The Rats cover art

The Rats

The Rats Series, Book 1

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The Rats

By: James Herbert
Narrated by: David Rintoul
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About this listen

Book One in Herbert's classic "rats" series.

The terror begins. London is struck by an invasion. Women, children, old and young, none are safe from the deadly menace. The attacks are swift and sure, escape is impossible. A state of emergency is declared. Evacuation seems the only solution in the face of a growing panic and mounting death toll. War is declared on the public enemy number one. The Rats!

James Herbert was one of Britain's greatest popular novelists and our #1 best-selling writer of chiller fiction. Widely imitated and hugely influential, he wrote 23 novels which have collectively sold over 54 million copies worldwide and been translated into 34 languages.

Born in London in the forties, James Herbert was art director of an advertising agency before turning to writing fiction in 1975. His first novel, The Rats, was an instant bestseller and is now recognised as a classic of popular contemporary fiction.

Herbert went on to publish a new top ten best-seller every year until 1988. He wrote six more bestselling novels in the 1990s and three more since: Once, Nobody True and The Secret of Crickley Hall.

Herbert died in March 2013 at the age of 69.

©1974 James Herbert (P)2013 Audible Ltd
Horror Scary England Fiction Classics
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Editor reviews

Veteran actor David Rintoul delivers a superb performance of best-selling British author James Herbert’s The Rats, the first book in the classic The Rats series. His rich voice and charismatic delivery heighten the exciting nature of this audiobook. London comes under attack and a state of emergency is declared. The problem? Rats. Swift, terrifying rodents wreaking havoc in the big city. No one is safe. As the death toll rises, it appears that evacuation may be the only option left - that or war.

Critic reviews

“Herbert was by no means literary, but his work had a raw urgency. His best novels, The Rats and The Fog, had the effect of Mike Tyson in his championship days: no finesse, all crude power. Those books were best sellers because many readers (including me) were too horrified to put them down.” (Stephen King)
"There are few things I would like to do less than lie under a cloudy night sky while someone read aloud the more vivid passages of Moon. In the thriller genre, do recommendations come any higher?" (Andrew Postman, The New York Times Book Review)
"Herbert goes out in a blaze of glory" ( Daily Mail)

What listeners say about The Rats

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very scary!

What did you like most about The Rats?

An exciting story that grips you from the start.

What does David Rintoul bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He really builds the tension and breaths life into the characters.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Don't worry, they are only rats!

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A very good story and can't wait to listen to the

loved it, can't wait for the next book, so colourful a story, and well read.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Thoroughly enjoyed.

This was my first audible and i thoroughly enjoyed it. Enjoyed the Narrator, kept me company and made my long walks home more exciting. looking forward to the next one!

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Read this a hundred times

Great narrator that feeds into the emotion of James Herbert writing, couldn't put it in an and cant wait to listen to the next two books

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

Loved listening to this, the narrator is brilliant. Now about to start the second one 😁

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic

edge of your seat stuff, a very good listen, used it to get my daily exercise, kept me walking longer

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

This is no holds barred horror with graphic descriptions, and as such it makes for very grizzly reading at times so I would not say this for everyone. However, if you can stomach the descriptions, a reader will appreciate the excellent writing. As is the case in his other books, there are no flat or truly one dimensional characters in this book. Each person, no matter how minor, has a voice and back story, and this attention to detail raises this gruesome horror to a whole other level of transcendence. An excellent listen overall.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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herbert at his best

brought back good memories of the trilogy great atmosphere with great scenes especially the school will definitely listen to the next two installments

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is my favourite book

Actually scary! I read this as a teen and listening as an adult was awesome.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Well performed but the story is nonsense

At first I thought this book rather interesting and quite shocking. However, as it went on it made less and less sense.
Some of the scenes are quite horrific... mainly the completely unnecessary graphically described sex scenes. The book zigzags from rats horrifically killing a newly introduced character back to an awkward sex scene. Which as a format became quite draining.
Some of the ideas behind this book and the way characters actions and feelings are described lead me to believe James is a bit of a numpty. Some concepts can be brushed off as dated but I think the authors personal opinions shine through enough for me to drop this series at book1.

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