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- Jackson, Shirley
- Jackson, Steve
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- Jacobs, David
- Jacobs, W. W.
- Jacques, Brian
- Jaffery, Sheldon
- James, Henry
- James, Montague Rhodes
- James, Peter
- James, Robert
- Jancovich, Mark
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- Jeffries, Francesca
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The Truth
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
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*Amazon: £2.40
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 Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well.
Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one.
The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story.
Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat
breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much!
Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends!
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Sweet Heart
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
|
*Amazon: £1.99
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|
Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well.
Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one.
The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story.
Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat
breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much!
Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends!
cracking read , 02 Jun 2008
a typical james book great read and his interest in the dead comes through in this book! easy to read and your not sure where the next shock comes from quite creepy in parts def worth reaing
Thoroughly enjoyable, 16 Jan 2008
I read this a little warily as I am not a fan of horror books but had enjoyed his recent 3 crime novels so much I wanted to give it a try. Having read it I wouldn't describe it as horror anyway, more supernatural. Whatever, it is certainly gripping and a real page turner, can't wait to read some of his other pre Roy Grace novels.
scary and compelling, 01 Dec 2007
I read this book several years ago and found it compelling and a real page-turner, even though I don't normally read 'horror' type books. I found the whole past life regression aspect fascinating. I think it is better than his more recent detective novels.
So So different., 10 Sep 2007
Like many others l had read the 3 major titles of Mr James, and l couldn't wait another year for a new one. So l bought his back catalogue.
This is the first l have read.
Immediately on the introduction pages, it seemed to be Like James Herbert's
"The Secret of Crickley Hall", though Mr James's book was written well before James Herbert's. But that is where the familiarity stops.
Its a class of it's own, it is a horror book. Everyone has read
how people are killed by madmen, or Ghosts, as such, but l have
NEVER cringed like l did when the teapot incident happens,
o it's so real.
This is not like his 3 other books, but well worth searching out
for. The story is so believable, it does have a start, a middle
and an end, and a poignant one at that.
Not a murder detective, it's a Ghost detective, and Charley
is the girl.
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 |
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Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well.
Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one.
The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story.
Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat
breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much!
Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends!
cracking read , 02 Jun 2008
a typical james book great read and his interest in the dead comes through in this book! easy to read and your not sure where the next shock comes from quite creepy in parts def worth reaing
Thoroughly enjoyable, 16 Jan 2008
I read this a little warily as I am not a fan of horror books but had enjoyed his recent 3 crime novels so much I wanted to give it a try. Having read it I wouldn't describe it as horror anyway, more supernatural. Whatever, it is certainly gripping and a real page turner, can't wait to read some of his other pre Roy Grace novels.
scary and compelling, 01 Dec 2007
I read this book several years ago and found it compelling and a real page-turner, even though I don't normally read 'horror' type books. I found the whole past life regression aspect fascinating. I think it is better than his more recent detective novels.
So So different., 10 Sep 2007
Like many others l had read the 3 major titles of Mr James, and l couldn't wait another year for a new one. So l bought his back catalogue.
This is the first l have read.
Immediately on the introduction pages, it seemed to be Like James Herbert's
"The Secret of Crickley Hall", though Mr James's book was written well before James Herbert's. But that is where the familiarity stops.
Its a class of it's own, it is a horror book. Everyone has read
how people are killed by madmen, or Ghosts, as such, but l have
NEVER cringed like l did when the teapot incident happens,
o it's so real.
This is not like his 3 other books, but well worth searching out
for. The story is so believable, it does have a start, a middle
and an end, and a poignant one at that.
Not a murder detective, it's a Ghost detective, and Charley
is the girl.
The title says it all ..., 18 Oct 2008
Whether you've been a fan of the genre for years, or you're simply curious about the status of contemporary horror fiction, Best New Horror is pretty much the ideal place to start.
Volume Nineteen kicks off with editor Stephen Jones' usual exhaustive survey of the genre, covering everything from publishing trends, the latest novels and collections from big names to young Turks alike, to horror in the cinema, on TV and DVD. But as ever it's the fiction that really makes Best New Horror such an indispensable annual collection.
This year there are 26 short stories and novellas. Established masters of the genre are here - there's fine work from Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman and Christopher Fowler - but some of the real higlights come from the newer names and rising stars of the genre. Gary McMahon, Mark Samuels, Glen Hirshberg, Simon Strantzas, Reggie Oliver and Joel Knight especially demonstrate the depth and breadth of modern horror fiction, with stories that often pay homage to familiar tropes (and even classic writers) while remaining fresh and new. These stories range from the deliciously creepy to the flat-out disturbing; they prove yet again that not only does Stephen Jones know a good horror story when he reads one, but that there is more than enough great contemporary horror fiction being written to make his annual Best New Horror a must read.
The biggest and best yet!, 16 Oct 2008
Last year's volume recently won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology of the Year, and deservedly so -
- but what about this year's Volume 19, which is one of the longest in the series, a total - from cover to cover - of 640 pages?
It contains not a single weak story, its 26 tales ranging from the 'merely' very good to the excellent. Simply put, these are the best short stories you'll read this year, period. In ANY genre. And that isn't hyperbole: every year I read Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year together with Heidi Pitlor's The Best American Short Stories - but Best New Horror 19 trumps them all, not only in the quality of the writing, but in the daring of the imagination on show, with Christopher Fowler providing a tale worthy of vintage Ray Bradbury, while CaitlÃn R. Kiernan's tour de force, "The Ape's Wife", riffs on the various 'what ifs' of Ann Darrow's life following the death of King Kong, and the heir to the grand tradition of the weird tale, Mark Samuels, treks to Mexico where we discover H.P. Lovecraft is alive and still writing. Newcomers Simon Kurt Unsworth, Gary McMahan and Simon Strantzas ably hold their own against such genre masters as Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman, with small press stalwarts Mike O'Driscoll, Joel Lane and Conrad Williams not only at the height of their powers but happily growing better and better with each passing year.
And, once again, the incomparable Glen Hirshberg proves why he is now my favourite short story writer.
Together with superb tales from Stephen King's son Joe Hill, the delightful Terror from Texas hisownself Joe R. Lansdale, bestselling crime author Michael Marshall and bestselling fantasy author Steven Erikson - what are you waiting for?!
(This review comes from an advance copy bought at the FantasyCon, Nottingham England book launch on September 20th, 2008. Twelve of the contributors were on hand to sign the book. Only 50 advance copies were made available for the launch.)
If you haven't already done so, I urge you to seek out Volume 18, for not only is it itself an award-winning book, but so are three of the stories inside: Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe and Geoff Ryman. Also included in last year's volume are brilliantly blazing stories by Glen Hirshberg, David Morrell, Al Sarrantonio (editor of the massive 999 anthology a few years back), Richard C. Matheson and an 88 page novella by the always consistently dependable Kim Newman!
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Possession
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
|
*Amazon: £2.31
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|
Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well.
Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one.
The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story.
Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat
breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much!
Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends!
cracking read , 02 Jun 2008
a typical james book great read and his interest in the dead comes through in this book! easy to read and your not sure where the next shock comes from quite creepy in parts def worth reaing
Thoroughly enjoyable, 16 Jan 2008
I read this a little warily as I am not a fan of horror books but had enjoyed his recent 3 crime novels so much I wanted to give it a try. Having read it I wouldn't describe it as horror anyway, more supernatural. Whatever, it is certainly gripping and a real page turner, can't wait to read some of his other pre Roy Grace novels.
scary and compelling, 01 Dec 2007
I read this book several years ago and found it compelling and a real page-turner, even though I don't normally read 'horror' type books. I found the whole past life regression aspect fascinating. I think it is better than his more recent detective novels.
So So different., 10 Sep 2007
Like many others l had read the 3 major titles of Mr James, and l couldn't wait another year for a new one. So l bought his back catalogue.
This is the first l have read.
Immediately on the introduction pages, it seemed to be Like James Herbert's
"The Secret of Crickley Hall", though Mr James's book was written well before James Herbert's. But that is where the familiarity stops.
Its a class of it's own, it is a horror book. Everyone has read
how people are killed by madmen, or Ghosts, as such, but l have
NEVER cringed like l did when the teapot incident happens,
o it's so real.
This is not like his 3 other books, but well worth searching out
for. The story is so believable, it does have a start, a middle
and an end, and a poignant one at that.
Not a murder detective, it's a Ghost detective, and Charley
is the girl.
The title says it all ..., 18 Oct 2008
Whether you've been a fan of the genre for years, or you're simply curious about the status of contemporary horror fiction, Best New Horror is pretty much the ideal place to start.
Volume Nineteen kicks off with editor Stephen Jones' usual exhaustive survey of the genre, covering everything from publishing trends, the latest novels and collections from big names to young Turks alike, to horror in the cinema, on TV and DVD. But as ever it's the fiction that really makes Best New Horror such an indispensable annual collection.
This year there are 26 short stories and novellas. Established masters of the genre are here - there's fine work from Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman and Christopher Fowler - but some of the real higlights come from the newer names and rising stars of the genre. Gary McMahon, Mark Samuels, Glen Hirshberg, Simon Strantzas, Reggie Oliver and Joel Knight especially demonstrate the depth and breadth of modern horror fiction, with stories that often pay homage to familiar tropes (and even classic writers) while remaining fresh and new. These stories range from the deliciously creepy to the flat-out disturbing; they prove yet again that not only does Stephen Jones know a good horror story when he reads one, but that there is more than enough great contemporary horror fiction being written to make his annual Best New Horror a must read.
The biggest and best yet!, 16 Oct 2008
Last year's volume recently won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology of the Year, and deservedly so -
- but what about this year's Volume 19, which is one of the longest in the series, a total - from cover to cover - of 640 pages?
It contains not a single weak story, its 26 tales ranging from the 'merely' very good to the excellent. Simply put, these are the best short stories you'll read this year, period. In ANY genre. And that isn't hyperbole: every year I read Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year together with Heidi Pitlor's The Best American Short Stories - but Best New Horror 19 trumps them all, not only in the quality of the writing, but in the daring of the imagination on show, with Christopher Fowler providing a tale worthy of vintage Ray Bradbury, while CaitlÃn R. Kiernan's tour de force, "The Ape's Wife", riffs on the various 'what ifs' of Ann Darrow's life following the death of King Kong, and the heir to the grand tradition of the weird tale, Mark Samuels, treks to Mexico where we discover H.P. Lovecraft is alive and still writing. Newcomers Simon Kurt Unsworth, Gary McMahan and Simon Strantzas ably hold their own against such genre masters as Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman, with small press stalwarts Mike O'Driscoll, Joel Lane and Conrad Williams not only at the height of their powers but happily growing better and better with each passing year.
And, once again, the incomparable Glen Hirshberg proves why he is now my favourite short story writer.
Together with superb tales from Stephen King's son Joe Hill, the delightful Terror from Texas hisownself Joe R. Lansdale, bestselling crime author Michael Marshall and bestselling fantasy author Steven Erikson - what are you waiting for?!
(This review comes from an advance copy bought at the FantasyCon, Nottingham England book launch on September 20th, 2008. Twelve of the contributors were on hand to sign the book. Only 50 advance copies were made available for the launch.)
If you haven't already done so, I urge you to seek out Volume 18, for not only is it itself an award-winning book, but so are three of the stories inside: Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe and Geoff Ryman. Also included in last year's volume are brilliantly blazing stories by Glen Hirshberg, David Morrell, Al Sarrantonio (editor of the massive 999 anthology a few years back), Richard C. Matheson and an 88 page novella by the always consistently dependable Kim Newman!
Possession, 30 Sep 2008
Interesting story but it ends up going nowhere, particularly as all the major plot twists are heavily signposted near the beginning of the book. There's a fair bit left unexplained, e.g. what was going in in Broadmoor, why was there an exorcism there?. What were Fabian and his friends really up to? This was the meat of the story but the author just ignores it. An un-satisfying read.
Totally confiusing, 17 Jul 2008
Too much in too short a book, characters not fully developed - very fragile plot devices. Lots of anomolies. Terrible end. Could do better!
Not my sort of book but..., 16 May 2008
I couldn't put this down. I only picked it up because I had nothing else to read and now I can't wait to buy more of his books. I hope they're all as good as this.
Well worth buying and reading.
bit of a confusing end, 07 May 2008
the book is typical james very easy to read and a real page turner the story gets along quickly and beliveable its just the end is a bit of a rush and a bit confusing but def worth a read
Another great read from an ever changing author., 04 Apr 2001
Having followed the writings of this author and enjoyed every book so far, this one brings it's own cast of strange charecters who jump out from the pages. A grieving mother is torn between the dead and the living, tormented and terrified she embarks on a frigteningly realistic journey which grips and twists as it goes. Again Peter has me sitting on the edge of the seat, I think I've got it then realize I haven't. This supernatural thriller is totaly believable and worryingly real. Other favourite titles include Host and Denial. My only complaint is that I read them faster than Peter creates them!
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Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well. Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one. The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story. Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much! Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends! cracking read , 02 Jun 2008
a typical james book great read and his interest in the dead comes through in this book! easy to read and your not sure where the next shock comes from quite creepy in parts def worth reaing Thoroughly enjoyable, 16 Jan 2008
I read this a little warily as I am not a fan of horror books but had enjoyed his recent 3 crime novels so much I wanted to give it a try. Having read it I wouldn't describe it as horror anyway, more supernatural. Whatever, it is certainly gripping and a real page turner, can't wait to read some of his other pre Roy Grace novels. scary and compelling, 01 Dec 2007
I read this book several years ago and found it compelling and a real page-turner, even though I don't normally read 'horror' type books. I found the whole past life regression aspect fascinating. I think it is better than his more recent detective novels. So So different., 10 Sep 2007
Like many others l had read the 3 major titles of Mr James, and l couldn't wait another year for a new one. So l bought his back catalogue.
This is the first l have read.
Immediately on the introduction pages, it seemed to be Like James Herbert's
"The Secret of Crickley Hall", though Mr James's book was written well before James Herbert's. But that is where the familiarity stops.
