History Literature / Ash2012

* TheAtoner: In 1979, IRA-employed Father Patrick O'Connor radio-detonated a bomb planted on the fishing boat of holidaying Lord Louis Mountbatten. [[TruthInTelevision The blast killed Lord Mountbatten, and respectively injured and killed several of his family, including teenage grandchildren, and a fifteen-year-old Irish crewman]]. Consumed with remorse for both his unintended victims, and eventually Lord Mountbatten himself, Father O'Connor agreed to exile in Comraich, where, known as Placid Pat, he continues to work as a guard.

The final novel by Creator/JamesHerbert published in 2012. Years following the events of ''Literature/{{Haunted|1988}}'' and ''Literature/TheGhostsOfSleath'', [[RecurringCharacter David Ash]], parapsychologist and veteran SkepticNoLonger, continues his work for the Institute of Psychical Research. Outwardly recovered from the trauma induced by the horrors of Sleath, he remains a somewhat solitary professional.

* {{Retcon}}: ''Literature/TheGhostsOfSleath'', published 1994, is revised to have taken place two years prior to ''Literature/{{Ash}}''.

The final published novel by Creator/JamesHerbert, released 2012. Years following the events of ''Literature/{{Haunted|1988}}'' and ''Literature/TheGhostsOfSleath'', [[RecurringCharacter David Ash]], parapsychologist and veteran SkepticNoLonger, continues his work for the Institute of Psychical Research. Outwardly recovered from the trauma induced by the horrors of Sleath, he remains a somewhat solitary professional.

* GenreSavvy: Wryly invoked by a nervous Ash when he and Delphine search the wildcat infested woods for wayward teenage charges Petra and Peter.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Ash and Dr Delphine Wyatt, Comraich’s psychologist.

* HauntedCastle: Comraich Castle, [[EvilTaintedThePlace site of a monstrously brutal]] fourteenth century clan dispute; and subsequently used by the Inner Court to hold well-connected miscreants, is, via the [[MagneticMedium psychic conduct]] of the bodily and mentally disabled daughter of [[spoiler: Unity Mitford and Adolf Hitler]], host to ferocious haunting.

* HiddenDepths: When fires rage through the castle, Meek, nervous general manager Andrew Derriman,attempts to ensure the safety of fleeing guests, and, at great personal risk, aims to alert Lewis.

* HiddenDepths: When fires rage through the castle, Meek,nervous general manager Andrew Derriman,attempts to ensure the safety of fleeing guests, and, at great personal risk, aims to alert Lewis.

* {{Meganekko}}: Ash appreciates the effect of Delphine's occasionally used spectacles.

* BastardGirlfriend: PlayedForDrama with nurse Rachel Krantz, who exploits and domineers emotionally vulnerable Delphine.

The final published novel by Creator/JamesHerbert, released 2012. Years following the events of ''Literature/{{Haunted|1988}}'' and ''Literature/TheGhostsOfSleath'', [[RecurringCharacter David Ash]], parapsychologist and veteran SkepticNoLonger, continues his work for the Institute of Psychical Research. Outwardly recovered from the trauma induced by the horrors of Sleath, he remains a somewhat solitary professional. Commissioned by the covert Inner Court to investigate an apparently supernaturally induced act of grievous bodily harm, he is flown to Scotland. By the Isle of Arran, opulent yet tightly secure Comraich Castle shelters high profile miscreants whose reasons for retreat from society range from sordid to sinister. A palpable atmosphere of menace, grotesque manifestations and an apparent tendency of the castle to rouse inordinate violence lead Ash to the castle dungeons, where float a congregation of black spectral orbs. Back in London, Ash's boss, Kate [=McCarrick=], learns of the power of the Inner Court, and the monstrous secret that awaits Ash…

* BetterAsFriends: Since the [[Literature/TheGhostsofSleath Sleath]] incident, Ash had intermittent affairs with his boss, Kate [=McCarrick=].

* TheGrotesque: Delphine's privately attended charge Lewis has a rare deformity which renders his skin transparent. An unexpected first encounter frightens him more than Ash.

** Dark, light-draining spectral orbs congregate around the unnamed, bodily and mentally disabled daughter of [[spoiler: Unity Mitford and Adolf Hitler]]. Drawn to her psychic buoyancy by the monstrous career of her father; the brutal history of the castle and that of several of its current residents, their follows a [[{{Poltergeist}} psychokinetically]] dwelt act of grievous bodily harm; a spectrally manifest swarm of [[spoiler: maggots and flies]], and, within the smoke from the inferno triggered by Cedric Twigg's bombs, vaporous, ephemeral figures.

* HiddenDepths: Meek, nervous general manager Andrew Derriman, when fires rage through the castle, attempts to ensure the safety of fleeing guests, and, at great personal risk, aims to alert Lewis.

* GoOutWithASmile: On escape through the caves tunnels, [[spoiler: Louis]] is swept into the stormy sea. As [[spoiler: Louis]] sinks through the depths, the psychic Ash sees him enfolded by a serene blue haze, the manifest spirit of his deceased mother, whose embrace [[spoiler: Louis]] receives with a smile.

-->'''Ash:''' You know what happens to be people who search alone: one gets a meat cleaver through the skull, then the other finds his head spinning around in the washing machine.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Aged assassin Cedric Twigg, in the early stages of Parkinson's disease, anticipates his discreet elimination by the Inner Court. In revenge, he plans to [[spoiler: blow up their castle]].

* When rallying Delphine and Lewis to negotiate a tunnel packed with sheltering rats, Ash prescribes the calm approach used at the climax of ''Film/TheBirds''.

-->'''Ash:''' You know what happens to be people who search alone: one gets a meat cleaver through the skull, then the other finds his or head spinning around in the washing machine.

** Dark, light-draining spectral orbs congregate around the unnamed, bodily and mentally disabled daughter of [[spoiler: Unity Mitford and Adolf Hitler]]. Drawn to her psychic buoyancy by the monstrous career of her father; the brutal history of the castle and that of several of its current residents, their follows a [[{{{Poltergeist}} psychokinetically]] dwelt act of grievous bodily harm; a spectrally manifest swarm of [[spoiler: maggots and flies]], and, within the smoke from the inferno triggered by Cedric Twigg's bombs, vaporous, ephemeral figures.