Shrine: Now a Major Film Called The Unholy – the Novel Is Even More Terrifying

Product Information

It’s one of those ‘love it or hate it’ sort of situations, where there’s no right or wrong answer to whether it works or not.

Widely imitated and hugely influential, his twenty-three novels have sold more than fifty-four million copies worldwide, and have been translated into over thirty languages, including Russian and Chinese. Another Herbert novel, another new direction for the author, and in my opinion, another damn fine addition to a thoroughly impressive back catalogue. There is an interesting cast of characters who all have their own involvement with what is happening - Fenn the journalist who is covering the story, Father Hagan the local priest who is overwhelmed by the sudden attention his church is receiving, a couple of local business owners who see opportunities to make money from the new tourists, to mention just a few. But all is not what it seems, and as time goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that there’s a dark side to the miracles. He was one of our greatest popular novelists, whose books are sold in thirty-three other languages, including Russian and Chinese.

With a skillful blend of horror and thriller fiction, he explored the shaded territories of evil, evoking a sense of brooding menace and rising tension. Fenn isn't religious and is rationale and logical and the two religious characters , while devout catholics, know that things aren't right here and go against their brethren hierarchy in some ways. The story once up to speed certainly picks up pace and does not pull any punches - something that shocked and surprised me at the time since it was the first time I had read anything so graphic (it was before the short lived "Splatterpunk" phase and total over the top extremes) and for me as a teenager it was something raw and new. The book is one of those in which you can read a chapter in 5 to 10 minutes and so you are always left wanting to read just one more before you put it down. It wasn't gross or disturbing in a way that's haunting but the imagery of it just sticks in the brain.

Then there is that horror, so close to William Peter Blatty's enormous success, which builds up on a premise of ancient supernatural evil working its way into the world through innocent faith even if the ending becomes something that just has to end a little absurdly because there is nowhere else for it to go. The actual reason for Alice having these "gifts" and the church property and and old oak tree is told through a journal and it was "ok" but I do wish they went into this alil more and provided more insight as to why Elnor had this power and how she came to be. Overall, I felt the book was a solid thriller, well-paced with an excellent look at the minutiae of small town life. And this brings me to the one point with the novel where it seems to either make or break the story for most readers – the ending. Miraculous healings starts to happen around the little girl and the Church and everybody focuns their attention in the little town.If you are new to Herbert I don't think I would start with this book, he has written a lot of books better then this one in my opinion! Upon the news of such a miracle occurring, throngs of hopefuls begin a pilgrimage to the site of Alice’s visitation - beneath an ancient oak tree.