Its a class of it's own, it is a horror book. Everyone has read
how people are killed by madmen, or Ghosts, as such, but l have
NEVER cringed like l did when the teapot incident happens,
o it's so real.
This is not like his 3 other books, but well worth searching out
for. The story is so believable, it does have a start, a middle
and an end, and a poignant one at that.
Not a murder detective, it's a Ghost detective, and Charley
is the girl. The title says it all ..., 18 Oct 2008
Whether you've been a fan of the genre for years, or you're simply curious about the status of contemporary horror fiction, Best New Horror is pretty much the ideal place to start.
Volume Nineteen kicks off with editor Stephen Jones' usual exhaustive survey of the genre, covering everything from publishing trends, the latest novels and collections from big names to young Turks alike, to horror in the cinema, on TV and DVD. But as ever it's the fiction that really makes Best New Horror such an indispensable annual collection.
This year there are 26 short stories and novellas. Established masters of the genre are here - there's fine work from Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman and Christopher Fowler - but some of the real higlights come from the newer names and rising stars of the genre. Gary McMahon, Mark Samuels, Glen Hirshberg, Simon Strantzas, Reggie Oliver and Joel Knight especially demonstrate the depth and breadth of modern horror fiction, with stories that often pay homage to familiar tropes (and even classic writers) while remaining fresh and new. These stories range from the deliciously creepy to the flat-out disturbing; they prove yet again that not only does Stephen Jones know a good horror story when he reads one, but that there is more than enough great contemporary horror fiction being written to make his annual Best New Horror a must read.
The biggest and best yet!, 16 Oct 2008
Last year's volume recently won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology of the Year, and deservedly so -
- but what about this year's Volume 19, which is one of the longest in the series, a total - from cover to cover - of 640 pages?
It contains not a single weak story, its 26 tales ranging from the 'merely' very good to the excellent. Simply put, these are the best short stories you'll read this year, period. In ANY genre. And that isn't hyperbole: every year I read Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year together with Heidi Pitlor's The Best American Short Stories - but Best New Horror 19 trumps them all, not only in the quality of the writing, but in the daring of the imagination on show, with Christopher Fowler providing a tale worthy of vintage Ray Bradbury, while CaitlÃn R. Kiernan's tour de force, "The Ape's Wife", riffs on the various 'what ifs' of Ann Darrow's life following the death of King Kong, and the heir to the grand tradition of the weird tale, Mark Samuels, treks to Mexico where we discover H.P. Lovecraft is alive and still writing. Newcomers Simon Kurt Unsworth, Gary McMahan and Simon Strantzas ably hold their own against such genre masters as Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman, with small press stalwarts Mike O'Driscoll, Joel Lane and Conrad Williams not only at the height of their powers but happily growing better and better with each passing year.
And, once again, the incomparable Glen Hirshberg proves why he is now my favourite short story writer.
Together with superb tales from Stephen King's son Joe Hill, the delightful Terror from Texas hisownself Joe R. Lansdale, bestselling crime author Michael Marshall and bestselling fantasy author Steven Erikson - what are you waiting for?!
(This review comes from an advance copy bought at the FantasyCon, Nottingham England book launch on September 20th, 2008. Twelve of the contributors were on hand to sign the book. Only 50 advance copies were made available for the launch.)
If you haven't already done so, I urge you to seek out Volume 18, for not only is it itself an award-winning book, but so are three of the stories inside: Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe and Geoff Ryman. Also included in last year's volume are brilliantly blazing stories by Glen Hirshberg, David Morrell, Al Sarrantonio (editor of the massive 999 anthology a few years back), Richard C. Matheson and an 88 page novella by the always consistently dependable Kim Newman!
Possession, 30 Sep 2008
Interesting story but it ends up going nowhere, particularly as all the major plot twists are heavily signposted near the beginning of the book. There's a fair bit left unexplained, e.g. what was going in in Broadmoor, why was there an exorcism there?. What were Fabian and his friends really up to? This was the meat of the story but the author just ignores it. An un-satisfying read. Totally confiusing, 17 Jul 2008
Too much in too short a book, characters not fully developed - very fragile plot devices. Lots of anomolies. Terrible end. Could do better! Not my sort of book but..., 16 May 2008
I couldn't put this down. I only picked it up because I had nothing else to read and now I can't wait to buy more of his books. I hope they're all as good as this.
Well worth buying and reading. bit of a confusing end, 07 May 2008
the book is typical james very easy to read and a real page turner the story gets along quickly and beliveable its just the end is a bit of a rush and a bit confusing but def worth a read Another great read from an ever changing author., 04 Apr 2001
Having followed the writings of this author and enjoyed every book so far, this one brings it's own cast of strange charecters who jump out from the pages. A grieving mother is torn between the dead and the living, tormented and terrified she embarks on a frigteningly realistic journey which grips and twists as it goes. Again Peter has me sitting on the edge of the seat, I think I've got it then realize I haven't. This supernatural thriller is totaly believable and worryingly real. Other favourite titles include Host and Denial. My only complaint is that I read them faster than Peter creates them! Still haunting after all these years., 04 Jan 2006
One of the most seductive of all ghost stories, Turn of the Screw is not a tale for young people inured to Halloween I and II or Tales from the Crypt. It is a sophisticated and subtle literary exercise in which the author creates a dense, suggestive, and highly ambiguous story, its suspense and horror generated primarily by what the author does NOT say and does not describe. Compelled to fill in the blanks from his/her own store of personal fears, the reader ultimately conjures up a more horrifying set of images and circumstances than anything an author could impose from without. Written in 1898, this is superficially the tale of a governess who accepts the job of teaching two beautiful, young children whose uncle-guardian wants nothing to do with them. On a symbolic level, however, it is a study of the mores and prejudices of the times and, ultimately, of the nature of Evil. The governess fears that ghosts of the former governess Miss Jessel and her lover, valet Peter Quint, have corrupted the souls of little Flora and Miles and have won them to the side of Evil. The children deny any knowledge of ghosts, and, in fact, only the governess actually sees them. Were it not for the fact that the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, can identify them from the governess's descriptions, one might be tempted to think that the governess is hallucinating. Though the governess is certainly neurotic and repressed, this novel was published ten years before Freud, suggesting that the story should be taken at face value, as a suspenseful but enigmatic Victorian version of a Faustian struggle for the souls of these children. The ending, which comes as a shock to the reader, is a sign that such struggles should never be underestimated. As is always the case with James, the formal syntax, complex sentence structure, and elaborately constructed narrative are a pleasure to read for anyone who loves language, formality, and intricate psychological labyrinths. Mary Whipple
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Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well. Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one. The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story. Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much! Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends! cracking read , 02 Jun 2008
a typical james book great read and his interest in the dead comes through in this book! easy to read and your not sure where the next shock comes from quite creepy in parts def worth reaing Thoroughly enjoyable, 16 Jan 2008
I read this a little warily as I am not a fan of horror books but had enjoyed his recent 3 crime novels so much I wanted to give it a try. Having read it I wouldn't describe it as horror anyway, more supernatural. Whatever, it is certainly gripping and a real page turner, can't wait to read some of his other pre Roy Grace novels. scary and compelling, 01 Dec 2007
I read this book several years ago and found it compelling and a real page-turner, even though I don't normally read 'horror' type books. I found the whole past life regression aspect fascinating. I think it is better than his more recent detective novels. So So different., 10 Sep 2007
Like many others l had read the 3 major titles of Mr James, and l couldn't wait another year for a new one. So l bought his back catalogue.
