Page-Turning Techniques

In this novel, King gives us a textbook on ways to end chapters and scenes to keep the pages turning. ( )

Horror

Ooof! Talk about karma showing its pretty face of justice.
Over all, this series has been my least favorite King journey. It just feels so different from what I’m use to. End of Watch was the most familiar King of the 3, but this was stepping stones to get to Holly. I met her in The Outsider and really appreciated her character and the different tone she brought to King’s world.“The pink fish reminded me of when I was 19….” ( )

In some ways, I was a little relieved to see a return to more classic King in this last book, with the addition of supernatural elements backed by a vague explanation that is really ludicrous if examined too closely, but the storytelling is so good that I didn’t really care to examine it, but only wanted to ride along wherever the author wanted to take me. All my favorite characters returned in this last book of the trilogy, but this was somehow less satisfying, as they had already been pretty thoroughly explored in the first two books. I did enjoy the development of the tender friendship between Hodges and Holly, and Holly’s blossoming into a more confident and independent woman. Unfortunately, there really weren’t any new characters to explore, or that were worth exploring.

This whole trilogy of books has been odd for me. Each book has highlighted some of the best and worst of how I feel about Stephen King’s work, from the terrific characters, to the horrifically gruesome details in his action scenes, to the awkwardly unconvincing romance. These were better plotted and less bloated and rambly than is his tendency, and the action wraps up in a more satisfactory fashion than usual.

Audiobook, purchased via Audible, because I was too impatient to wait through the loooooong hold list at the library. Will Patton once again provides a truly masterful performance, which has been so strong through the trilogy that I didn’t even bother to buy the hardcover to read first, as is my custom for all SK books. ( )

As much as I hate for series to end, this seemed a fitting and realistic end for the characters. Even though Brady had some unnatural abilities, it's scary to think how easily people can be pushed to things as terrifying as 'suicide epidemic' and how quickly it can spread with technology. As always, King will keep you up at night thinking about truly terrifying things. ( )