#44 – Needful Things

Plot

A wonderful new store has opened in the little town of Castle Rock, Maine. Whatever your heart’s secret desire—sexual pleasure, wealth, power, or even more precious things—it’s for sale. And even though every item has a nerve-shattering price, the owner is always ready to make a bargain.

Review

Another favorite of my Aunt JoAnn, I read this book very early in my Stephen King career. For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed it – especially Leland Gaunt. Playing the main antagonist with a name so perfect you can already visualize his appearance, Gaunt is able to manipulate the entire town of Castle Rock by preying on their most superficial needs.

The town is full of characters – some better developed than others – most of which succumb to Gaunt’s spell and end up in the middle of pure chaos. As far as set-up goes, this one is right up near the top. It was the execution that had me slightly disappointed.

With more than 700 pages at his disposal, King misses too much for my liking as it relates to character development. Because of this the massive climax building in Needful Things doesn’t resonate as much as it could have. In my humble opinion as King has gotten older, he has turned into a better self-editor and this one would have been a Top 20 novel had King wrote it in 2021 instead of 1991.  Don’t get it twisted though – Leland Gaunt is a superbly written character and one of my personal favorites in the entire King bibliography.

This is my highest-rated 3-star review from Goodreads. We now move into the 4-star reviews with the next 19 books.

Details

Pages: 736

Dates Read: Pre-2012

Quote: “Everyone loves something for nothing … even if it costs everything.”

Best Part: Any scene that had Leland Gaunt. Seriously, he’s fantastic.

Hint for #43: Pierce Brosnan played the main character in an A&E miniseries based on this book.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.