Category: Uncategorized

Stephen King: #27 – The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#27 – The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla

Plot

Roland and his tet have just returned to the path of the Beam when they discover that they are being followed by a group of inexperienced trackers. The trackers are from the town of Calla Bryn Sturgis, and they desperately need the help of gunslingers. Once every generation, a band of masked riders known as the Wolves gallop out of the dark land of Thunderclap to steal one half of all the twins born in the Callas. When the children are returned, they are roont, or mentally and physically ruined.

In less than a month, the Wolves will raid again. In exchange for Roland’s aid, Father Callahan—a priest originally from our world—offers to give Roland a powerful but evil seeing sphere, a sinister globe called Black Thirteen which he has hidden below the floorboards of his church. Not only must Roland and his tet discover a way to defeat the invincible Wolves, but they must also return to New York so that they can save our world’s incarnation of the Dark Tower from the machinations of the evil Sombra Corporation.

Review

The Dark Tower series – at its best – is nothing more than fantastical pure storytelling.  It creates worlds and characters that you can completely get swept away.  It also builds suspense towards exciting climaxes, often involving a large battle scene.  Essentially it is everything Game of Thrones tried to accomplish.  Wolves of the Calla exemplifies nearly the very best of The Dark Tower.

If there is one criticism of this book it is that it felt like the ending was cheapened – slightly – by a late reveal that didn’t seem earned.  Most of this book builds to a large battle scene and then right before it takes place, a new clue is revealed to benefit Roland’s crew.  I’m not against information to help the good guys, but I didn’t like the actual information used in this scenario.

Wolves of the Calla also features Father Callahan, who was a main character in Salem’s Lot (yet to be revealed).  I would have thoroughly enjoyed his presence had I previously read Salem’s Lot, which is a big part of the reason why I eventually decided to start at the beginning of King’s bibliography and work my way down. 

Despite the late arriving reveal, I was still riveted by the final battle scene.  King is incredibly deft at writing clashes, and he’s on top of his game in this one.  His style of writing quickens during the climax and had this Constant Reader unable to put the novel down.

Details

Pages: 931

Dates Read: Pre-2012

Quote: “Your man Jesus seems to me a bit of a son of a bitch when it comes to women, ‘Roland said. ´Was He ever married?´ The corners of Callahan’s mouth quirked. ´No´ he said, ´but His girlfriend was a whore.´ ´Well,´ Roland said, ´that’s a start.´”

Best Part: Gunslingers come in all shapes, sizes, races, genders and can throw plates instead of shooting bullets.

Hint for #26: The characters from What We Do in the Shadows would not appreciate this novel.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

 

Stephen King: #28 – End of Watch

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#28 – End of Watch

Plot

In End of Watch, the diabolical “Mercedes Killer” drives his enemies to suicide, and if Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney don’t figure out a way to stop him, they’ll be victims themselves.

Review

Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are certain it means forever.  Heading into the last Bill Hodges novel I knew I was going to have to say a final goodbye to these characters I had become so attached to (Bill, Holly and Jerome).  Even if they survive the novel, there was still a sadness in my head while reading because I knew this was it.  (Or so I thought at the time!)

Brady Hartsfield is one of my all-time favorite Stephen King antagonists.  He’s drawn a horrible lot in life and has chosen sadistic violence as his means to escape.  But he’s also technologically savvy and has a personal vendetta against our main protagonist Bill Hodges.  In End of Watch, Hartsfield also dives into the paranormal, which was an excellent choice by King.  

It would have been very easy for King to mess up the ending of this trilogy, but as a master of his craft, King delivers a perfect capstone to not only Bill Hodges but the entire series.  One of my favorite movie quotes is by Kevin Nealon in Happy Gilmore, “Feel the flow Happy.  Feel it.  It’s circular.  It’s like a carousel.  You pay the quarter, you get on the horse, it goes up and down, and AROUND.  It’s circular.”  Anyone who has read End of Watch would appreciate Nealon’s assessment. 

Details

Pages: 432

Dates Read: August 15, 2016 – September 1, 2016

Quote: “Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do.”

Best Part: Brady Hartsfield discovering the power of his newly founded abilities.

Hint for #27: You would not want to be a twin in this story.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

 

Stephen King: #29 – Billy Summers

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#29 – Billy Summers

Plot

Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So, what could possibly go wrong?

