Others - James Herbert - 3.5 stars

My friend and I decided to read this book together after reading the synopsis. It sounded like it would be a dark and disturbing read. Well that it was, among other things. Although I did enjoy it, I did not love it.
Synopsis
Nicholas Dismas is a Private Investigator, but like no other that has gone before him. He carries a secret about himself to which not even he has the answer . . .

He is hired to find a missing baby. One that was taken away at birth . . . Or was it?

His investigation takes him to a mysteriously located place called Perfect Rest. It is supposed to be a nursing home for the elderly . . . But is it?

Here Dismas will discover the dark secret of the Others. And in an astonishing and spectacular finale he will resolve the enigma of his own existence . . .

Ok so the plot to this story was rather long, and I do feel like it could have been shortened about 100 pages and still could have been interesting. In this plotline you do have a lot of different elements involved which does keep the story entertaining. There is mystery and paranormal and even some romance mixed in. The first several chapters are extremely slow, but does pick up around page 40-50, and gets pretty good. The story makes you think a lot as you try to figure out the mystery at hand. I was kind of let down though a bit by the discovery of the mystery at the end. It was not what I had expected to come of it. I also felt like the author got away from the 'synopsis mystery' a lot and the story focused more on our protagonist Nick Dismas, which in itself held a lot of mystery as well, so readers will find that their own focus changes as well. It kind of pushed the original mystery to the back burner.

The characters are probably my favorite part of the story. Nick Dismas is a greatly flawed character who had to deal with his own deformities and put up with a lot of judgement of others. Although he does have those people/friends who do care about him and accept him as he is, he still struggles to figure out what his purpose is in this life. While he does like himself, he still finds himself weak and unlikable, and there are plenty of abhorrent people to consistently instill that into his mind. There are a lot fo great characters that readers will meet throughout the story and those characters have their mystery revolving around them,

I was struggling with who I could recommend this book too since it is an overly long book with a slow start. I think readers who enjoy the dark and disturbing may find this story worth the read. I am going to give this book a 3.5 star rating. I think had it been shortened and had a faster pace it could have ben a 5 star read for me simply by the plotline alone.