This was my first James Herbert book and I was not disappointed. I was gripped to the end. The character Ash was very likeable and there were lots of twists and turns along the way. It is a ghostly, sinister story that pulls you in and you just want to keep reading to see what happens next. I will be reading more Herbert books in the future!

I was torn between giving this a 2 star or 3 rating; I decided on the latter. I have followed David Ash's adventures and love James Herbert's writing however this is totally different. Ash is still trying to recover from his last encounters with the supernatural when he is hired to investigate the strange happenings at a Scottish castle that harbours those who have money to evade the law. The story takes a while to start however when it gets going it quickly becomes twisted with murder, incest, conspiracy theories, and ghosts to name but a few of the aspects of this story. Some of the scenes are very descriptive and gory however if you have read James Herbert before you will be used to this, if not just a heads up. It is a big book (the printed version is over 600 pages) and goes from Ash's point of view and what is happening and flits between the other characters and back to Ash. Most of the Herbert books I have read focus on a theme (usually supernatural and horror) but this one covers a whole host of topics including love, sex and lesbianism. Ash's character goes through different phases as the story progresses. He starts off as investigator battling his addictions and old ghosts whilst trying to keep on top of the new case with limited information. Then as he uncovers the history and secrets of the castle and residents he becomes more assertive, latterly the "hero" in him comes forth as he attempts to do his job and stay alive. To be honest the story is simply madness. There is so much going on in it and even for a horror fan who loves "out there" and "it is never going to happen" stuff even this was a bit unreal for me. I still enjoyed it though and think if you're happy to read it knowing it really is quite silly and bizarre you will be fine with it. 3/5 for me.

This is the second James Herbert novel I have read. The other (The Secret of Crickley Hall) I enjoyed, but unfortunately I thought this was absolutely terrible. It's basically a haunted house ghost story - but the plot is very convoluted, and if you're after a proper explanation of what is causing the horror, you'll be disappointed! The story has a series of frightening incidents which James Herbert describes very well - but the plot as a whole is terrible. It's an extremely far-fetched conspiracy theory, and without giving away any spoilers, I found parts of it in quite bad taste. Generally it's just very silly and makes little sense. I also dislike the way James Herbert has written the book - he seems to have been averse to writing about characters by name more than once in a paragraph, preferring to refer to them by their job title or nationality instead even when we know their name! Perhaps this wouldn't have bothered me if the plot had been good, but this coupled with the daft plot and the cheesy romance between "the parapsychologist" and "the raven-haired psychologist" really put me off the whole thing.