Review

Stephen King’s writing has gotten crisper and more concise as he’s gotten older.  His more recent novels – while not all outstanding – benefit from King honing his craft over the last four decades.  Billy Summers has outstanding dialogue sequences, tight plot details and builds memorable characters.  It was an absolute delight to read.  

Billy Summers does not delve into the paranormal but centers around a hitman performing his “one last job.”  While this is not a unique concept, King is able to generate plenty of compelling plot lines which makes Billy Summers into a page-turner.    

One interesting detail involves Billy Summers (the protagonist) pretending to be dumber than he really is to the mobsters who hire him.  Obviously, the goal of this facade is to have a built-in advantage when push inevitably comes to shove.  We’ve seen this several times from our antagonists, but it worked even better when it came from the good guys.  

Details

Pages: 515

Dates Read: August 4 – August 14, 2021

Quote: “You can’t help how you feel. Feelings are like breathing. They come in and go out.”

Best Part: The immediate aftermath of Billy’s assassination attempt on Joel.

Hint for #28: This novel unrelatedly shares its name with a movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena as Los Angeles police officers.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #30 – The Long Walk

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#30 – The Long Walk

Plot

On the first day of May, 100 teenage boys meet for an event known throughout the country as The Long Walk. If you break the rules, you get three warnings. If you exceed your limit, what happens is terrifying.

Review

We talked earlier about how The Running Man could easily have been made into an episode of Black Mirror.  King slows it down with The Long Walk, but the idea remains the same – this novel would have made for an excellent Black Mirror episode.  

There is nothing complicated about this premise.  100 boys start walking – if they stop, they die.  Last man standing wins.  The prize?  Anything they want.  A bountiful of riches, or maybe a lifetime of horrors.  

The Long Walk cracks the top-half of this list because of that simple – and yet incredibly powerful – premise.  King also executes with excellent character development on an extremely high level.  The Long Walk isn’t tremendously suspenseful, but King will enlist your empathy – and disdain – for those that are competing.  

Typically, I let endings resonate before reading reviews online, but I immediately looked for explanations of the final sequences because I was not 100% sure how to interpret the last few pages.  

Details

Pages: 370

Dates Read: June – July 2019

Quote: “Any game looks straight if everyone is being cheated at once.”

Best Part: Charley horses are horrible – but this takes it to another level.

Hint for #29: King had to change the year in this novel from 2020 to 2019 due to COVID-19.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #31 – Misery

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#31 – Misery

Plot

Novelist Paul Sheldon has plans to make the difficult transition from writing historical romances featuring heroine Misery Chastain to publishing literary fiction. Annie Wilkes, Sheldon’s number one fan, rescues the author from the scene of a car accident. The former nurse takes care of him in her remote house but becomes irate when she discovers that the author has killed Misery off in his latest book. Annie keeps Sheldon prisoner while forcing him to write a book that brings Misery back to life. 

Review

As I mentioned previously, I do my best to not have any idea what a book or a movie or a tv show is about before I consume it. I’ve found that not having any expectations on where I think the story should be headed has allowed me to experience art with a clearer and more open mind.

Unfortunately, there are times where this can be unavoidable. Misery falls into this category as – despite never watching the movie starring Kathy Bates – I knew the general premise prior to reading the book. But man, do I wish I had a blank canvas because Misery is a great read. The sheer amount of psychological warfare that was being exhibited by Annie was extraordinary.

Knowing the premise is one thing, but not having a clue how everything was executed was another. King had his audience in mind – not only because of the centered relationship between fan and artist, but also because Misery puts you right into Paul’s shoes – and what helpless soles they are.

It’s hard not to read Misery and ask yourself what King was really trying to say to his Constant Readers. He published Misery soon after The Eyes of The Dragon (yet to be named on this list) and received some backlash from his supporters because it was so much different than his previous works. As for me – I’m here because King is a great writer – regardless of genre, and Misery is an excellent example of that.

Details

Pages: 368

Dates Read: October – November 2020

Quote: “I am your number one fan.”

Best Part: It’s difficult to look at a riding lawnmower the same way after reading Misery.

Hint for #30: My dog Lucy and I would often go on these when she was younger. Now, she’s tired after a lap around the neighborhood.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.