Stephen King Pick: Revival

Revival
by Stephen King
Scribner
2014
403 pages
ISBN: 9781476770383

Masterful in weaving an epic tale of good versus evil,  Stephen King delivers a fine story like no other writer is able to. Revival is a story of a long ago--long ago though not forgotten time--of small towns and even smaller churches, of prayers and praying, of preachers and church going, of church suppers and sing-alongs, and hymns on Sunday, funerals and baptisms, and a mountain of human suffering. The past is not all rosy and bright Garrison Keiller and Lake Wobegon.

 In small town Harlow,  Jamie Morton grows up in a loving family with older siblings, a doting mother and hard working father. This was a time when boys played with plastic soldiers and set up battlefields all over the dirt yards and fields. A time when the family ate supper at the same table, where children were expected to eat what was put on their plate and be thankful for it. When Jamie is six, a new preacher comes to town. Reverend Jacobs  is young for the job, but the town is happy to have him and soon they are captivated by his youth and charisma. His pretty wife and young son complete the Norman Rockwell family portrait.

When a terrible accident happens, the community shaken. The young pastor's world is rocked and he forced to leave  town after giving a sermon criticizing God. Blasphemy being preached in the church by their very own pastor? In small town New England, this is the worst sin.

Years and years later, miles and miles of honkytonks,  the bottom of too many bottles, and at the end of too many needles, Jamie wakes up in a heroine hell. Outside of Tulsa and nearly broke, he knows he needs to score in order to feel better. He wastes time until dark and goes in search of a fix at the local carnival. It is here he runs into the pastor of his youth.  This second encounter with the man who gave up on God will change both of their lives forever.

After getting clean Jamie takes a job in Colorado with an old "friend" of  Charles Roberts (aka Reverend Jacobs). Befriended  and taken in by Hugh Yates, Jamie begins to investigate the life his savior/nemesis Charles Roberts. While it is true that Roberts has "cured" many a sick person, others he has helped  have exhibited strange behavior and suicidal tendencies. Just what is it that the "pastor" is delivering? What is Roberts gaining from his strange studies?

King delivers an epic tale of religion and sin, of redemption and forgiveness, of pain and suffering, of love and hurt, and of the survival and revival of the human spirit. In The Stand (1978), the end of the world is near and armies are being formed for the good and the evil. In Revival, the same struggle is again visited by King on a much deeper level. In fiction, you may never see a character as charismatic and evil as Reverend Jacobs/Charles Roberts again. Real life, however, is full of examples of enigmatic, maniacal egotists. Just pick up any history book--you'll see them there.

King relates his own love of music and playing live through Jamie. I loved King's asides about age, getting older, and young people looking younger., and I love that King says, "Key of E. All that xxxx starts in E."

Highly, highly recommended grade 9 and up. Recommended for any King fan and any book club.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Horror Pick: Mr. Mercedes

Mr. Mercedes
Stephen King
Scribner
2014
436 pages
ISBN: 9781476754451

Master of the macabre, slayer of sanity, wizard of witticism, and maker of mirth, Stephen King is just having fun now.  He even pokes fun at himself and his  earlier books and films--recalling shades of "Christine" when investigating the, "...cops expected the big gray sedan to start up by itself, like that old Plymouth in the horror movie." When the police find a mask worn by the killer, they both note that it's creepy not unlike Pennywise, King's creepy clown from "It."

Not only is it King's job to scare us, he has taken on the responsibility to show us what humans are capable of. And not good humans. Oh, no....not the good ones. He wants us to see the grim and grisly, the evil and egotistical, the broken and the bigot, the narcissist and the narc. King's characters get to say things that no American--at least not during these days of p.c.--- could say in public or polite conversation. But King's characters do! And they do it with a vengeance!

A madman in a Mercedes plows down  a crowd of people in the early morning hours as they line up for a job fair. Police are faced with  the impossible job of finding the car, identifying the driver, and figuring out why anyone would want to kill innocent strangers. Newly retired cop  Bill Hodges is bored and depressed. He watches game shows and inane talk shows and wastes each day, that is until he gets a letter from someone claiming to be the killer.

Now it's a game of cat and mouse, and Bill gets a new lease on life. With the help of a much younger neighborhood computer geek and good kid Jerome, Hodges realizes that in order to catch a rat, you have to set a trap---but a rat as smart as this one is going to take the world's greatest rat trap, and Hodges is nothing if not patient and thorough.

Stephen King tells an epic tale of a madman and the forces of good out to stop him.

 King has become almost Will Rogers-esque with his keen observances of the American culture--however depraved it  has become. This is no small town story. This is no fond remembrance of  times gone by. This is no Garrison Keiller and  Lake Wobegon. King's America is in-your-face, violent, sick and creepy. We have plenty to fear and the madness is everywhere.

It is obvious that King had help with the technical aspects of computers, Internet security and hacking, and computer platforms, and in the author's note, he gives credit to various individuals including two of his sons. It comes in handy to have a few digital natives close by.

Highly recommended for mature readers grade 9-up. If you love King, you will love Mr. Mercedes.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my own reading.  I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Horror Pick: Doctor Sleep (The Shining, book 2)

Doctor Sleep
by Stephen King
Scribner
2013
528 pages

Spooky, scary and creepily grotesque doesn't begin to describe the terror of Doctor Sleep. Somewhere out there on America's highways and byways, you might see a convoy of Winnebagos driven by baby boomers and elderly retirees. You may not think anything of it, unless you've entered the terrifying world of Doctor Sleep.

Dan Torrence (the child in The Shining) is now all grown up. Having survived the nightmare that was the Overlook, Dan has spent years lying to himself and relying on the bottle for solace. He finally turns to AA for help, and the shining is quiet for a little while. He is still in touch with the Overlook's cook Dick Hallorann who has helped him understand the shining and his powers since childhood. When Dan is summoned by a young girl named Abra, he turns to Dick again for help.

Abra has the shining, too, and it's strong. That's what attracts Rose and her group of life-sucking vampires who feed off the shining from children. The True Knot travels from campground to campground feeding off the shining of tragedies. When 9/11 happened, they fed well off the steam of the dying. Since then, their canisters of saved "steam" is dwindling, and Rose is getting nervous. What will happen to her band of paranormal gypsies if there is no more steam? She will lose her power and die. Rose can't let that happen. She feels a strong presence somewhere on the east coast and sends her scouts out to search for this young beacon of hope.

Dan and Abra are connected, and she reaches out to Dan though messages on a chalkboard and later, she is able to connect telepathically. Sometimes Abra feels someone else besides Dan is in her head and she is afraid. Dan teachers her how to set traps and scare to intruder off, but Rose is powerful. Abra has a vision of a young boy she calls "baseball boy," and she knows he is somehow the key to destroying the True Knot.

As the True Knot moves closer to Abra, Dan and Dick hatch a plan to save her and unravel the True Knot (yes, pun intended) and destroy them. It will take all three of them...and then some...to face the demons and win. Like The Stand, Doctor Sleep is the ultimate good versus evil battle.

Doctor Sleep is King at his masterful best; no one can build suspenseful excitement and fearful anticipation like King. He even takes a playful jab at fellow horror genre writer Dean Koontz--just for grins.

Highly, highly recommended for anyone who loves a great story and every Stephen King fan grade 9 and up. Language, mature situations, violence, alcoholism, sobriety issues.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)