Berserk

by Tim Lebbon

A father's search for the truth about his son's death leads him to a mass grave filled with inhuman, headless skeletons--all of them in chains. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843954302
• ISBN13: 9780843954302
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 337 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.1" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Almost Perfect

This is the first novel by this author that I have read, and I gotta tell ya, it's fantastic!! The premise of the story is this: Tom and his wife Joann lost their son 10 years ago in an apparent Army training exercise accident. Tom meets 2 guys in a pub who talk about Porton Down (where his son supposedly was) and the "monsters" that are kept there. Later, one of the men tells Tom that his son wasn't killed in an accident and his body is buried in a specific location, and even provides a map. Thus starts Tom and Joann's journey. This was a most refreshing book. It's hard to find originality in the horror genre. Most everything man can think up has been written about. Tim Lebbon creates a new creature to loathe and fear, it's called a Berserker. What exactly is a Berserker? I can't tell you that or it would ruin the fun, and I don't want to do that. Just let me say that this book is different and a pleasure to read. There are no boring chapters or segments, there's no "love story" hidden within it's pages, and the characters are developed in such a way that you grow to love and hate them without really thinking about it. Lebbon doesn't waste the reader's time giving the history of the characters, nor does he waste paper or ink describing things that have little or no purpose to the overall reading experience. He simply gives the reader a little nudge and away we go!! Will Tom and Joann survive their journey? Will they find their son alive after all this time? What will Tom find when he finds the spot on the map and starts digging? Will they encounter the Berserkers and live to tell the tale? All this and more can be found between the 337 pages of this chilling, exciting, fast-paced book. Give it a try, it's well worth the time, effort and money. While you do that, I'm gonna go find another of Lebbon's books!!!

When the dead don't die ...

The word "berserk" has its origins in the medieval Norse "baresarker," a fearless and peculiar species of Scandinavian warrior who by the shiploads ravaged the bucolic countries of England, Scotland, and Ireland during the Dark Ages, leaving little standing in their wake. Baresarkers would devote days and nights to ritual preparation of battle, drinking a distillation of the fly agaric mushroom, otherwise known as the Amanita muscaria, or Death's Head toadstool. This is the pretty, red capped, white dotted toadstool that always seems to make its way into fantasy art; but to ingest the agaric fungus is to experience hallucinations that rival any of those inspired by the undiluted ergot alkaloid, or lysergic acid formed in wheat and rye fungi. Then, after you see God or the Great Mother or El Diablo himself, you die a very painful death, in which all your organs fail at once. This process can take anywhere from several hours to several days, depending on how much you ingested, and how really tough you are -- not a fun way to go. The baresarkers, however, had a way of distilling the mushroom so that while the drink imparted wild flights of fancy it did not kill them in the process. Moreover, the poison from the toadstool remains fully potent even after the digestive system has processed it, the kidneys excreting the alkaloid in full force of its hallucinogenic properties; therefore, the baresarkers, or berserkers as we know them today, would drink their own urine to keep the festivities afloat, so to speak. This wild party would go on for days and nights prior to going into battle (bikers eat your hearts out), and by the time these ferocious and barbaric warriors picked up their halberds and headed off into war, they were so fried and pumped for a fight they even scared each other. Clad only in their tattoos and leather loincloths, these hairy madmen would descend on their enemies, and by their very appearance alone send them fleeing in stark terror. Those opponents who stood their ground rued the few seconds they did so. Berserkers felt little pain, and were very hard to kill, which brings me to the subject of this review, Tim Lebbon's excellently written horror novel, BERSERK. I read the foregoing Publisher's Weekly review of Mr. Lebbon's novel, which concludes with this direct quote, "Fans who prefer their horror to have a sense of humanity should look elsewhere." I disagree. What could illustrate more profoundly a sense of humanity than a story that describes the loss of it? BERSERK is not only a tale about the loss of one's humanity, but also a story about losing a loved one to death, in this case, the death of an only child. The pathos is well drawn here, because losing a child must be the worst pain there is, one in which the parent goes through many stages of grief, and one from which the parent never fully recovers. You simply learn to live with it every breathing moment of your life. The pain never goes away. However, in the case of our

Berserk is riveting fiction

The only thing I agree with regarding those rather negative reviews is that the story unfolds slowly. But the pace is perfect, and the characters and dialog compelling. Slow works well here -- and the book draws you in from page one. Lebbon's style is unique and entertaining. I highly recommend this novel.

Have an experience

No question, Tim Lebbon writes fine quality prose, with good plotting and all. But a good reader wants more than a good read; he wants an experience. BERSERK provides that experience. If you are a good reader I recommend this book whole-heartedly.

Tim Lebbon never disappoints

This review is based on the Necessary Evil Press limited edition-- well worth it if you can find one. This book is a non stop balls to the wall action fest that puts a totally new spin on a familiar genre. To say much more would spoil some of the plot twists and turns that Tim has in store for us, but I promise you, Natasha will stay in your mind forever! You can not go wrong with any of Tim's work(especially White) and Face(a reworking of the legend of Springheel Jack). Once you read Lebbon, you will be hooked. Buy 2 copies of each of his books-- you will lend 1 out and never see it again. Craig