Anyone out there reading Stephen King’s newest work? I hesitate to put any spoilers, even in a spoiler box, because I found the second half to be quite a page-turner and I would hate to see it ruined for anyone. Indeed I only got about three hours of sleep last night before work today because I just could not put the book down until I found out how it all turned out. Quite a different reaction to the one I had reading either Doctor Sleep or Under the Dome.
Somehow the cliched characters and implausible plot still worked. That’s what really surprises me. We’ve seen (and read) it all before and yet… damn if it wasn’t a great summer read!
It was okay. I was grabbed by the plot, but it was so rife with cliches, plus some unbelievable behavior, that I was lukewarm on it by the time I finished. I also found myself skimming some of the internal exposition…
Just finished! I was filled with joy to receive it and had a blast reading it…that pretty much goes without saying for all of King’s work, which I will purchase until the end of my days (or his).
That said, this one wasn’t one of his best. There were just too too many coincidences going on, too much luck. By the end, I wasn’t swallowing a damn thing but I wanted to see what he did with it anyway.
It’s probably not right, but I gots to say, I felt so sorry for Brady’s mom and the way she died. Then the stuff about Frankie was incredibly hard to read…I just had to skim along going not real not real this did not happen. Steve had me sweating about Odell too.
Not Janey though, I never really liked her to begin with. She reminds me of some other abrasive King female that I can’t quite put my finger on. I found myself wondering if this is how Tabitha is.
That’s what worked for me with this novel so much more than the last two. I became invested in the characters, the plot and the outcome. Once the story started stampeding to its conclusion, I didn’t care much whether a cliched character or situation came up. I was just enjoying the ride. And when King has a plot going like that, he is among the best in doling out the suspense.
That was the way I was too. I enjoyed it, cliches and all. I read to be entertained, and cliches aren’t necessarily a bad thing for me as long as they’re handled well. I liked the characters, and even though I could see a lot of the plot twists coming a mile away (for instance, I was a little worried about Odell until King kept harping on him, at which point I knew he was going to be fine, and as soon as Brady put that ball of poison meat in the mini-fridge I knew Mom wasn’t long for this world) I still wanted to see how he handled them.
I actually liked Janey. Holly got on my nerves a bit, but I liked Jerome. I see that there are two more books planned with these same characters (Bill, Jerome, and Holly) so it’ll be interesting to see what he does with them. I wonder if he’s going to bring Brady back somehow (the ending was a little ambiguous, like maybe he is going to recover from that brain-bashing. Maybe he’ll get superpowers).
I’m kind of a sucker for the “diseased underbelly lurking beneath the idyllic suburban neighborhood” trope, so this one scratched my itch pretty well. I’m just glad King has finally gotten through his “every book has to have a middle-aged male character who’s dealing with the aftermath of an accident” phase. That was getting old.
I know this is a bit old but I finally got around to this one - I kind of felt that what happened to Brady’s mom
was punishment by the author for me worrying so much about Odell.
Anybody else feel the same way? Like he was pointing out the weirdness of people like me who read about horrible things happening to humans all the time but can’t deal with anything with animals?
Plus, in retrospect, what happened to her was in fact good plotting and foreshadowing - because she was paying attention all along.
Totally cliched but also a good page turner. It’s interesting, King’s never done a straight procedural before.
I have Joyland, Dr Sleep, Revival and Mr. Mercedes on Audible. I listen to them in the car or while doing chores at home. I’ve enjoyed them all so far. And yeah, I was more worried about the dog than the mom, too. I finished Mr. Mercedes last week and started Revival on Friday. It’s read by David Morse, who I will always think of as Boomer from St. Elsewhere. I like it so far but I’m not very far in yet.
I read it a month or so ago and really liked it, but then I’m a big King fan. Somehow I always manage to forget just how much I enjoy his writing. I’m in the middle of something else right now, but next I’m finally going to read 11/22/63. And pretty soon I’ll have to get Revival.
I’m just glad it starred an actual 65-year old instead of a 35-year old that acts 30 years older than he actually is. I love King, but the man’s Gen X/Y characters never sound real, even if they are well written.
I just finished it I thought it was good but not his best. I thought Holly was the most interesting character after Brady’s mom. It wasn’t as amusing as some of his work. King has a great sly sense of humor that gets me in trouble when I laugh out loud and someone sees King on the spine.
