Book Review: Revival by Stephen King

Fiction.  This is a fairly short one for Stephen King, only a few hundred pages.  The last couple of books he has written were all pretty short for his normal "by-the-pound" style as some have called it, even himself.  I am not sure why: publisher? attention span of the public? less time to write as he gets older? writing something else massive on the side over a long period of time (I hope)?  

He does follow his usual style though and makes this one about people, about what it means to be a human being, as all good books and writers ultimately do with their works.  Unlike Mr. Mercedes, this one is back at including something a little off, a little supernatural, but you do not hear too much about that until the end of the work, and I do believe he is tying it back to the Dark Tower series.  He said before that all of his works do tie to that series in some way, and it is his magnum opus after all.  King also refers back to Joyland in this one too, a fun little nod for avid readers of his work, and let's face it, those who read Stephen King are all avid readers in the end, as long as they make it past one work and especially if they read the Dark Tower series.

This one follows the life of Jamie Morton, starting first in his childhood, and then jumping forward to his adult years where he faces a life on the road as a backup guitarist and struggles with addiction.  There is also some interesting plot elements having to do with a preacher and his obsession with electricity and lightning, but I won't say too much, less I ruin it for other readers.  I enjoyed this book and thought the price for the eBook version at $11 for a new release was pretty reasonable, thanks B&N!  I also believe this would be a good one for those who are new to Stephen King because it is not too long, it is not too gruesome, and it has some wonderfully quotable lines too.  So grab a copy and enjoy!

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Book Review: Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

Fiction.  This is a straight-up detective novel, there is not any supernatural or scary business.  It was a good quick read, and pretty short compared to most of his works which I once read are "sold by the pound" in one of his afterwords.  It was a good story, with interesting characters, and it had nice little nods to old movies, current times, and other little tidbits.  I definitely recommend it, but be forewarned that there is a sicko character in it with some serious mommy issues, not remotely intended for the younger readers.

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Book Review: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

     I thought I would catch up on the last few Stephen King books I had not read, so I picked this up from the library.  In large print it is just over 1,000 pages.  I really liked the book, but I am a fan of Stephen King so not really a surprise there.  Like many of his other books it is not really scary like people might assume, it is an examination of people and their character when they are faced with a set of unusual circumstances.  It is a great answer to that "what if" question, that if you were faced with the ability to travel in time, what would you do?  

     It is set in 2011 and 1958 for the two time periods.  The main character, Jake/George, can go back to 1958, and each time he returns those changes are set in 2011, unless he goes back to 1958 again, then the slate is wiped clean, so there is a sort of reset button.  Ultimately he is asked by the man who discovered this little time travel bubble (Al, owner of the diner) to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from killing JFK, which means a waiting period/he has to live out five years in the past.  I won't say that much more about it lest I ruin the ending, but I do want to say the novel is a nostalgic look back at the late 50s and early 60s, it has a nice little love story in it, and typical of Stephen King you get some answers at the end but not all of them, which leaves you open to solve the riddles for yourself.

If you are up for a long book and like a little science-fiction mixed in with nostalgia, this is a great book to read!

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