This is the first l have read.
Immediately on the introduction pages, it seemed to be Like James Herbert's
"The Secret of Crickley Hall", though Mr James's book was written well before James Herbert's. But that is where the familiarity stops.
Its a class of it's own, it is a horror book. Everyone has read
how people are killed by madmen, or Ghosts, as such, but l have
NEVER cringed like l did when the teapot incident happens,
o it's so real.
This is not like his 3 other books, but well worth searching out
for. The story is so believable, it does have a start, a middle
and an end, and a poignant one at that.
Not a murder detective, it's a Ghost detective, and Charley
is the girl. The title says it all ..., 18 Oct 2008
Whether you've been a fan of the genre for years, or you're simply curious about the status of contemporary horror fiction, Best New Horror is pretty much the ideal place to start.
Volume Nineteen kicks off with editor Stephen Jones' usual exhaustive survey of the genre, covering everything from publishing trends, the latest novels and collections from big names to young Turks alike, to horror in the cinema, on TV and DVD. But as ever it's the fiction that really makes Best New Horror such an indispensable annual collection.
This year there are 26 short stories and novellas. Established masters of the genre are here - there's fine work from Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman and Christopher Fowler - but some of the real higlights come from the newer names and rising stars of the genre. Gary McMahon, Mark Samuels, Glen Hirshberg, Simon Strantzas, Reggie Oliver and Joel Knight especially demonstrate the depth and breadth of modern horror fiction, with stories that often pay homage to familiar tropes (and even classic writers) while remaining fresh and new. These stories range from the deliciously creepy to the flat-out disturbing; they prove yet again that not only does Stephen Jones know a good horror story when he reads one, but that there is more than enough great contemporary horror fiction being written to make his annual Best New Horror a must read.
The biggest and best yet!, 16 Oct 2008
Last year's volume recently won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology of the Year, and deservedly so -
- but what about this year's Volume 19, which is one of the longest in the series, a total - from cover to cover - of 640 pages?
It contains not a single weak story, its 26 tales ranging from the 'merely' very good to the excellent. Simply put, these are the best short stories you'll read this year, period. In ANY genre. And that isn't hyperbole: every year I read Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year together with Heidi Pitlor's The Best American Short Stories - but Best New Horror 19 trumps them all, not only in the quality of the writing, but in the daring of the imagination on show, with Christopher Fowler providing a tale worthy of vintage Ray Bradbury, while CaitlÃn R. Kiernan's tour de force, "The Ape's Wife", riffs on the various 'what ifs' of Ann Darrow's life following the death of King Kong, and the heir to the grand tradition of the weird tale, Mark Samuels, treks to Mexico where we discover H.P. Lovecraft is alive and still writing. Newcomers Simon Kurt Unsworth, Gary McMahan and Simon Strantzas ably hold their own against such genre masters as Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman, with small press stalwarts Mike O'Driscoll, Joel Lane and Conrad Williams not only at the height of their powers but happily growing better and better with each passing year.
And, once again, the incomparable Glen Hirshberg proves why he is now my favourite short story writer.
Together with superb tales from Stephen King's son Joe Hill, the delightful Terror from Texas hisownself Joe R. Lansdale, bestselling crime author Michael Marshall and bestselling fantasy author Steven Erikson - what are you waiting for?!
(This review comes from an advance copy bought at the FantasyCon, Nottingham England book launch on September 20th, 2008. Twelve of the contributors were on hand to sign the book. Only 50 advance copies were made available for the launch.)
If you haven't already done so, I urge you to seek out Volume 18, for not only is it itself an award-winning book, but so are three of the stories inside: Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe and Geoff Ryman. Also included in last year's volume are brilliantly blazing stories by Glen Hirshberg, David Morrell, Al Sarrantonio (editor of the massive 999 anthology a few years back), Richard C. Matheson and an 88 page novella by the always consistently dependable Kim Newman!
Possession, 30 Sep 2008
Interesting story but it ends up going nowhere, particularly as all the major plot twists are heavily signposted near the beginning of the book. There's a fair bit left unexplained, e.g. what was going in in Broadmoor, why was there an exorcism there?. What were Fabian and his friends really up to? This was the meat of the story but the author just ignores it. An un-satisfying read. Totally confiusing, 17 Jul 2008
Too much in too short a book, characters not fully developed - very fragile plot devices. Lots of anomolies. Terrible end. Could do better! Not my sort of book but..., 16 May 2008
I couldn't put this down. I only picked it up because I had nothing else to read and now I can't wait to buy more of his books. I hope they're all as good as this.
Well worth buying and reading. bit of a confusing end, 07 May 2008
the book is typical james very easy to read and a real page turner the story gets along quickly and beliveable its just the end is a bit of a rush and a bit confusing but def worth a read Another great read from an ever changing author., 04 Apr 2001
Having followed the writings of this author and enjoyed every book so far, this one brings it's own cast of strange charecters who jump out from the pages. A grieving mother is torn between the dead and the living, tormented and terrified she embarks on a frigteningly realistic journey which grips and twists as it goes. Again Peter has me sitting on the edge of the seat, I think I've got it then realize I haven't. This supernatural thriller is totaly believable and worryingly real. Other favourite titles include Host and Denial. My only complaint is that I read them faster than Peter creates them! Still haunting after all these years., 04 Jan 2006
One of the most seductive of all ghost stories, Turn of the Screw is not a tale for young people inured to Halloween I and II or Tales from the Crypt. It is a sophisticated and subtle literary exercise in which the author creates a dense, suggestive, and highly ambiguous story, its suspense and horror generated primarily by what the author does NOT say and does not describe. Compelled to fill in the blanks from his/her own store of personal fears, the reader ultimately conjures up a more horrifying set of images and circumstances than anything an author could impose from without. Written in 1898, this is superficially the tale of a governess who accepts the job of teaching two beautiful, young children whose uncle-guardian wants nothing to do with them. On a symbolic level, however, it is a study of the mores and prejudices of the times and, ultimately, of the nature of Evil. The governess fears that ghosts of the former governess Miss Jessel and her lover, valet Peter Quint, have corrupted the souls of little Flora and Miles and have won them to the side of Evil. The children deny any knowledge of ghosts, and, in fact, only the governess actually sees them. Were it not for the fact that the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, can identify them from the governess's descriptions, one might be tempted to think that the governess is hallucinating. Though the governess is certainly neurotic and repressed, this novel was published ten years before Freud, suggesting that the story should be taken at face value, as a suspenseful but enigmatic Victorian version of a Faustian struggle for the souls of these children. The ending, which comes as a shock to the reader, is a sign that such struggles should never be underestimated. As is always the case with James, the formal syntax, complex sentence structure, and elaborately constructed narrative are a pleasure to read for anyone who loves language, formality, and intricate psychological labyrinths. Mary Whipple
Terrifying tale, 27 Jun 2008
Unlike some of the other reviewers here I still think this is the creepiest book I've ever read, and all the more terrifying for the fact that James never articulates what's going on - he simply leaves your imagination to float free and conjure up all your worse nightmares. Yes, he's never an easy read (though this is far more accessible than Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl etc) but I think his very stately, mannered sentences and diction actually add to the horror of the story. Don't read this if you're expecting Stephen King or The Exorcist - James expects his readers to make the effort to read properly. Someone called this (possibly James himself?)'the most poisonous little tale I could imagine' and I think that's a perfect description - when I re-read it, it was on the tube with bright lights and lots of people around as I couldn't face reading it at home alone!
