In the words of Michael Corleone, Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! This has got to be the longest haul of Stephen King that I've dIn the words of Michael Corleone, Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! This has got to be the longest haul of Stephen King that I've done, starting all the way at the beginning with Mr. Mercedes and binge reading my way through getting in preparation for Holly, and I did it just in time for its release!
Holly Gibney is brought into her first standalone (2nd if you include
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. She is contacted by Penny Dahl, a worried mother who's daughter has vanished without a trace, and wants to hire Holly to find her and bring her home. At first Holly is reluctant to accept, with the Finders Keepers detective agency semi-closed, with the recent passing of Holly's mother from Covid, Pete (Holly's partner) is sick with Covid, and Holly is practically on leave.
But there is something in the mother's voice that Holly just can't say no. For this case Holly is on her own, with Jerome Robinson in New York promoting his new book. Holly attempts to pick up the trail of Penny's missing daughter, soon discovering that over the past 5 years, more people have gone missing, and Holly begins to wonder if they're all connected.
Enter Professors Rodney and Emily Harris, semi-retried, well known and respected biologists, who live here blocks from where Bonnie Dahl was last seen. To the public the Harrises seem like a normally, happily long-time married couple, but to someone in Holly's shoes and profession, looks can be deceiving. The Harrises over the years have been keeping a deep dark secret, and they are not who they seem to be!
I'm very amazed at how far Holly has come along and how much her character has developed since her introduction in Mr. Mercedes. I did see Stephen King recently in an interview promoting Holly, and he said that she was just supposed to be a one time character but the readers and Stephen King himself (and I quote) stole his heart! I'm so glad that SK has decided to continue on with her character, she may be without a doubt my new favorite character created by SK, and I hope we haven't seen the last of her! and I never thought I'd say this, but I found it neat that King decided to include Covid in one of his novels as a subplot, where I see many people thought of the pandemic as something in a SK Story. Long live Holly Gibney!!
I know that there's so much controversy surrounding Rage, and as much as I enjoyed it, I totally understand why Stephen King decided to have it fall oI know that there's so much controversy surrounding Rage, and as much as I enjoyed it, I totally understand why Stephen King decided to have it fall out of print.
Rage is one of Stephen King's earlier works under his pseudonym Richard Bachman, and revolves around Charlie Decker, a deranged High School student who armed with a gun takes a class full of students hostage, after starting a small fire forcing the remaining school to evacuate. With the Police on the outside trying to negotiate with Charlie, who threatens to kill someone if they attempt to enter the school. The Hostages start to sympathize with Charlie once he starts telling them what led him down this path, turning the situation into his own psychotherapy group.
A quick but at the same time deep and disturbing tale. ...more
Before I became more familiar with Stephen King, and I hear what Christine was about, revolving around a curses car, I thought to myself, That sounds Before I became more familiar with Stephen King, and I hear what Christine was about, revolving around a curses car, I thought to myself, That sounds kinda stupid. But I recently watched the John Carpenter Film adaptation, thought it was decent enough, so I decided to give the book a whirl, and after reading it, I take back saying it sounded stupid, I was dead wrong!
High School student Arnie Cunningham has always been a loner, being brought up by controlling parents, and with nobody to look up to except for his best friend Dennis Guilder. But one day when driving down the road, it becomes love at first sight for Arnie when he spots a beat up 1958 red and white Plymouth fury marked for sale. Dennis believes Arnie is crazy for wanting the car, but Arnie can't resist, who purchases the car from the previous owner who had been leaving it in his front lawn to rust. The car which the owner has named Christine is now in Arnie's hands, and he believes things are looking up for him, he starts to stick up for himself, becoming more confident, and begins dating the most beautiful girl in High School, Leigh Cabot.
But not everyone is happy with Christine, namely Arnie's parents, and Dennis. The longer Arnie spends time behind the wheel of Christine (Whom he has become increasingly obsessed with) the more his life changes and the more danger it puts everyone in, including himself. Dennis and Leigh uncover horrible secrets and the dark past of the previous owner of Christine, and the truth about Christine herself.
A decent King book, easy to read, and easy to follow, loved the coming of age setting, and how it revolves around the lives of teenagers. ...more
Before Stephen King brought us Carrie, IT, The Shining or The Stand, he brought us Blaze! I did some research before starting Blaze and I see King wroBefore Stephen King brought us Carrie, IT, The Shining or The Stand, he brought us Blaze! I did some research before starting Blaze and I see King wrote it back before Carrie, but it wasn't published until years later, when King rewrote the manuscript, and it was under Richard Bachman, his pen mane, the last Bachman book!
Clay "Blaze" Blaisdell is a 7-foot three hundred pound mentally disabled small time con artist, who is looking to fulfill the dreams of his deceased best friend George Rackley. Blaze kidnaps the infant son of a wealthy couple, hoping they'll give him a heavy ransom in exchange for their child back unharmed. A massive manhunt is issued for Blaze, with the FBI not on his trail, Blaze flees into the woods of Maine, during a horrible snowstorm, with a baby as a hostage.
The story goes back and forth between Blaze childhood and upbringing, becoming the man he is today, and to the present day. Blaze is a very unique character, one who even though he does bad things, he's a character you almost feel sorry for. A beautifully written, intriguing and sad story....more
I had read a lot of negative reviews on Roadwork, many seeing it as Stephen King's weakest book under Richard Bachman, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, foI had read a lot of negative reviews on Roadwork, many seeing it as Stephen King's weakest book under Richard Bachman, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, found the story intriguing, then again I find all of King's stories intriguing, ...more
Man, Stephen King has written some good but bizarre stuff, and I gotta say The Tommyknockers is by far the most bizarre I've read by him, but good, I Man, Stephen King has written some good but bizarre stuff, and I gotta say The Tommyknockers is by far the most bizarre I've read by him, but good, I know it's very controversial and it gets a lot of hate, even by Stephen King himself, that's the reason I've been putting off reading this for the longest time. But I went into it with an open mind and I really ended up liking it.
The Tommyknockers takes place in the small, isolated town of Haven, Maine, local woman and writer Roberta "Bobbi" Anderson stumbles upon a mysterious object buried within the woods near her house. Bobbi begins digging, and soon discovers that the object is an abandoned alien spacecraft that has been buried for nobody knows how long. Soon the residents of Haven become affected by the object, becoming possessed and doing terrible deeds.
The central character, James Eric Gardener (goes by Gard), a poet and alcoholic is the only one who seems to be immune to the effects of the spacecraft, and he sees Bobbi begin to decline rapidly and slowly become less human. Bobbie, Gard and the townspeople continue to unearth the ship and learn it's secrets. Slowly the town of Haven becomes under siege by it's supernatural force, except for Gard.
The first half tended to drag a bit but during part 2 is when it really starts to pick up. I can understand after reading it why it's so controversial. I did some further reading on the background, found out that King was still going downhill with his drug addiction when The Tommyknockers was published, and his wife Tabitha had had enough and demanded he get his act together. Stephen King, even though he bashes The Tommyknockers, calling it an awful book, also quotes There's really a good book in here, underneath all the sort of spurious energy that cocaine provides, and I ought to go back.
It's not everyone's favorite SK story, but I enjoyed The Tommyknockers for what it was, a good mix of Horror and Science Fiction!
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