★★★★☆ | Horror | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
This is my sixth Stephen King book I’ve finished over the past month.
Lisey’s Story started slowly and was confusing at times with so many flashbacks (including flashbacks within flashbacks, which can’t be easy to pull off as a writer). While there is a supernatural element, the book centers on rebounding from grief, in this case, the death of Lisey’s husband.
…★★★★★ | Horror | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
An amazing collection of early short stories. My favorite — because of the utter difficulty I had in reading it — was The Ledge. The story involves the protagonist having to climb over a balcony railing on the 43rd floor of a luxury apartment building onto a 5″ ledge that he must use (without handholds) to climb around the entire building. Gusting winds and pecking pigeons make him stagger and sway, along with his antagonist who is there watching and taunting him. Mr. King tapped directly into my singular fear. I had to stop reading at different times and remind myself that it was fiction. I am sure my blood pressure was spiking. I tried to close my eyes a few times, but it’s awful hard to read with your eyes closed. What a storyteller!
…★★★☆☆ | Horror | Audio | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
I’m not sure what to make of this Stephen King book. Mr. King narrated the audiobook, and he did a fine job. The premise was interesting: the main protagonist mysteriously began to lose touch with Earth’s gravity. Besides this supernatural twist, the book dealt with the poor treatment of a LGBTQ couple in a small Maine town. There were some fine moments of paradigm-shifting moments among the characters in the novel as they embraced inclusion. I can’t quite figure out the meaning of the main character’s elevation in the end.
★★★★★ | Horror | Digital | Borrow | StoryGraph | Goodreads
This book stressed me out! I swear my blood pressure would creep up as rabid Cujo set about to do his evil. I even woke up in the night with images of the huge dog staring at me through the car window, waiting to tear me to shreds.
…★★★★☆ | Horror | Digital | Own | StoryGraph | Goodreads
I finished this 500+ page book in four days. In stark contrast, it took me at least a month to slog through the same number of pages of a Wallace Stegner novel. Stephen King books have a way of flying by.
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