Desperation

Stephen King
1996
ISBN 0-340-65428-7

Random people, pulled together by a psychotic cop and promised living hell before death, caught in a desert town under a dust storm, fenced in by strangely obedient coyotes and buzzards.

This book started off like a TV movie that I had to sit through once, so the first dozen pages were passed wondering if it was that movie (and feeling pretty pessimistic about the rest of the story), but it veered off in a whole new direction pretty quick. Once I realised that there were no evil gangs of truckers, and that King's story was far more interesting, I started taking more notice.

This is classic King: the story takes place over one night, yet fills over a thousand pages with the history of people and places. An urban legend turns out to be horribly true, and the small band of arrested travellers realise that they are the only ones who can bring a halt to the insanity around them. The climax is built at a breakneck speed, and you don't really know what's going on until it's happening, so it's hard to put down (must know what happens next!).

I like the amount of detail that King injects into story, as I think it brings a richness to the tale that a lot of other horror writers lack, so the size of this book didn't faze me, although it did become a personal challenge to get it finished as quickly as possible. I'm not sure I'll feel compelled to re-read this story, but the first attempt was pretty enjoyable.

Date Finished: 14/11/07
Year Total: 38