King is a superb storyteller and the first 75 pages hooked me in. The beach, the rides and fairground culture, the shies and the shooting range. He is great at setting the scene, directly addressing the reader and pulling you into his characters world. But it then fell quite flat and the high expectations I had initially built weren't fulfilled. The last 80 pages picked up a little as the story headed towards its conclusion but I felt very disappointed once I'd reached the end.
The front cover suggests a much more dramatic tale than actually unfolds. It is a mystery more than anything with a supernatural touch – only really just a touch – but definitely not what I would class as a horror. On re-reading the description on the back cover I would say the story of first love and growing up is probably a closer match to what this book is really about. And maybe that was my misinterpretation.
I like to be frightened. I want to jump when I hear a sound outside of the little bubble I always inhabit when I open up a Stephen King novel. I want to be spooked and left questioning and doubting the actions or motives of the shifty, suspicious characters I always encounter in his stories. And none of that happened for me.
This felt like it might be better suited to a short story rather than a novel, although it only actually took a couple of days to read so no time lost!
I am ashamed to say I have never read The Shining, but am getting caught up in the hype for the sequel coming out very soon (Doctor Sleep) so might have to read that in the very near future so I am ready for his next release.
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