Base menials, 06 Dec 2006
Henry James is a prime aristocrat, a not always very subtle defender of the leisure class. Two short stories in this bundle show it profusely.
In `The Turn of the Screw', two aristocratic children are haunted by two `base menials' (`You reminded him that Quint was only a base menial?'). Henry James fears really that the higher classes will be contaminated and corrupted by the lower classes: `I should continue to defer to the old tradition of the criminality of those caretakers of the young who minister to superstition and fears.'
The evil comes out of the lower classes, `For the love of all the evil that the pair (of servants) put into them.'
At the end, one of the children succumbs to the same fate as the child in `Erlkoenig' by Goethe, Erlkoenig being the quintessence of the evil force, the killer of innocence.
In `Owen Wingrave' (masterly transformed into an opera by Benjamin Britten), the main character refuses to step into the tradition of his ancestors and to become a soldier (and die on the battlefield). On the contrary, he calls war an overwhelming stupidity, the `crash barbarism'. He doesn't understand `why nations don't tear to pieces the governments, the rulers that go for them.'
For Henry James, the ideas and the behavior of Owen Wingrave are like `falling in love with a low girl.'
At the end, Owen is slain by the ghost of one of his ancestors, dying on his own battlefield (for his ideas). The last words of the story (`gained field') would mean that the aristocracy has adopted the `anti-war' policy.
These perfectly constructed and brilliantly written stories reveal Henry James's real obsession: preserve the `purity' of his kind.
Henry James at his best., 10 May 2001
This collection includes the classic Turn of the Screw. It is a story about a nanny in a large country house and its eerie occurrences. "Friends of the Friends" is a similarly creepy story about death.
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Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well. Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one. The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story. Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much! Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends! cracking read , 02 Jun 2008
a typical james book great read and his interest in the dead comes through in this book! easy to read and your not sure where the next shock comes from quite creepy in parts def worth reaing Thoroughly enjoyable, 16 Jan 2008
I read this a little warily as I am not a fan of horror books but had enjoyed his recent 3 crime novels so much I wanted to give it a try. Having read it I wouldn't describe it as horror anyway, more supernatural. Whatever, it is certainly gripping and a real page turner, can't wait to read some of his other pre Roy Grace novels. scary and compelling, 01 Dec 2007
I read this book several years ago and found it compelling and a real page-turner, even though I don't normally read 'horror' type books. I found the whole past life regression aspect fascinating. I think it is better than his more recent detective novels. So So different., 10 Sep 2007
Like many others l had read the 3 major titles of Mr James, and l couldn't wait another year for a new one. So l bought his back catalogue.
This is the first l have read.
Immediately on the introduction pages, it seemed to be Like James Herbert's
"The Secret of Crickley Hall", though Mr James's book was written well before James Herbert's. But that is where the familiarity stops.
Its a class of it's own, it is a horror book. Everyone has read
how people are killed by madmen, or Ghosts, as such, but l have
NEVER cringed like l did when the teapot incident happens,
o it's so real.
This is not like his 3 other books, but well worth searching out
for. The story is so believable, it does have a start, a middle
and an end, and a poignant one at that.
Not a murder detective, it's a Ghost detective, and Charley
is the girl. The title says it all ..., 18 Oct 2008
Whether you've been a fan of the genre for years, or you're simply curious about the status of contemporary horror fiction, Best New Horror is pretty much the ideal place to start.
Volume Nineteen kicks off with editor Stephen Jones' usual exhaustive survey of the genre, covering everything from publishing trends, the latest novels and collections from big names to young Turks alike, to horror in the cinema, on TV and DVD. But as ever it's the fiction that really makes Best New Horror such an indispensable annual collection.
This year there are 26 short stories and novellas. Established masters of the genre are here - there's fine work from Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman and Christopher Fowler - but some of the real higlights come from the newer names and rising stars of the genre. Gary McMahon, Mark Samuels, Glen Hirshberg, Simon Strantzas, Reggie Oliver and Joel Knight especially demonstrate the depth and breadth of modern horror fiction, with stories that often pay homage to familiar tropes (and even classic writers) while remaining fresh and new. These stories range from the deliciously creepy to the flat-out disturbing; they prove yet again that not only does Stephen Jones know a good horror story when he reads one, but that there is more than enough great contemporary horror fiction being written to make his annual Best New Horror a must read.
The biggest and best yet!, 16 Oct 2008
Last year's volume recently won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology of the Year, and deservedly so -
- but what about this year's Volume 19, which is one of the longest in the series, a total - from cover to cover - of 640 pages?
It contains not a single weak story, its 26 tales ranging from the 'merely' very good to the excellent. Simply put, these are the best short stories you'll read this year, period. In ANY genre. And that isn't hyperbole: every year I read Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year together with Heidi Pitlor's The Best American Short Stories - but Best New Horror 19 trumps them all, not only in the quality of the writing, but in the daring of the imagination on show, with Christopher Fowler providing a tale worthy of vintage Ray Bradbury, while CaitlÃn R. Kiernan's tour de force, "The Ape's Wife", riffs on the various 'what ifs' of Ann Darrow's life following the death of King Kong, and the heir to the grand tradition of the weird tale, Mark Samuels, treks to Mexico where we discover H.P. Lovecraft is alive and still writing. Newcomers Simon Kurt Unsworth, Gary McMahan and Simon Strantzas ably hold their own against such genre masters as Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman, with small press stalwarts Mike O'Driscoll, Joel Lane and Conrad Williams not only at the height of their powers but happily growing better and better with each passing year.
And, once again, the incomparable Glen Hirshberg proves why he is now my favourite short story writer.
Together with superb tales from Stephen King's son Joe Hill, the delightful Terror from Texas hisownself Joe R. Lansdale, bestselling crime author Michael Marshall and bestselling fantasy author Steven Erikson - what are you waiting for?!
(This review comes from an advance copy bought at the FantasyCon, Nottingham England book launch on September 20th, 2008. Twelve of the contributors were on hand to sign the book. Only 50 advance copies were made available for the launch.)
If you haven't already done so, I urge you to seek out Volume 18, for not only is it itself an award-winning book, but so are three of the stories inside: Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe and Geoff Ryman. Also included in last year's volume are brilliantly blazing stories by Glen Hirshberg, David Morrell, Al Sarrantonio (editor of the massive 999 anthology a few years back), Richard C. Matheson and an 88 page novella by the always consistently dependable Kim Newman!
