LATER by Stephen King

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads 

How I discovered this book: Amazon browse

In a Nutshell:

I love some Stephen King (The Stand, Misery, Thinner, IT before the bit at the end with the daft spider), but am not a massive fan, finding some of them unnecessarily long with too many daft spiders, etc, but that fabulous cover made me look twice.

Jamie Conklin can see dead people.  As he explains, not like in the Bruce Willis film; he sees them just after they die, for a short period of time until they fade away.  During this time he can talk to them - and once dead, they never lie.

Jamie lives in New York with his mother Tia, a literary agent.  He was a young child when he first discovered he could see the dead; terrified of this at first, he learns to live with it.  The story takes a darker turn when others want to exploit his gift for their own ends.

Of course Mr King is a master storyteller and this had me pretty much glued to the page all the way through; it's gripping, funny, sinister and relatable, all at once, and coasts along nicely, always with the hint that something much, much worse is going to happen.  I enjoyed the whole New York vibe, though I was disappointed by the ending - it just sort of stops.  Like King couldn't think of a really good way to end it, so he wrote the last big action scary bit then wrapped it up.  There's a bit of a twist at the end, but it doesn't have that much bearing on the story.  It's a good length for a quick, couple of days read - about 230 pages - and a book I looked forward to getting back to each time.  If it'd had a worthy ending, I'd have given it 5*.

THE STAND by Stephen King (original edition) @StephenKing

5 GOLD stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was recommended to me by book blogger Mrs Bloggs The Average Reader after she read my book Tipping Point.

In a Nutshell: Post Apocalyptic, worldwide pandemic, battle between good and evil.

This should really have gone on my Top 20 Books of 2018 post, but I hadn't expected to read another so excellent when I did my rundown the other week; it was an impulse read!

I know it's a classic, so probably doesn't need too much description, but in case you don't know, the story is thus: a pandemic is accidentally released from a lab, and kills almost everyone, worldwide.  The book follows the stories of several characters who prove to be immune, and their journeys both physical and personal.  All are having strange dreams, drawing them either to Nebraska, where an old woman, Mother Abagail, awaits them, or to Las Vegas, where the 'dark man' is planning his new world.  It can be read as either a battle between God and the devil, or, if you don't believe in all that stuff (I don't), about the battle between good and evil within man.

I read the original version, which was a mighty tome in itself; there is an extended version showing all the back stories of some characters that were originally cut out by the editor.  I've read reviews that say the extended version is not so well put together, and contradicts itself, so I decided on the original.  As it was, every back story did not pull me out of the main plot but had me totally engrossed.  My favourite parts were the slow unfolding of the virus in the first 20%, and the last 15%, which involved the inevitable long post apocalyptic journey, with all its struggles and near-death experiences.  It's a terrific book, and I was gripped throughout.  Recommend most highly, and thank you, Mrs B, for putting me onto it!