Monday, November 29, 2010

Review - Stephen King Desperation


What?  Stephen King's Desperation.

What’s it about?  Several travelers traversing the country --  a hotshot writer, a family on vacation with cute kids, a professor and his 'supposedly' cute wife -- who are forcefully confined in a little mining town called Desperation, Nevada, by a crazy policeman who is controlled by prehistoric evil forces.  This motley group of people has to stick together to survive and to find a way out of the town, i.e. Desperation.

Backcover Description:  There's a place alone Interstate 50 that some call the loneliest place on Earth. It's not a very nice place to live. It's an even worse place to die. It's known as Desperation, Nevada...

So, is it worth reading?  The backcover description is catchy enough to make you interested in the book even before you start reading. Stating that 'It's not a very nice place to live. It's an even worse place to die' to describe the eponymous place is enough to make you want to pick up the book.  But does the book live up the expectations set by the back cover? Somewhat yes.

The novel starts off quite well and you get a constant ominous feeling that something bad is about to happen and when it does, it comes unanticipatedly and adds to the impact of the first few chapters. There's this continuous feeling of something sinister going on.

However, ultimately it's only so long you realize that it is the quintessential (and boring) story of a group of survivors trying to well, survive. An idea that has been repeated in too many hollywood movies to count. Stephen King or no King, it's only a while that the suspense carries the book and you feel that it's the same old survivor story, just written in the twisted SK style with a lot of beating around the bush.

The ending is typical deus ex machina that King is infamous for and leaves you feeling unsatisfied just like a bad coffee.  The first part of the book is really good and if you want to read a survivor story done in Stephen King style, this just might be the book.

Rating: 3.5/5 (find out about ratings here).

Final Word (Go or no go?): Go! (read above though)

Where do I buy this?  See link below. 

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