I have been a fan of Stephen King since I was about 13 years old and picked up a copy of “Misery” at my local secondhand bookstore. I remember reading it curled up in the corner of my top bunk that summer and completely losing track of my days and nights until it was finished. Many other books have had that effect on me since then but really “Misery” was the first so it’s kind of special. My favourite of his novels has to be “The Shining” simply because I love horror, I love to be scared and the part where the kid is crawling through the tunnel in the snowy playground all alone and something grabs his ankle is the only time I’ve ever jumped while reading a book.
Now, I know he’s not posh literature, he has no allusions to that, and I know many people wouldn’t even pick up one of his novels for that reason. I don’t mind though, I will read anything with a story and a set of characters that grabs my imagination and transports me somewhere else. Whether it’s Jane Austen or Karin Slaughter, I’m not fussed, as long as they entertain me.
Sadly I’ve been disappointed with King of late. Not always, sometimes a gem will come through, mostly with the non-horror stuff like “The Green Mile”. He just hasn’t scared me lately which is a pity since horror isn’t around much in fiction writing these days. Then last year he claimed he was retiring but I didn’t believe he’d be able to.
Well, he has a new book out in the States…it’s not out here for another few weeks but it’s about the one thing that always terrifies me and that’s zombies. Something about the fact that they’re rotting and they’re coming and you can’t stop them has always freaked me out. It does sound like these zombies are the new and trendy rabid kind we’ve seen in movies like “28 days.” As far as I’m concerned if they’re not dragging a mouldy leg behind them they’re not zombies, but I will reserve judgment.
This is from King’s website:
On October 1, God is in His heaven , the stock market stands at 10,140, most of the planes are on time, and Clayton Riddell, an artist from Maine, is almost bouncing up Boylston Street in Boston. He’s just landed a comic book deal that might finally enable him to support his family by making art instead of teaching it. He’s already picked up a small (but inexpensive!) gift for his long-suffering wife, and he knows just what he’ll get for his boy Johnny. Why not a little treat for himself? Clay’s feeling good about the future.
That changes in a hurry. The cause of the devastation is a phenomenon that will come to be known as The Pulse, and the delivery method is a cell phone. Everyone’s cell phone. Clay and the few desperate survivors who join him suddenly find themselves in the pitch-black night of civilization’s darkest age, surrounded by chaos, carnage, and a human horde that has been reduced to its basest nature…and then begins to evolve.
Writer/creative-type protagonist stuck in a job he hates…check. Strained relationship with wife…check. Young son…check. Hmm, sounds like all of his hallmarks are in place. Also sounds a bit like “The Stand” but that’s no bad thing. Oh, and is it just me or are American book covers much cheesier than the ones over here?
