Ewwww!!!! 🐀🐀🐀

 

Stormi reached out to meet late last night and asked if I wanted to join her for a couple of horror reads in April.  She is participating in the Old School April over on Booktube and I'll use any excuse to read more horror books.  So, she picked this one and another one for later in the month.  Read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Storm Reads to hear her take on it.

TITLE: The Rats

AUTHOR: James Herbert

PUBLISHER: Pan Publishing

PUBLISHING DATE: January 1, 1974

PAGES: 212   

SOURCE: Own

FROM GOODREADS: For millions of years man and rats had been natural enemies. But now for the first time - suddenly, shockingly, horribly - the balance of power had shifted and the rats began to prey on the human population.

MY THOUGHTS: Not much of a synopsis huh?  Well, even though there is a plot, the book is a lot of rats mutilating and scaring people and animals so if creature features aren't your thing, then you might want to pass this one up.  

This book takes place in 1974 London.  A giant mutant rat has been spotted and right off the bat, we have human, baby and dog death.  However, I was warned so I was prepared and let's be honest, I rarely care what happens to human beings in horror.  The MC, Harris, is pretty much a teacher who has returned to his hometown with his girlfriend, grasping for something from his past but I'm really not sure what. He came from the poorer part of town and is bent on saving other kids facing similar situations.  However, when one of his students gets attacked, Harris finds himself right in the middle of a mass rat invasion and an intense extermination mission.

This book is short and fast.  There were some chapters which seemed like their own short story, yet the author did manage to make them all tie in and add relevance to the plot.  This book came close to being a 4/5 but there was one scene where SPOLIER ALERT puppies were used as bait.  I would have rather seen them sacrifice humans - mean I know but I make no apologies.  I am glad to finally read some classic horror and might even consider reading the next two books in the trilogy.  If you like action-packed blood and gore, then give this one a go.

MY RATING: 3 Paws