would have never finished it. Since Neil Gaiman says his writing improved in the introduction, I'll give him another chance. In short: Fun story, bad writing.

I remember reading this as a child in the mid 80s and enjoying it. Re-reading it 30 years later you realise it's very much of its time. Enjoyable trash. But at 99p it's hard to feel cheated. Worth reading but probably not as good as you remember it being.

This book was very entertaining and simple to read. I found the ending a little limp tbh, but still enjoyed every page. I will definitely read more of his books.

About the author

James Herbert was not just Britain’s number one bestselling writer of chiller fiction, a position he held ever since publication of his first novel, but was also one of our greatest popular novelists. Widely imitated and hugely influential, his twenty-three novels have sold more than fifty-four million copies worldwide, and have been translated into over thirty languages, including Russian and Chinese. In 2010, he was made the Grand Master of Horror by the World Horror Convention and was also awarded an OBE by the Queen for services to literature. His final novel was Ash. James Herbert died in March 2013.