Possession, 30 Sep 2008
Interesting story but it ends up going nowhere, particularly as all the major plot twists are heavily signposted near the beginning of the book. There's a fair bit left unexplained, e.g. what was going in in Broadmoor, why was there an exorcism there?. What were Fabian and his friends really up to? This was the meat of the story but the author just ignores it. An un-satisfying read. Totally confiusing, 17 Jul 2008
Too much in too short a book, characters not fully developed - very fragile plot devices. Lots of anomolies. Terrible end. Could do better! Not my sort of book but..., 16 May 2008
I couldn't put this down. I only picked it up because I had nothing else to read and now I can't wait to buy more of his books. I hope they're all as good as this.
Well worth buying and reading. bit of a confusing end, 07 May 2008
the book is typical james very easy to read and a real page turner the story gets along quickly and beliveable its just the end is a bit of a rush and a bit confusing but def worth a read Another great read from an ever changing author., 04 Apr 2001
Having followed the writings of this author and enjoyed every book so far, this one brings it's own cast of strange charecters who jump out from the pages. A grieving mother is torn between the dead and the living, tormented and terrified she embarks on a frigteningly realistic journey which grips and twists as it goes. Again Peter has me sitting on the edge of the seat, I think I've got it then realize I haven't. This supernatural thriller is totaly believable and worryingly real. Other favourite titles include Host and Denial. My only complaint is that I read them faster than Peter creates them! Still haunting after all these years., 04 Jan 2006
One of the most seductive of all ghost stories, Turn of the Screw is not a tale for young people inured to Halloween I and II or Tales from the Crypt. It is a sophisticated and subtle literary exercise in which the author creates a dense, suggestive, and highly ambiguous story, its suspense and horror generated primarily by what the author does NOT say and does not describe. Compelled to fill in the blanks from his/her own store of personal fears, the reader ultimately conjures up a more horrifying set of images and circumstances than anything an author could impose from without. Written in 1898, this is superficially the tale of a governess who accepts the job of teaching two beautiful, young children whose uncle-guardian wants nothing to do with them. On a symbolic level, however, it is a study of the mores and prejudices of the times and, ultimately, of the nature of Evil. The governess fears that ghosts of the former governess Miss Jessel and her lover, valet Peter Quint, have corrupted the souls of little Flora and Miles and have won them to the side of Evil. The children deny any knowledge of ghosts, and, in fact, only the governess actually sees them. Were it not for the fact that the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, can identify them from the governess's descriptions, one might be tempted to think that the governess is hallucinating. Though the governess is certainly neurotic and repressed, this novel was published ten years before Freud, suggesting that the story should be taken at face value, as a suspenseful but enigmatic Victorian version of a Faustian struggle for the souls of these children. The ending, which comes as a shock to the reader, is a sign that such struggles should never be underestimated. As is always the case with James, the formal syntax, complex sentence structure, and elaborately constructed narrative are a pleasure to read for anyone who loves language, formality, and intricate psychological labyrinths. Mary Whipple
Terrifying tale, 27 Jun 2008
Unlike some of the other reviewers here I still think this is the creepiest book I've ever read, and all the more terrifying for the fact that James never articulates what's going on - he simply leaves your imagination to float free and conjure up all your worse nightmares. Yes, he's never an easy read (though this is far more accessible than Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl etc) but I think his very stately, mannered sentences and diction actually add to the horror of the story. Don't read this if you're expecting Stephen King or The Exorcist - James expects his readers to make the effort to read properly. Someone called this (possibly James himself?)'the most poisonous little tale I could imagine' and I think that's a perfect description - when I re-read it, it was on the tube with bright lights and lots of people around as I couldn't face reading it at home alone!
Base menials, 06 Dec 2006
Henry James is a prime aristocrat, a not always very subtle defender of the leisure class. Two short stories in this bundle show it profusely.
In `The Turn of the Screw', two aristocratic children are haunted by two `base menials' (`You reminded him that Quint was only a base menial?'). Henry James fears really that the higher classes will be contaminated and corrupted by the lower classes: `I should continue to defer to the old tradition of the criminality of those caretakers of the young who minister to superstition and fears.'
The evil comes out of the lower classes, `For the love of all the evil that the pair (of servants) put into them.'
At the end, one of the children succumbs to the same fate as the child in `Erlkoenig' by Goethe, Erlkoenig being the quintessence of the evil force, the killer of innocence.
In `Owen Wingrave' (masterly transformed into an opera by Benjamin Britten), the main character refuses to step into the tradition of his ancestors and to become a soldier (and die on the battlefield). On the contrary, he calls war an overwhelming stupidity, the `crash barbarism'. He doesn't understand `why nations don't tear to pieces the governments, the rulers that go for them.'
For Henry James, the ideas and the behavior of Owen Wingrave are like `falling in love with a low girl.'
At the end, Owen is slain by the ghost of one of his ancestors, dying on his own battlefield (for his ideas). The last words of the story (`gained field') would mean that the aristocracy has adopted the `anti-war' policy.
These perfectly constructed and brilliantly written stories reveal Henry James's real obsession: preserve the `purity' of his kind.
Henry James at his best., 10 May 2001
This collection includes the classic Turn of the Screw. It is a story about a nanny in a large country house and its eerie occurrences. "Friends of the Friends" is a similarly creepy story about death.
The Ghostly T, 07 Nov 2008
I love Wordsworth's Mystery & Supernatural Classics. However, sometimes they do let themselves down by poor proof reading. The blurb on the back of the book refers to a story called "The Jolly Gardener", when the story is actually called "The Jolly Corner." The spine of the book gives the title as "The Ghost Storties of Henry James."
Once you get inside the book things change. "The Turn of the Screw" is always essential reading and a tale that gets better each time you read. Don't read it just once, as that can leave you feeling dissapointed. I must have read it five times over twenty years and each time I see something different and my views of the main characters change.
The rest of the collection is not up to the same standard, but "the Ghostly Rental" creates an effective atmosphere and "Owen Wingrave" and "Sir Edmund Orme" are well worth reading.
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The Magic Cottage
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
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Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well. Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to know what happened afterwards. I have never yet been disappointed by any of Peter James's books, all that I have read have been brilliant. Can't wait to read another one. The Truth is You have to buy it., 07 Dec 2002
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story. Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best, 02 Apr 2001
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much! Excellent, gripping, definitely unputdownable!, 16 Dec 1998
You're into the gripping storyline within the first three pages. From then on it simply flows and hopefully no one in your family requires anything from you as you can't tear yourself away! At no pojnt do you lose track of the characters or the plot. The only bad thing I have to say is that it finally ends! cracking read , 02 Jun 2008
a typical james book great read and his interest in the dead comes through in this book! easy to read and your not sure where the next shock comes from quite creepy in parts def worth reaing Thoroughly enjoyable, 16 Jan 2008
I read this a little warily as I am not a fan of horror books but had enjoyed his recent 3 crime novels so much I wanted to give it a try. Having read it I wouldn't describe it as horror anyway, more supernatural. Whatever, it is certainly gripping and a real page turner, can't wait to read some of his other pre Roy Grace novels. scary and compelling, 01 Dec 2007
I read this book several years ago and found it compelling and a real page-turner, even though I don't normally read 'horror' type books. I found the whole past life regression aspect fascinating. I think it is better than his more recent detective novels. So So different., 10 Sep 2007
Like many others l had read the 3 major titles of Mr James, and l couldn't wait another year for a new one. So l bought his back catalogue.
