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The Survivor

By: James Herbert
Narrated by: Robert Powell
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Publisher's summary

The living dead. It had been one of the worst crashes in airline history, killing over 300 people and leaving only one survivor. Now the dead were buried and the town of Eton tried to forget. But one man could not rest. Keller had walked from the flames of the wreck, driven on by unseen forces, seeking the answer to his own survival. Until the town was forced to face the shocking, dreadful truth about what was buried in the old graveyard. And a truth Keller did not want to believe.

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 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.

©1976 James Herbert (P)2013 Audible Ltd
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Editorial reviews

The Survivor begins with a bang and never lets up. In his morbid Mancunian drawl, decorated actor Robert Powell (The Italian Job, Jesus of Nazareth) delivers this chilling tale, following pilot David Keller as he emerges the lone survivor from a gruesome airplane wreck that claims over 300 passengers. As the townspeople of Eton grapple with the unthinkable tragedy, Keller begins to experience horrific visions, leading him to wonder what unfathomable forces want him alive. Master of the macabre James Herbert transports listeners to an eerily quiet English hamlet as he doles out old-world religion and supernatural specters - hallmarks of the "British Stephen King", to be sure. Powell hosts the proceedings in his lilting, melodious death whisper, as haunting and ominous as Herbert’s ghosts.

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 Survivor

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A Stunning Tour de Force.. 5 Stars

A breathtaking horror story that was superbly written… top marks for a finely wrought thrill ride.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrific adventure in horror!

This was the my first James Herbert book, and I am looking forward to more!!!! The narrator, Robert Powell, was great!!!

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Decent story that should of been half as long.

Although the language is somewhat pretty, I felt it was a bit too long. Less filler would have been nice.
I was unclear about what I was supposed to be afraid of. Is it ghosts, ghouls, the undead. It was a bit confusing and vague on what exactly these things are.
Read well, but hardly acted at all.
The story is good, but that's it, good.

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