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.
Agatha Christie buffs will derive amusement as well as information from this little book. Clues to the personal life of Christie's Belgian detective are sparse, but Hart has assiduously collected them to construct a ``biography'' that takes us from childhood to death, at the same time ingeniously incorporating a chronological account of the Christie books and short stories that feature Poirot. A bibliographical appendix lists the novels and short story collections, with cross-references from alternate titles, plus short stories and TV and film adaptations. Not included are translations. A useful acquisition for any public library.-- Catherine V. von Schon, SUNY at Stony Brook
``My advice to you is to leave this house. No good will come of your investigation,'' says Nanny Tess to David Ash, paranormal investigator, in this disappointing horror tale. An associate of the Psychical Research Institute, Ash visits Edbrook, a lonely mansion in the British countryside, at the behest of the Mariell siblings--Christina, Robert and Simon--playful, immature children in grown-up bodies, and their aunt, Nanny Tess, all of whom have seen ghosts and strange sights aplenty in their ancestral home. Ash, who has a reputation as a skeptic and debunker, wonders if a deliberate attempt to discredit him is taking place (or is his incipient alcoholism catching up with him?) when he follows a ghostly figure through the grounds to a small garden pond. He is pushed, held underwater--and sees a pale figure with open arms. . . . What are the ghastly secrets of Edbrook's history? Of Ash's? Only slightly buoyed by Ash's fond remembrances of seances past, Herbert's ( Sepulchre ) plot creaks under the weight of its padding, his dialogue as lifeless as his cliched characters. Troll Book Club alternate. (Oct.)
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