This is the first l have read.
Immediately on the introduction pages, it seemed to be Like James Herbert's
"The Secret of Crickley Hall", though Mr James's book was written well before James Herbert's. But that is where the familiarity stops.
Its a class of it's own, it is a horror book. Everyone has read
how people are killed by madmen, or Ghosts, as such, but l have
NEVER cringed like l did when the teapot incident happens,
o it's so real.
This is not like his 3 other books, but well worth searching out
for. The story is so believable, it does have a start, a middle
and an end, and a poignant one at that.
Not a murder detective, it's a Ghost detective, and Charley
is the girl. The title says it all ..., 18 Oct 2008
Whether you've been a fan of the genre for years, or you're simply curious about the status of contemporary horror fiction, Best New Horror is pretty much the ideal place to start.
Volume Nineteen kicks off with editor Stephen Jones' usual exhaustive survey of the genre, covering everything from publishing trends, the latest novels and collections from big names to young Turks alike, to horror in the cinema, on TV and DVD. But as ever it's the fiction that really makes Best New Horror such an indispensable annual collection.
This year there are 26 short stories and novellas. Established masters of the genre are here - there's fine work from Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, David A. Sutton, Kim Newman and Christopher Fowler - but some of the real higlights come from the newer names and rising stars of the genre. Gary McMahon, Mark Samuels, Glen Hirshberg, Simon Strantzas, Reggie Oliver and Joel Knight especially demonstrate the depth and breadth of modern horror fiction, with stories that often pay homage to familiar tropes (and even classic writers) while remaining fresh and new. These stories range from the deliciously creepy to the flat-out disturbing; they prove yet again that not only does Stephen Jones know a good horror story when he reads one, but that there is more than enough great contemporary horror fiction being written to make his annual Best New Horror a must read.
The biggest and best yet!, 16 Oct 2008
Last year's volume recently won the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Anthology of the Year, and deservedly so -
- but what about this year's Volume 19, which is one of the longest in the series, a total - from cover to cover - of 640 pages?
It contains not a single weak story, its 26 tales ranging from the 'merely' very good to the excellent. Simply put, these are the best short stories you'll read this year, period. In ANY genre. And that isn't hyperbole: every year I read Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year together with Heidi Pitlor's The Best American Short Stories - but Best New Horror 19 trumps them all, not only in the quality of the writing, but in the daring of the imagination on show, with Christopher Fowler providing a tale worthy of vintage Ray Bradbury, while CaitlÃn R. Kiernan's tour de force, "The Ape's Wife", riffs on the various 'what ifs' of Ann Darrow's life following the death of King Kong, and the heir to the grand tradition of the weird tale, Mark Samuels, treks to Mexico where we discover H.P. Lovecraft is alive and still writing. Newcomers Simon Kurt Unsworth, Gary McMahan and Simon Strantzas ably hold their own against such genre masters as Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman, with small press stalwarts Mike O'Driscoll, Joel Lane and Conrad Williams not only at the height of their powers but happily growing better and better with each passing year.
And, once again, the incomparable Glen Hirshberg proves why he is now my favourite short story writer.
Together with superb tales from Stephen King's son Joe Hill, the delightful Terror from Texas hisownself Joe R. Lansdale, bestselling crime author Michael Marshall and bestselling fantasy author Steven Erikson - what are you waiting for?!
(This review comes from an advance copy bought at the FantasyCon, Nottingham England book launch on September 20th, 2008. Twelve of the contributors were on hand to sign the book. Only 50 advance copies were made available for the launch.)
If you haven't already done so, I urge you to seek out Volume 18, for not only is it itself an award-winning book, but so are three of the stories inside: Elizabeth Hand, Gene Wolfe and Geoff Ryman. Also included in last year's volume are brilliantly blazing stories by Glen Hirshberg, David Morrell, Al Sarrantonio (editor of the massive 999 anthology a few years back), Richard C. Matheson and an 88 page novella by the always consistently dependable Kim Newman!
Possession, 30 Sep 2008
Interesting story but it ends up going nowhere, particularly as all the major plot twists are heavily signposted near the beginning of the book. There's a fair bit left unexplained, e.g. what was going in in Broadmoor, why was there an exorcism there?. What were Fabian and his friends really up to? This was the meat of the story but the author just ignores it. An un-satisfying read. Totally confiusing, 17 Jul 2008
Too much in too short a book, characters not fully developed - very fragile plot devices. Lots of anomolies. Terrible end. Could do better! Not my sort of book but..., 16 May 2008
I couldn't put this down. I only picked it up because I had nothing else to read and now I can't wait to buy more of his books. I hope they're all as good as this.
Well worth buying and reading. bit of a confusing end, 07 May 2008
the book is typical james very easy to read and a real page turner the story gets along quickly and beliveable its just the end is a bit of a rush and a bit confusing but def worth a read Another great read from an ever changing author., 04 Apr 2001
Having followed the writings of this author and enjoyed every book so far, this one brings it's own cast of strange charecters who jump out from the pages. A grieving mother is torn between the dead and the living, tormented and terrified she embarks on a frigteningly realistic journey which grips and twists as it goes. Again Peter has me sitting on the edge of the seat, I think I've got it then realize I haven't. This supernatural thriller is totaly believable and worryingly real. Other favourite titles include Host and Denial. My only complaint is that I read them faster than Peter creates them! Still haunting after all these years., 04 Jan 2006
One of the most seductive of all ghost stories, Turn of the Screw is not a tale for young people inured to Halloween I and II or Tales from the Crypt. It is a sophisticated and subtle literary exercise in which the author creates a dense, suggestive, and highly ambiguous story, its suspense and horror generated primarily by what the author does NOT say and does not describe. Compelled to fill in the blanks from his/her own store of personal fears, the reader ultimately conjures up a more horrifying set of images and circumstances than anything an author could impose from without. Written in 1898, this is superficially the tale of a governess who accepts the job of teaching two beautiful, young children whose uncle-guardian wants nothing to do with them. On a symbolic level, however, it is a study of the mores and prejudices of the times and, ultimately, of the nature of Evil. The governess fears that ghosts of the former governess Miss Jessel and her lover, valet Peter Quint, have corrupted the souls of little Flora and Miles and have won them to the side of Evil. The children deny any knowledge of ghosts, and, in fact, only the governess actually sees them. Were it not for the fact that the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, can identify them from the governess's descriptions, one might be tempted to think that the governess is hallucinating. Though the governess is certainly neurotic and repressed, this novel was published ten years before Freud, suggesting that the story should be taken at face value, as a suspenseful but enigmatic Victorian version of a Faustian struggle for the souls of these children. The ending, which comes as a shock to the reader, is a sign that such struggles should never be underestimated. As is always the case with James, the formal syntax, complex sentence structure, and elaborately constructed narrative are a pleasure to read for anyone who loves language, formality, and intricate psychological labyrinths. Mary Whipple
Terrifying tale, 27 Jun 2008
Unlike some of the other reviewers here I still think this is the creepiest book I've ever read, and all the more terrifying for the fact that James never articulates what's going on - he simply leaves your imagination to float free and conjure up all your worse nightmares. Yes, he's never an easy read (though this is far more accessible than Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl etc) but I think his very stately, mannered sentences and diction actually add to the horror of the story. Don't read this if you're expecting Stephen King or The Exorcist - James expects his readers to make the effort to read properly. Someone called this (possibly James himself?)'the most poisonous little tale I could imagine' and I think that's a perfect description - when I re-read it, it was on the tube with bright lights and lots of people around as I couldn't face reading it at home alone!
