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The Spear

By: James Herbert
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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Publisher's summary

Dark destiny. When Steadman agreed to investigate the disappearance of a young Mossad agent, he had no idea he would be drawn into a malevolent conspiracy. Neo-Nazi cultists are bent on unleashing an age-old unholy power on an unsuspecting world-power rising out of a demonic relic from man's dark primal past to threaten humanity with horror beyond any nightmare.

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 best-seller 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 best-selling 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.

©1978 James Herbert (P)2013 Audible Ltd
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Editorial reviews

Sean Barrett deploys a hard-edged rasp to heighten the sense of horror and malevolence in this spine-chilling story about a British former intelligence agent who investigates the disappearance of a young Mossad agent. Steadman initially refuses the job, but when his partner ends up crucified on his door, he is drawn into a conspiracy that involves a neo-Nazi cult's search for the spear used to stab Jesus Christ on the cross. Barrett's voice accommodates the various characters in this story, and his well-placed pauses are timed to provide a maximum level of suspense.

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 Spear

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Too much setup for a rushed climax.

The book drags fit the first half, weighing down the plot, which then rushes the climax with a sparse resolution.

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