The Rats (Rats, #1)

Title: The Rats (Rats, #1)

Author: James Herbert

Published in: 1974

Date read: 19th April 2005

Score: 5/5

Genre: Horror, Psychological, Thriller

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"The Rats" by James Herbert, published in 1974, is the author's debut novel and a seminal work of environmental horror that launched his career. It's a visceral, unsettling tale that taps into primal fears of disease, urban decay, and swarming vermin, depicting a terrifying onslaught of mutated, carnivorous rats.

The story opens in the squalid East End of London, a place characterised by poverty, neglect, and overcrowding. The initial incidents are disturbing but isolated: a homeless man found brutally gnawed to death in a park, and a baby attacked in its cot. These seemingly random acts of violence are quickly dismissed by authorities.

However, a horrifying pattern begins to emerge. The attacks become more frequent, more organised, and more audacious. The perpetrators are not ordinary rodents, but monstrous, black rats of enormous size, exhibiting unnatural intelligence, ferocity, and an insatiable hunger for flesh. These aren't just rats; they are a new, terrifying breed, possibly mutated by pollution or some dark, unseen force.

The protagonist is Harris, an art teacher working in the deprived area. He is one of the first to witness the true horror of the rat infestation, seeing firsthand the grotesque savagery of their attacks and the sheer numbers they can muster. As the authorities remain slow to react, caught in bureaucratic red tape and disbelief, Harris finds himself at the forefront of the escalating crisis.

The novel is relentless in its depiction of the rats' escalating menace. They swarm from sewers and derelict buildings, attacking in organised packs, overwhelming victims with their sheer numbers and ravenous appetites. Schools, underground trains, and even homes become battlegrounds as the rats invade, creating scenes of widespread panic, terror, and gruesome death.

As society begins to crumble under the relentless onslaught, the military is called in, but even their efforts seem futile against the seemingly endless tide of intelligent, bloodthirsty rodents. Harris, along with a few desperate survivors, struggles to understand the origin of these mutated creatures and find a way to stop them before London, and possibly the entire country, is completely overrun.

"The Rats" is a bleak and unflinching survival horror, renowned for its graphic descriptions of violence and its oppressive atmosphere of dread. It explores themes of urban decay, unchecked scientific experimentation (implied), and humanity's vulnerability when confronted by a primal force of nature turned monstrous. The climax is a desperate, bloody confrontation as humanity fights for its very survival against an overwhelming, intelligent enemy that represents the dark underbelly of a collapsing urban environment.

Comments:
Every bit as good as it has been built up to be. I don't have a fear of rats and it disturbed me, so I wonder how those who jump on a chair when they a mouse will cope. I am always shocked that this is his debut novel, what an amazing start!

Books that we've read by James Herbert (20):
The Rats (Rats, #1) (1974), The Fog (1975), The Survivor (1976), Fluke (1977), The Spear (1978), Lair (Rats, #2) (1979), The Dark (1980), Jonah (1981), Shrine (1983), Domain (Rats, #3) (1983), Moon (1985), Magic Cottage (1986), Sepulchre (1987), Haunted (David Ash, #1) (1988), The Ghosts Of Sleath (David Ash, #2) (1994), Others (1999), Once... (2001), Nobody True (2003), The Secret of Crickley Hall (2006), Ash (David Ash, #3) (2012)