Base menials, 06 Dec 2006
Henry James is a prime aristocrat, a not always very subtle defender of the leisure class. Two short stories in this bundle show it profusely.
In `The Turn of the Screw', two aristocratic children are haunted by two `base menials' (`You reminded him that Quint was only a base menial?'). Henry James fears really that the higher classes will be contaminated and corrupted by the lower classes: `I should continue to defer to the old tradition of the criminality of those caretakers of the young who minister to superstition and fears.'
The evil comes out of the lower classes, `For the love of all the evil that the pair (of servants) put into them.'
At the end, one of the children succumbs to the same fate as the child in `Erlkoenig' by Goethe, Erlkoenig being the quintessence of the evil force, the killer of innocence.
In `Owen Wingrave' (masterly transformed into an opera by Benjamin Britten), the main character refuses to step into the tradition of his ancestors and to become a soldier (and die on the battlefield). On the contrary, he calls war an overwhelming stupidity, the `crash barbarism'. He doesn't understand `why nations don't tear to pieces the governments, the rulers that go for them.'
For Henry James, the ideas and the behavior of Owen Wingrave are like `falling in love with a low girl.'
At the end, Owen is slain by the ghost of one of his ancestors, dying on his own battlefield (for his ideas). The last words of the story (`gained field') would mean that the aristocracy has adopted the `anti-war' policy.
These perfectly constructed and brilliantly written stories reveal Henry James's real obsession: preserve the `purity' of his kind.
Henry James at his best., 10 May 2001
This collection includes the classic Turn of the Screw. It is a story about a nanny in a large country house and its eerie occurrences. "Friends of the Friends" is a similarly creepy story about death.
The Ghostly T, 07 Nov 2008
I love Wordsworth's Mystery & Supernatural Classics. However, sometimes they do let themselves down by poor proof reading. The blurb on the back of the book refers to a story called "The Jolly Gardener", when the story is actually called "The Jolly Corner." The spine of the book gives the title as "The Ghost Storties of Henry James."
Once you get inside the book things change. "The Turn of the Screw" is always essential reading and a tale that gets better each time you read. Don't read it just once, as that can leave you feeling dissapointed. I must have read it five times over twenty years and each time I see something different and my views of the main characters change.
The rest of the collection is not up to the same standard, but "the Ghostly Rental" creates an effective atmosphere and "Owen Wingrave" and "Sir Edmund Orme" are well worth reading.
Terrible, 05 Jul 2008
I have only read two books by James Herbert. This and Haunted. While I felt Haunted was pretty slow it was still a good story. The Magic Cottage on the other hand was totaly pointless. This is one of the only books I've ever stopped reading about 50 pages from the end as I just couldn't force myself to read anymore. Please don't waste your money on this book.
Nice characterisation, 31 May 2008
I was expecting a horror story, as James Herbert is pretty famous for those, but I didn't really get one with this book. I wasn't disappointed though I just had to switch my expectations to another track.
Mike Stringer, the narrator of this tale, and his partner Midge (Margaret) Gudgeon relocate from busy London to the countryside, close to the New Forest. Their new home is Gramarye, a run down cottage set in woodland and close to the village of Cantrip. Odd though it may seem when they eventually move in, but the cottage wasn't in such disrepair as they first thought, and the woodland animals are all so very friendly, almost tame.
Life is good, but there are bad times coming. The people from the Synergist Temple begin to call. The vicar from Cantrip comes with dire warnings. And just who exactly is that dark figure who keeps watching the house?
This was an enjoyable and easy read for me. Having read most of James Herbert's books old and new I wasn't surprised that the story greeted me like an old friend. Characters were funny and real, even the ones that weren't human.
The story runs along and takes you with it, there are twists and turns but you can usually see them coming so they don't come as any great surprise. An easy read but not one to stay in the mind after it's finished and put back on the book shelf.
Enchanting, magical, edge of your seat reading, 01 Jan 2008
This was one of the most enchanting, gripping stories I have ever read. Unlike some of the horror Mr. Herbert has written, this was more suspense/thriller than horror, though it does indeed have it's horrifying moments.
The story centers around a couple from London, Mike and Midge, who begin to search for a house of their own. Midge starts scanning the newspaper and is drawn to a little add for a cottage called Gramarye. When they go see the house they find out from the realtor that is being sold as part of the estate of a very old woman who lived there most of her life and died suddenly. When they go to the house Midge is completely enchanted by the little cottage, feeling like it is home. Mike sees the flaws that need fixing. Still, passion wins over and they buy the little house and work to restore it's beauty. They seem like the perfect couple who has just found the perfect home.
Yet there is something strange and disturbing about Gramarye, Mike can feel it, Midge seems oblivious to it. Animals come into the house and eat out of their hands, they befriend a little red squirrel who comes in daily and chatters away at them. Wounds heal spontaneously. It all sounds pretty silly, but it is all part of the magic that is Gramarye.
Soon the enchanting life starts to take a turn when they meet young people who live in a house on the other side of the forest behind their house. Midge becomes entangled with their group, which ends up being a cult. The cult wants the house and will stop at nothing to possess it. Thus begins the battle of wills while Mike tries to save Midge from the cult and his new home from their possession. Don't worry, I haven't given anything away.
This book was a mystery loaded with magic and danger. It has ghosts and spirits, both good and evil. It begins by sparking the imagination, and the tension grows stronger and stronger in this well wrought story, until it reaches a crescendo that will leave you breathless. This was such a good book that I'm now buying the hardcover - yes, it's good enough to read again. Buy this book, you'll love it as much as I did!
Enchanting...at first, 18 Aug 2007
This book is a good read, I enjoyed every moment and was delighted when Rumbo the Squirrel from Fluke turned up!!!!
Not for me thanks. Where's the 0 star button ?, 07 Aug 2007
First book I read by this author, and vow not to purchase again. The theme of the story seemed very interesting, hence I bought the book. The dialogues were pure drivel and I couldn't help but detest the two characters and hoped some monster would come out of the woods and been done with.
The synergist thing was silly, the final duel ridiculous.
I don't know whether any of his other books are better, good or masterpieces but this has definetely put me off finding out.
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Customer Reviews
Want to know the truth?, 16 Nov 2008
Phenomenal! I lived this book and i defy you as a reader not to experience the truth as well.
Excellent, 19 Feb 2008
This is utterly enthralling, I loved it, although I did think the ending as far as Mr Sarotzini was concerned, was perhaps a bit of an anti climax. That said it is a really great book that keeps you gripped all the way through until the very last sentence, I would love to k | | |