King Makes a Comeback

Stephen King is my all-time favorite author.  I just wanted to get that out there before I started a review of his latest novel.  You should know there is a bias.  I read his stuff no matter what.  That being said, he has not always written things I have loved.  His previous novel to this one, “Cell,” I felt was a decent effort but a retread of familiar themes that he had done better on previous efforts.  The book was entertaining, but his characters were not nearly as memorable as other books and the novel just felt half-thought-out and half-finished.  Thankfully, with his latest, “Lisey’s Story,” King is back in his proper form. 

Scott Landon is a world-famous author who has been dead for two years when the book first opens.  His wife, Lisey (pronounced Lee-See, a nickname for Lisa), is finally getting around to clearing out her husband’s office.  Her husband has the kind of writers office I can only dream of.  They live in
Maine on a farm and have converted the loft in the barn into his office.  For two years his books, unfinished manuscripts and papers have sat there while the world waited breathlessly to find out what might still be lurking in those nooks and crannies.   

Of course, this is a Stephen King story so if you were expecting merely a trip down memory lane then you obviously don’t know Stephen King.  It turns out her husband had a few secrets and Lisey has some buried memories about those secrets.  Her husband had a world known as Boo’ya Moon that he would journey to and find inspiration for his stories.  It is a beautiful place as long as you visit there during the day.  However, once night falls there are things there that may destroy whomever is there. 

This is a novel that also deals with the strange phenomenon of being famous.  As the legions of Landon fans clamor for whatever new scrap of Scott Landon writing that might still exist some of them may not be exactly sane.  When one of those “Space Cowboys” pays a visit to Lisey her life may be in danger.  On top of all of that Lisey has a bit of a problem with her older sister Amanda. 

Just writing that out makes this novel sound a bit like a jumble, but it isn’t.  Slowly and deliberately facts are revealed.  Eventually you realize that each component is part of the story and it all comes together at the end.  Then, just when you think it’s over, King manages to reach into your chest and pull your heart out. 

All of King’s trademarks are here.  He creates truly three-dimensional characters here.  There are a few secondary characters that are not exactly fleshed-out but you don’t really want them to be.  What this book is about is the love story about Scott Landon and Lisey Landon.  Yes, this is a Stephen King love story.  He has made attempts at this before and I thought he had done an excellent job with “Bag of Bones” but this one may beat that. 

Where does this rank amongst the best of King?  It’s hard to say.  There would have to be a miracle to top “The Stand” and his “

Dark
Tower” series.  Considering his last novel, “Cell,” was written just after he finished that magnum opus perhaps it could be forgiven for him not quite hitting it out of the park.  With this one, you can tell King loves this story and these characters.  He does all he can to make you love them too and he largely succeeds.  Is this one likely to rank among his best?  Perhaps not, but it shows he can still tell a story and still tell it well. 

I think this is more of a three out of four-star novel.  There are some things he is repeating here.  The woman fleeing the dangerous man with the possible salvation being in some other dimension is reminiscent of this novel “Madder Rose.”  The thing is I absolutely hated “Madder Rose” and is the one King novel I found myself completely unable to complete.  This time he avoids much of the pitfalls he ran into in that novel.  Whereas the character in that novel was so completely unlikable you can’t help but fall for Lisey Landon.  Her husband is a fascinating character as well and knowing that he is deceased makes all that you learn about his life all that more tragic. 

There is horror in this novel, but it is of the kind of horror King has been writing for about the last ten years.  His last truly scary novel may have been “The Dark Half” which had a few elements in it that actually made me nervous while reading.  Since then he has incorporated horrific elements in his stories but the horror has not been the main focus of the novels.  He seems to be trying to create characters that are memorable and stories that will haunt you rather than terrify you.  Then again, after novels like “The Shining” and “’Salems Lot” it would be hard to conjure up terror beyond that.   

“Lisey’s Story” is also probably one of the best and most-realized female main characters King has created.  Early in his career he was often criticized for not having complete female characters he seemed to enter an experimental phase with the release of novels “Gerald’s Game” and “Delores Claiborne” but with this novel I think he achieves what he was going for with those novels.  Here is a female main character that is as well-rounded and memorable as any of his female characters.   

In the end that can I say about this novel?  It grabbed me from the first page and then held me until the end.  I did not want to put it down.  I wanted to see what would happen on the next page. I wanted to see what would happen at the end.  Then, when it ended, I felt an urge to start the novel over again.   

This is a very personal novel for King.  The male character is a best-selling novelist but he is dead before the first page.   I wonder if this was a book where King attempted to crawl inside the head of his wife, Tabitha.  Of course Tabitha is a writer in her own right, but it must be tough to be married to one of the best-selling writers of all time.  This is a novel that explores what it’s like to be famous and to create for a living.  Writers, in a sense, lie for a living and are one small step away from being insane.  As a writer myself, I have to say this may be one of the best representations of what an imagination is when you are a creative person.  There is always the temptation to live just in your imagination. 

“Lisey’s Story” is a great read.  It will grab you and hold you.  It will keep you up at night.  It will play with your emotions.  It will keep you entertained and get you lost in its story.  King is back to his old form and it’s really great to see that. 

 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available for sale at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.