Berserk

This turned out way different than I assumed. This is 40 days of night and the howling, meets the walking dead. Both, the shape shifting vampire zombie creatures, and the storyline are unique. This may be a bit morbid for some.

I've always heard the saying you don't judge a book by its cover and I can say that I haven't picked out a book that way since I was a kid wandering around the adult fiction section for the first time at the local bookstore. Well that bookstore met it's demise by the wrecking ball long ago. Since then, I've expanded my reading horizons in a more systematic way. First, it was through the recommendations of like-minded friends. In the last couple of years, it's been through the recommendations of my like-minded Goodreads friends and Tim Lebbon was one of those recommended that I should check out. So, when looking through his work, I came across Berserk and it's cover with the creepy girl with grayish-green skin and evil eyes peeking... show more No, leering out at you. What a great cover! I had to see what it was about. I'm pleased to tell you, the story behind that cover is just as creepy.

Lebbon introduces us to Tom, a husband who is still grieving with his wife over the loss of their only child, Steven, twenty years earlier. Steven had been in the army and was apparently killed in an accident at a military base. The details of which were kept secret by the government. Tom and his wife buried an empty casket. Steven's body was supposedly never recovered. This has never set well with Tom. One night, he overhears two soldiers talking about that fateful accident in a local pub and learns that his his son was buried in a mass grave not far from there. If this sounds like an "uh oh" moment, you're right. But the "uh oh" isn't the fact that a distraught father took a shovel out to a deserted army base and broke in to do some digging. The "uh oh" is in what he dug up and the aftermath of it. Lebbon weaves a creepy and eerie (there are those two words again) tale dripping with atmosphere and good characterization. Although, watching what Tom does throughout the story is like witnessing a train wreck unfold and you can't look away, you understand where he's coming from. You feel his anguish and despair controlling his decisions. While I may have preferred a different ending, Berserk was a chillingly fun ride. A solid 4 stars. show less

Tom es un oficinista de más de cincuenta años que vive felizmente casado con su esposa Jo. Se acerca el aniversario de la muerte de su hijo Steven, y el triste recuerdo de su desaparición sigue estando más que presente. Su hijo, paracaidista del ejército británico, murió mientras realizaba unas maniobras en las llanuras de Salisbury. Al empezar la novela, Tom escucha una extraña conversación de dos individuos en un pub que le lleva a pensar que lo ocurrido a su hijo tal vez no fuese un accidente. A partir de aquí, Tom se embarcará en un cruzada aterradora.

‘Berserk’ (2005), del británico Tim Lebbon es una novela de terror trepidante, de esas que no puedes soltar hasta llegar al final. Se lee muy fácilmente, la historia show more es muy buena, la narración ágil y la prosa correcta. Quizás el final no llegue a ser lo satisfactoria que uno esperaría, pero bueno, como se suele decir, el viaje vale la pena. show less

I fancy that Berserk is what you get when you mash zombies with werewolves and throw in just shade of vampire. Berserker is made even creepier by giving it a child's face and a traditional family grounding. Yes...this story is set up for success and while it largely pays off, there are some drawbacks. In this story we are initially introduced to Tom a grieving father who has never been able to shake off the pain he feels, nor the doubts he has about the story the military told him relating to the circumstances leading to his boy's demise. His son is an ever present fixture one that drives him to the pub more nights than not and that's why Tom's ears perk up when he hears the words "Porton Down", at that same pup in a whispered show more conversation between two men a few tables over.

As it turns out, these words are uttered by a distraught ex-soldier but when Tom approaches the pair, they blow him off. Days later, Tom comes upon the man who spoke those fateful words sitting alone in the same bar. Feeling a need to unburden himself, the man tells Tom the truth about Steven's death, and about a mass grave where Steven's body is likely to be buried. Tom, out of his mind with grief and harboring the hope that he'll finally learn the truth about his son, Tom travels to Porton Down and locates the grave. As he starts to dig, uncovering several bodies, he becomes convinced that something very wrong happened here and that his son is not among the dead. On the verge of total mental and physical collapse, he thinks he's gone mad when one of the corpses, that of a little girl, reaches out and grabs his arm.

This contact is the beginning of a long, strange trip for Tom and the little girl, Natasha. As the story progresses, we learn that she is but one of a race of savage creatures called Berserkers and Natasha convinces Tom that she might be able to help him locate his missing son if he will help reunite her with others of her kind. Their journey is complicated by the single minded pursuit of the other bloke from the pub, who seems driven at all costs to destroy Natasha and she seems equally driven to taunt and drive him on and encourage his dogged pursuit of the pair as they travel across the county to meet the other Berserkers.

At some point in the book it changes from being a horrific look into one man's decent into a new maddening life into a rather farcical, never ending car chase scene and the story seems from this point on to deteriorate into boring and somewhat unbelievable and Natasha goes from being horrific and creepy to pathetic and never makes it back to horrific or creepy. I loved the bit about the Berserker history/origin story and how that all panned out. Overall, it's ok, but not great, the second half of the book just didn't really live up to the initial build up. I'd have much preferred something more genuinely horrific instead of an extended car chase with horror elements. I give it a B-, it's good but not great and it definitely leave me wanting to read more from this author. show less

Tense scenes are tight and strong, chocked to the brim with action and heart pounding suspense. Gore is not spared here, yet it’s not all the book is about. The plot is original in some aspects, all too familiar in others, yet succeeds in the way its delivered. The ending is a bit of a surprise to me, as I figured one of the characters would turn out more dark than she portrayed to Tom, and I can’t say the finale was as satisfying as I’d like. The map of this book is still fun to follow, however, and the twists and turns along the way are entertaining.

Characters ring tried and true, working with the scenes to produce the maximum appeal, and the pacing doesn’t let up. At times the isolation of Tom and the child, Natasha, with the show more villain Cole can grow slightly repetitive, since it keeps continuing, but the flashbacks injected on each characters part helps ease the pain.

All in all this is another Leisure horror book that’s written with fans of the macabre in mind, aiming at keeping them happy and working. Lebbon has a special talent all his own, something different, unique, dark, and ultimately satisfying. show less

this isnt lebbon's best. It is a little boring, but it picks up just after the middle of the book. the berserkers are a very interesting creation.

This book really didn't do it for me. It was a fast read, and I did read it in its entirety, but as for inspiring me to go out and pick up something else by Tim Lebbon, it fell short. I just couldn't make myself care about the characters or the troubles they were having.