"London is struck by an invasion. Women, children, old and young, none are safe from the deadly menace. The attacks are swift and sure, escape is impossible.
A state of emergency is declared. Evacuation seems the only solution in the face of a growing panic and mounting death toll. War is declared on the public enemy number one. The Rats!" - Taken from the blurb
This book took me ages to actually get into; the protagonist was dated and I believe the time it was written effects the way the characters come across. First published in 1974, it is understandable that Harris, the main character and "hero" in this story, has some controversial characteristics. James Herbert's style of writing is very interesting - the hills the reader undergoes during this horror novel can feel slightly anticlimactic.
So, rats...as you may have guessed the antagonists of this book are not everyone's cup of tea. In London, it is said that you are never more than six feet away from a rat - to what extent that is a fact I do not know but for the sake of context let's pretend it is true. Herbert describes these rats as "small dog-sized" and flesh hungry. The reader is not told how these rats came to be so famished for blood, nor how they became intelligent and monstrous. However, we do learn that with every encounter the public has with them, there seems to be many more, as if they were building an army.
[Spoilers Ahead]
Ignoring the fact that the characters are somewhat sexist, the story itself was actually quite good. Herbert really knows how to build up a plot, taking his time getting to the point of the story, but the reader enjoys the journey. I think the break up of storyline kept me interested. I liked the way Herbert built suspense in certain places as even though I knew what was going to happen I wanted to know how the author was going to take me there.
With the ending being abrupt, I was able to constantly make up a conclusion for myself. Discovering that these rats are the product of a science experiment gone wrong suggests that there is another book that explains how this came to be. Some of Herbert's sentences are very beautiful and resonated with me in certain aspects.
Occasionally the story briefly introduces background characters, most of whom die during their short chapter. We watch as our main character, Harris, discovers more about the rats and helps fight them off. Eventually he is the one who tracks down their origin and kills the enormous mother rat, yet the cliff hanger leading up to the next books in the series leaves readers wondering if there will be another pandemic.
I cannot lie, there is not much else to this book. Plain and simple, unnaturally large rats terrorise London, eating alive children, women, men, even other animals. Once bitten by the vermin, the victim eventually dies, due to infection.
Well, onto my rating, as I honestly do not have much more to say about The Rats. First star would be for the story, despite being about rodents that I personally do not find scary, Herbert found a way to get them into my dreams and make me even more cautious while travelling on the Underground. And a second star for the writing, as even though it was dated, some quotes touched me a allowed me to connect to characters in their short part in the story. Two stars overall, but definitely give it a read and tell me what you think!
★★☆☆☆
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