Once...

Hmmmmmm, not sure...

Isn't it amazing how one bad book for a brilliant auther could do a lot of potential damage to an authers career.... I mean as in, if this had have been the first book of his I had have read, then I would be relunctant to read any of the others. As it is I have read a good many of his books and in my opinion James Herbert is one of the best authers I have ever read. However.....

..Once for me was very predicable, too erotic, at one point I was thinking 'am I going to be able to read a chapter where there isn't alot of very decriptive sex in it.' I also thought 'porn alert!' No, I didn't think much of that. Not that I am a prude, it just gets boring if there is too much sex and not enough story.

The story itself was very slow, I think I was reading pages into the hundreds before Thom actually got to little Bracken and settled down. I thought that James was over decriptive in this book, but I do admitt, in some places here and there, it needed it, just not as much description as we got in other places.

The charactors were predictble, well the human ones were any way, the fairies, succubus, elfs and other mythical creatures were written fantastically.

Books I would recommend from James Herbert are Secrets of crickley hall, haunted, the fog and fluke.

Once...

I have never read nor heard of this author at all. I was a little skeptical at first. Because like most book readers, I am scared to step out of my comfort zone. Which is : Anne Rice, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Peter Straub etc. But if you want to try read something in the same lines of Stephen King etc. Please read James Herbert's Once.

I really enjoyed this book, it took me about 2 days to read this book. And I must say, that every page was adventure, and something new. There were no dead spots about this book. There were no unnecessary drag on's or over explanations.

Once is a book that has everything that I L.O.V.E and enjoy in it.Fairies, witches, elf's and terror. LOL. Mixed all that in one and you have a really really great book. So if you enjoy those types of books, this is a must read!!!!

great fairy tale for adults

I thought this a rather good story, highly erotic, very descriptive, great fairy tale for grownups. I don't recommend this for someone looking to be frightened out of his/her wits. It's more thrilling and a little bit suspenseful. Maybe a little predictable, you can tell who the bad guys are right away. I happen to be fascinated with fairy legends, so I was particularly drawn to the story. Honestly, a bit to sickly sweet of an ending, but still, I will probably read the book again. I can't wait to read more from this author.

Perfect...

Wonderful...as magical as they come..it doesn't get much better than this...

exciting adult fairy tale

Only twenty-seven, Thom Kindred needs time to recover from the debilitating stroke he recently suffered. He chooses to go back to his favorite place, Castle Bracken where he once lived in a nearby cottage as a little boy. Back in his wonderful salad days, his mother regaled Thom with tales of mythical creatures until she suddenly died. Upon her death, his father sent Thom away to school where his innocence and belief in these fairy tale beings were quickly stripped away.

However, Thom¿s current return home rouses a malevolent being out of his slumber. As strange happenings occur, Thom wonders if the stroke destroyed his mind more than the crippling of his body. As friend and foe arrive for the final battle, the two sides try to woo Thom to join them for deep in the recesses of his brain resides the knowledge that could save or destroy the secret world of the fairies and elves.

ONCE... is an exciting adult fairy tale that is at its best as Thom discovers his blood relationship to fairies even as he questions his sanity. Fans will either adulate or abhor the tale when James Herbert goes into incredible depth to describe the mythological society and includes several erotic excesses because the action goes dormant. Thom is a fine hero internally struggling between good and evil and his own sanity. Readers of adult fantasy with an emphasis on the thoughts of the cast will want to read James Herbert¿s tale, but the author¿s fans need to understand the action is more deliberate than in his previous novels.

Harriet Klausner