I had not heard of James Herbert until I saw advertisements for the Jeffrey Dean Morgan film, The Unholy, and decided to read the novel. It felt so cheap considering everything I saw the characters go through but the players are bigger than life.

But all is not what it seems, and as time goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that there’s a dark side to the miracles. Perhaps the flawed 'hero' Gerry Fenn runs according to expectation as an ambitious journalist but the creation of the two central priests - Father Hagan and Monsignor Delgard - is masterful. It felt as though he was just including them for the sake of including them, knowing that a certain percentage of his readers are into that sort of thing, but at least he didn’t use awkward phrasing like “most wetness” or “engorged shaft”. It is, nonetheless, a novel suffering from some flaws: an ending perhaps a little hasty and leaving us with more questions than answers; the protagonist, Alice Pagett, is not always at the centre of the stage as she would deserve.one of those reads where you know the author and thier style so well that yours sure you will cruise on through enjoyably. Sure, it might not be as thrilling or as high-octane as some of his other books, but it’s still a cracking read. I’m also a sucker for any book that has elements of religious horror, and this definitely ticked the boxes, being almost reminiscent of The Exorcist.

There were some true believers out there, but there were also plenty of people just out to make a quick buck, and there were some amusing little incidents when the two groups came together. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.Ok so my horror revival continues - this book (along with the other works of James Herbert) was the next stop after exhausting Stephen Kings prodigious publication list. I loved the narration and the "boring" parts weren't boring for me they added to the story in an important and impactful way. And as the storyline becomes more hectic, with the miracles sparking massive media coverage, so this underlying tension just keeps on mounting to gigantic proportions. However, when the finale plays out (don’t worry, I won’t give it away) Finn is left very much a bystander in the final proceedings.

An interesting part of Herbert's canon in which an apparent Marion vision near a Catholic church gradually unravels as it becomes clear that something deeply sinister is hiding behind the veneer of holiness. His novels have sold more than forty-two million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty-three languages, including Russian and Chinese. Now I think I tire a little of the format, that being like several short stories linked together around the main theme. It’s one of those ‘love it or hate it’ sort of situations, where there’s no right or wrong answer to whether it works or not.Another Herbert novel, another new direction for the author, and in my opinion, another damn fine addition to a thoroughly impressive back catalogue.

Niby nic prostszego, takich opowieści w historii ludzkości było wiele, ale wciąż pozostaje coś niesamowitego w motywie dziecka, które doznaje potencjalnego objawienia religijnego. Tiene una comienzo genial que poco a poco va decayendo metiéndole paja de relaciones entre personajes que nada interesa para tener un final de fuegos artificiales que en mi casa me fastidia. Needless to say, as with all Herbert’s “heros”, the obnoxious little ferret is inexplicably irresistible to women (obviously! Still, Herbert's net of well fleshed out characters that have some kind of connection to Alice is more than accomplished and that, beside the interesting subject matter, keeps you well engaged throughout the whole book. It wasn't gross or disturbing in a way that's haunting but the imagery of it just sticks in the brain.

I enjoyed this book, it was a little long I felt like it could have been cut down in size a little but I liked the characters and the story was interesting. Overall, I felt the book was a solid thriller, well-paced with an excellent look at the minutiae of small town life. Still, if you want a proper book that is an edge above the average rather than 99 minutes in the theatre or in front of a screen, you could do worse than dig this old genre novel out (it is certainly on Kindle) or pick up any re-publication (assuming it is as originally published). In its core, an exploration Roman Catholicism; poses some interesting questions about the religion, its icons, and faith.