Three Selected Stephen King Thrillers

"Remains" pen & ink by C.C. Godar  -  SOLD

THE STAND
by Stephen King
          Reading about a super-flu epidemic that wipes out most of mankind, during 2010, the first year of H1N1, felt frighteningly close to home. This is the third Stephen King I've read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
          Most readers feel that the uncut version, at 1,153 pages, was way too long --- and I agree. Too many descriptions of the suffering of what seemed like hundreds of minor dying characters could have been left out without destroying the story line or the feeling of horror as the flu swept the country. 
          But other than that, the main characters were so skillfully portrayed that I came to feel like some of them were my personal friends, and I walked every weary mile with them as they made their way to the Free Zone gathering place. 
          I'd love to know what has happened to the surviving characters since the book first came out. But please, Mr. King, if you do a sequel, be merciful and keep it short, like maybe 500 pages next time!

UNDER THE DOME 
by Stephen King
          In his notes at the end of the book, SK says, "I tried to write a book that would keep the pedal consistently to the metal." I have to say, he succeeded there! Non-stop murder and mayhem, from beginning to end. This was a book that I could barely tear myself away from. Not because I liked it so much (at times I wanted to pitch it through the patio door!), but because I just wanted to get to the end and find out what happened.
         "The engine of Velma's light truck shoots backward and tears her in half. Her upper body exits through the windshield, trailing intestines like party streamers, and splatters against the Dome like a juicy bug." 
          For those who've never read Stephen King, this is just one example of the near-constant blood-and-gore fest that awaits the reader of this epic disaster saga. Classic Stephen King. I normally avoid books with excess violence, because I tend to visualize what I read way too picturesquely. But I seem to make an exception for this author. I find myself wishing he'd exercise moderation in his writing, but I guess then, it wouldn't be Stephen King...
          In some of the reviews I've read, people were disappointed with the ending. I thought the ending was perfect. When I reached the halfway point in the book, I was ready to hang it up. But 500 pages is a lot of time invested, so I had to keep reading. I'm glad I stuck around for the ending. I thought it really rocked!
          The science fiction aspect of the book was well-researched and well-written. (SK gives credit where credit is due, for the research, in his notes.) What an imagination!
          All in all, I liked THE STAND much better. It had characters you could love and really root for, and it had an overall feeling of hope that things would work out in the end. UNDER THE DOME just felt mean-spirited and hopeless to me, and I never did really engage with the characters. But mostly, I was annoyed with the excess blood and guts. Sometimes, too much really is too much! It's confusing to me how I could like a book like this so much, and at the same time NOT like it too.

DREAMCATCHER 
by Stephen King
          I really liked this book. I loved the childhood friendships of the main characters (Beaver, Jonesy, Pete, Henry, and Duddits), told in flashbacks that somehow relate to the bizarre things that these grown men go through on one particular hunting trip in the great north woods of Maine. Dear sweet Duddits has become a favorite book character for me.
          It's a real bummer what happens to the Beav (no pun intended, but there it is anyway, so if you've read the book, you'll know what I mean). But the events leading up to his tragedy are almost hysterically funny. Yes, this book is deliciously disgusting with an intricate, creative story line. I also enjoyed the mental combat between Jonesy and Mr. Gray. This story is sure to appeal to sci-fi fans, especially those who like stories of alien invasions.