I have long been a fan of Stephen Kings novels, reading the vast majority of his early works, including The Stand, Delores Claiborne, Misery and The Tommyknockers. I fell away from his more recent works as I felt that they were not his best works, these include Gerald’s Game and The girl who loved Tom Gordon.
However the King is back in spectacular style with The Green Mile and Desperation.
Desperation tells us of travellers heading down highway 50, the loneliest highway in America and the town of Desperation just off it. These travellers include a family of four headed on their annual holiday to Lake Tahoe, a young couple going home to New York and a once famous writer struggling to make a comeback.
All these travellers are stopped along their way by a police man, who for different reasons stops them and arrests them on a variety of trumped up charges.
What follows is a pretty horrific, graphic description of the situation in Desperation, once a thriving mining town, but now appears to be deserted.
The story follows the band of travellers desperate attempts to stay alive amid some dire circumstances.
I managed to read this book in 2 days although it did give me some nightmares!
Advantages: Promising beginning, some very good characters, can be used as a very effective door-stop Disadvantages: 720 pages when perhaps half that would have sufficed, very disappointing ending
Jan 12th, 2001
very helpful by (13%):
helpful by (87%):
