Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Sample

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Portent

By: James Herbert
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
activate_samplebutton_t1

Listeners also enjoyed...

‘48 cover art
Sepulchre cover art
Moon cover art
Nobody True cover art
The Dark cover art
Haunted cover art
Creed cover art
The Magic Cottage cover art
The Jonah cover art
Others cover art
The Spear cover art
The Survivor cover art
The Rats cover art
Fluke cover art
The Fog cover art
Shrine cover art

Editor reviews

The mass suicide of seven thousand king penguins is just the first of many ominous "portents" in best-selling thriller writer James Herbert's tale of escalating natural disaster. The very Earth itself seems to be fighting humanity like an immune system defending itself against a foreign virus, but there seems to be more at work, as magic, strange orbs of light, and children with psychic abilities come into play. Jonathon Keeble performs the audiobook, the gravity of his theatrical delivery bringing the full weight of this epic thriller down to the surface of our fragile planet.

Summary

The end is beginning. The time is just a few short years from now. But already the signs of global disaster are multiplying. Freak storms, earthquakes, floods volcanic eruptions are sweeping the earth. The last violent spasms of a dying planet. Then a series of ominous events signal the emergence of new and terrifying forces.

While scuba-diving on the Great Barrier Reef a diver watches fascinated as a tiny light floats past him towards the surface. Moments later he is torn to pieces as the reef erupts with shattering power. In the Chinese city of Kashi, travellers bring back reports of a strange light seen shining above the endless dunes of the Taklimakan Desert. And as the city's inhabitants watch for its return the desert rises up like a vast living thing to engulf them in a colossal tidal wave of sand. All have seen a portent: a sign of unimaginable powers about to be unleashed. A sign that something incredible is about to begin.

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.

©1992 James Herbert (P)2013 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"Herbert was by no means literary, but his work had a raw urgency. His best novels, The Rats and 'he 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 Portent

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    333
  • 4 Stars
    158
  • 3 Stars
    94
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    15
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    408
  • 4 Stars
    99
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    289
  • 4 Stars
    137
  • 3 Stars
    90
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    17

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Armageddon in words

Although written in the time of Ford Escorts and Granada cars and no mobile phones, the situation with our World that we are experiencing now is described here and what may happen!
The Reader was perfect - wonderful voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not one of his best

Jonathan Keeble always narrates well and gives the story some depth but this story was disappointing. Very long winded but having read a number of James Herbert's books I do wonder how he came up with so much horror.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

gripping

it was fabulous. it was read with real intensity and as the book went on I couldn't stop listening.
James Herbert was a unique writer of horror and haunts.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Griping from start to end.

Herbert is at his best here.
JK is a great performer.
Outstanding balance between story and the telling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought Provoking

What a dark and mysterious story. Well thought out with a lot of other Small stories inside. Very thought provoking, I hope I don’t live long enough to see it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

eye opening

This story verges on the ever present threat to our mother earth and in a fantasy style shows a possible future...its clear James did a lot of research to write this book and make it an more believable

The narrator Jonathan managed well to give each character as close to realist variety as he could and should be proud of his work

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling engaging paranormal suspense adventure

Really enjoyed this book it is set in the future Him is on a race against time before the disaster hits and destroys their way of life, the twins connection is incredible and they have healing powers, they connect with each other telepathically, there was also some voodoo elements. Narration was brilliant and added to the storyline do love Jonathan Keeble's narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable and intriguing listen

Throughly enjoyed this book. I had read it before when it first came out but I think the narrator made it even more enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hard to get into but glad I stuck with it

I almost gave up listening to this in the first few chapters and found it difficult to get into, but after the introductions it's actually a good book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Decent listen to be fair

An unusual storyline which was s little hard to link but came good in the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!