'Lair' – James Herbert (New English Library)

Today was going to see another movie post here but... Well, the movie I tried to watch, last night, was 'Age of the Dragons' which was essentially 'Moby Dick' but with dragons instead of whales... I could never get through the book and the addition of dragons was nowhere near enough to keep me interested. I did about twenty minutes, fast forwarded to the end and that was that. That'll teach me not to pick up DVDs whilst in the queue at Poundland...

Luckily, I'm a couple of books ahead of myself at the moment so figured that now was as good a time as any to take a look at James Herbert's 'Lair'. I read 'The Rats' back at the end of September and did that thing where I always meant to pick up 'Lair' next but never got round to it. When 'Breakfast in the Ruins' had a read of, and chat about, 'The Rats' (for their Halloween Special), that put the idea back in my head and a few weeks later, finally got round to it. I am fashionably late to everything, even my own reading schedule it would seem...

So before I delay it any longer... Here's what I thought of 'Lair' ;o)

The mutant white rat had grown and mated, creating offspring in its own image. They dominated the others, the dark-furred ones, who foraged for food and brought it back to the lair.

Now the dark rats were restless, tormented by a craving they could not satisfy. But the white slug-like thing that ruled them knew. Its two heads weaved to and fro and a stickiness drooled from its mouth as it remembered the taste of human flesh . . .

The last couple of pages of 'The Rats' set things up nicely for a sequel so there are no surprises here then that the mutant rats were never entirely dealt with and now they're back, this time to eat their way through the unsuspecting people (and wildlife) of Epping Forest. That's the big difference in a book that is a little too similar to 'The Rats' for its own good. It's understandable really, there's only so much that you can do with oversized mutant rats after all. The bottom line though is that if you're expecting something different, well... Herbert tries to add a couple of new bits to the mix but it doesn't really work in terms of making this book stand out. The forest setting is one of course but that soon boils down to rats killing people in a number of admittedly gruesome ways. The other is a little more clever...

In 'The Rats', Herbert had a habit of signposting deaths but telling someone's life story up until the bit where they get eaten by the rats. It was nice to flesh out these walking rat fodder but it did mean that you could see a death coming a mile off. This time though, it's like Herbert realised what he'd done and tried to do things a little differently. You still get that back story but this time, characters live on for another chapter or so before dying, or not... And that's great because suddenly, there's an air of suspense that wasn't in the first book. I like that in a horror book :o)

So, 'Lair' doesn't feel like it's doing much new then but to be fair, anyone coming back for this sequel probably isn't too worried about that because, well... mutant rats eating people ;o) I was the same, just after a story with loads of gore and mutant rats that are more than a match for the army and various scientists. And that is just what you get with 'Lair', bucketloads of assorted viscera and standoffs between humanity and the rats. Our hero is a little more heroic this time round (no perving at schoolgirls here) and is cast in the 'out for revenge' mold. There is a love interest (and everything that entails in a James Herbert book) but Jenny has a little more agency about her and that makes for a more satisfying read; you know, with people actually being people instead of just being around for when the plot needs a bit of sex to liven things up. All the same stuff happens but the characters definitely make 'Lair' a book that is easier to stick with than its predecessor.

And that's 'Lair' in a nutshell really. The same shocks and scares as 'The Rats' (Herbert doesn't hold back which is great for someone like me) but also signs that Herbert has moved on, a little, from the 'savage, no compromise' attitude, of 'The Rats', that is good for a debut but may not prove as effective fuel for sequels. 'Lair' is more of an actual story than 'The Rats' and that's what will have me picking up 'Domain', for a re-read, at some point in the near(ish) future.