Jamie Conklin narrates this cautionary tale about growing up with a “talent.” Jamie can see and talk to dead people. The ghosts tend to fade away after a few days but while they’re around, Jamie can speak with them…and the ghosts always tell the truth.
It takes time for Jamie’s mother, Tia, to believe in her son’s power to talk to the dead. But when Tia recognizes her son’s talent, she also realizes it could bring Trouble. And, of course it does.
Stephen King manages to fit in a serial bomber, a drug lord who’s into torture, and a crooked cop into this fast-paced 250-page novel. You’ll find Jamie’s story compelling and suspenseful.
In 2005, Stephen King wrote The Colorado Kid for Hard Case Crime. In 2013, he wrote Joyland. Later (2021) is the third book King has written for this publisher. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another eight years for the next Stephen King Hard Case Crime novel! Are you a Stephen King fan? GRADE: A
I wasn’t crazy about his first 2 Hardcase novels but I have ordered this from Amazon
Steve, I really liked LATER. And, of course, the door is open for a sequel…
I am a King fan, but I realize he has written some clunkers and he often has a weak ending. It for example. His last novel The Institute I thought was one of his best. And he seems to be quite good at the novella length.
Steve, I agree with you on King’s optimal story length being novella length. Any writer who is so prolific is going to produce a few clunkers.
I am a fan, especially his non fiction and his shorter works. He tends to go on way too long in some of the novels, though it didn’t bother me in THE STAND.
I liked JOYRIDE way more than THE COLORADO KID. I have this one on reserve.
Jeff, I think LATER may be the best of King’s Hard Case Crime novels.
My introduction to King came early, when SALEM’S LOT appeared in paperback. I went back and read CARRIE and have never looked back. I could never really get into the Dark Tower books but I’ve read all the rest. I didn’t care for THE COLORADO KID, but JOYLAND was OK, and LATER looks like prime King. For years King and Larry McMurtry, whose first novel appeared in 1961, were in a contest to be the active writer I’d read for the longest period of time. He’s about ten years older than King, and hasn’t published anything since 2014, so I’m thinking he’s done, but he currently holds the longevity lead. By the way, anyone who thinks McMurtry is just that guy who wrote LONESOME DOVE has missed a lot.
Anyway, I should be getting LATER from the library this week, and notice that King already has another novel scheduled for August.
Michael, like you I started reading Stephen King with ‘SALEM’S LOT.” Loved it! And, again, like you I read CARRIE and then I went on a Stephen King binge. However, after I read CUJO, I took a break from Stephen King books for five or six years.
Big fan. Looking forward to this one.
Jerry, you’re going to be delighted by LATER!
Liked a lot of his early books and a scattering of what has followed. But he is often too scary for my tastes and too violent. And too long. I think he could be a great writer if he wrote less but he chooses to be prolific. Only JCO can write well and often.
Patti, I’d disagree (Oates has written some lesser work, and a number of writers have been both prolific and at least as consistent, such as Donald Westlake and Jack Vance).
I think Salems Lot is the only one I’ve read. I enjoyed it, but probably just for the vampires.
My friend Scott made a lot of $$ when he found an advance reading copy of Carrie at a rummage sale.
Maggie, I confess I made a huge mistake with a Stephen King book. I mentioned in one of my College classes that I had a copy of Stephen King’s first Bachman book, RAGE (1977). After class, a student came up and asked if she could “borrow” RAGE and read it because she was a huge Stephen King fan. Like a fool, I brought her my copy of RAGE and I never saw her again. RAGE goes for around $1000.
I do enjoy Stephen King.
Never got into The Gunslinger and Dark Tower stuff but I’m all in for the rest.
He’s a fantastic storyteller and I think a lot of his work will stand the test of time.
Beth, like you I was underwhelmed by THE GUNSLINGER and DARK TOWER stuff. But, Stephen King has written plenty of books and stories that I do like quite a bit.
Not a fan, rather be entertained then frightened.
Rick, there’s a lot of suspense in LATER with very little actual “scary” stuff.
King’s work always struck me as Way too derivative and prolix, way too much of the time. Stories such as “The Children of the Corn” (the film is best avoided), “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” and CARRIE were very good, but I, too, started with SALEM’S LOT and was less impressed. (It’s notable that CARRIE was for some years the shortest novel he published under his own name.) His autobiographical essay in ON WRITING remains the best writing I’ve seen from him. A whole lot of his work feels to me like Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury and lots of unedited words water, in a sense then Robert Bloch and Theodore Sturgeon with two measures of that water.
You can pick worse models, however. Though the first-draft teen writing published much later as “The Gunslinger” in F&SF in 1978 was among the worst fiction I’ve read, and “The Cat from Hell” and “Night of the Tiger” were not much better.
Todd, I’ve been impressed by many of Stephen King’s shorter works. You mentioned CARRIE which holds up well. King has written some stories with Lovecraft elements–my favorite is “Crouch End”–and continues to expand his writing effects very much like Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury did. And, of course, sales statistics show King is successful with his approach.
Sales are never a barometer of quality, George. Would it were not the case, or even more that everything that was good was commercially sustained.
I’d also suggest that Robert Bloch and Theodore Sturgeon were very careful and usually lean with their prose, Matheson and Bradbury a bit more reckless with their prose even in their best work, and King, again, is willing to be prolix to a ridiculous extent at his worst, and most of his work could use trimming.
Todd, I agree with you that many of Stephen King’s works would use some trimming. My comment on King’s sales was to make the point that for decades he’s been able to satisfy his audience of readers. Although the quality of his novels and stories vary, King has the knack of telling stories that grip the reader. It works on me!