Creed

When freelance photographer Joe Creed sets out to capture a series of photos at the funeral of a famous actress, he gets the chance to take a few snaps of a strange old man at the graveside. But developing the pictures leads him into a mystery - one he can't easily explain. Learning the name of his unwitting subject and what it could mean if turns out to be true, only adds inconceivable reasoning to an already unsettling tale. With the help of an attractive ally, Creed sets out to discover just what the hell is going on. Sometimes the very thing that grabs a reader's attention (in terms of an author's style), is the same thing that can get a little annoying after a while - similar scenarios, use of language etc. And when that happens, sometimes it's best to just leave that particular writer alone for a while and spread your readery wings further afield. I first got into James Herbert's books in the late Seventies, when horror novels were coming back into fashion. With books like 'The Rats', 'The Fog' and 'The Dark', I found stories that had just the right amount of blood, guts and scary stuff to keep me interested for several years. Nevertheless, as I grew (perhaps) a little too familiar with the plots, other authors caught my attention and I veered away from Britain's most prolific horror writer. Now, with a suitable gap of twenty-odd years, I'm getting back to where my interest in the genre started. Joe Creed is a fascinating and realistic character and his chaotic exploits kept me eagerly turning the pages as the plot developed arms, legs and devilish tails, but I did find the author's inclination to comment on the story as it went along a little irritating. So while I'm more than happy to give the book five stars for its entertainment value alone, I don't think this is James Herbert's best work - it doesn't quite capture the audacity and excitement of his early writing and the unexpected twists are less twisty and not so unexpected. Nonetheless, this novel did renew my interest and those early books will, I'm sure, stand up to another look, so I'll be returning to James Herbert again soon - The Rats are coming...

Well this one was a bit of a surprise. Read the synopsis and thought it looked ok at best. Being a photographer myself and loving anything paranormal imagine my surprise when not even a chapter in, we find our unlikely hero (if you can call him that) follows the same career path as me and see him delve into an underworld of supernatural creatures on an adventure that has to be finely balanced and kept secret from his work life. A pretty good story throughout, it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride and some parts I had to go over a couple of times to make sure I was following the story. The end could have been a bit stronger and it ended a bit abrupt for my liking, not quite the huge finale I was hoping for but all in all a bloody good read and there's a nice little twist in there for good measure....all for 99p a steal of demonic proportions. I would seriously recommend this book to any James Herbert fan or fan of supernatural horror.

The novel is full of macabre humour and indelible images.. There are demons and human monsters, haunting Mountjoy Retreat where nothing is forbidden....

Not a bad story and quite funny. I enjoyed reading, but without biting my fingers to know what happens next.

I Like most of James Herbert Books and this was really good and I could not put it down until I had read it. Joe Creed was not a nice man but sometimes likeable and you can feel sorry for him at times. Its a scary tale and quite bloodthirsty. All adds to make a good James Herbert Tale.

The character Joe Creed is very interesting and the horror story is great entertainment, absolutely crazy in places but highly recommended by me

Fascinating book - a really unlikeable 'hero' - really nice change - seemed more honest somehow. Great story - really enjoyed it as my first return to horror for about 30 years...read The Rats in my teens...thinking I will re-visit James Herbert some more :)

I really couldn't put this one down. Poor old Joe Creed, I thought that I had bad luck but compared to this poor guy I am positively on a role. A fantastic story of a would be and very misunderstood knight in shining armour who gets dragged into the most darkest of situations without even realising it. I won't say too much about the story as I don't want to spoil it for anyone thinking about reading the book. All I will say is stop thinking about it and buy the book. You won't be disappointed

Joe Creed ist ein kaputter Held, der nichts auf die Reihe kriegt-ausser seinen Fotos. Und gerade auf die hat es ein dämonischer Charakter abgesehen, den Creed auf dem Friedhof fotografierte-als er jedoch zu weit geht, muss er merken, dass auch Creed seine dunklen Seiten hat. Paparazzi im Hardcore-Modus trifft auf dämonischen Horror. Der geneigte Leser erfährt einiges über den so verachteten Beruf, der jedoch das Lebensblut jeder Klatschzeile ist. Die Längen in der Mitte des Romans werden durch das Grande Finale aufgelöst-auch Paparazzi können teuflisch agieren. Ein erhobener Zeigefinger für die geneigten Leser-Dämonenfotos könnten teuer werden, nicht nur im finanziellen Sinne..

A very good and scary book. I hadn't read James Herbert in a while, will read him again and try to go d new

Love all of his books. This one definitely didn't disappoint. Following Joe Creed who having always believed demons weren't real, he photographs something that changes his mind forever. Slightly unbelieveable version of modern demons but still for a lighter story than his norm. It still works.

Can James Herbert write, or what! What a book—humor, adorable hero, suspense, and, best of all, it's all written by a master of words.

I picked this book because it was suggested for fans of Dean Koontz. Not quite. It was an okay read, but I won't look for this author again. If you appreciate British style, or an anti-hero, you might like it more than I did.