On Writing – Stephen King

A present from my daughter, one that I hadn’t read til now.

This is a superb work of non fiction. King gives very good advice for any prospective writer along with sharing some of his own life experiences, one of which made me cringe!!

Definitely worth reading😎👍🏻

The Darkening – Stephen Irwin

“Don’t go into the woods tonight…” is what Nick Close kept telling himself after numerous visions of murder perpetrated his sanity but he just could not forget about how his friend, 25 years earlier, had been one of the victims. With the help of his sister Suzette could he finally nail his friend’s killer?

This was bloody hard work, a struggle to even finish! Not only is the writing tediously bad but it’s a complete rip off of Stephen King’s IT and borders on plagiarism!! He’s even got a character called Don who leaves his wife & two young children to fend for themselves just as Stephen King’s Father, Donald King did!! How has this Irwin bloke gotten away with this??!!

The Blackstone Chronicles (Terror from the past) – John Saul

This looks SO GOOD!! Like King’s The Green Mile this is a collection of novelised horror fiction in which all the stories connect to reveal the whole story. Gonna get started on this today.

So far this is Superb! I’ve only read the first four stories, currently on the fifth but it’s bloody awesome!!

Now I’ve finished it and, although it is a very enjoyable read that I didn’t want to end it leaves the reader with some unanswered questions which is what I dislike about books, the biggest one being was Oliver Metcalf the Asylum Phantom and what really happened to his Father Malcolm?!!

The Girl who loved Tom Gordon – Stephen King

This is one of his that I hadn’t read so I got to it recently.

Yeah it’s okay, it’s not classic King but it’s still pretty good. Patricia is a nine year old kid on a walk in the woods with her Mum and elder brother Pete when she deviates back off the trail to have a piss, it isn’t long before she loses her bearings and realises that she’s lost with just dreams, hallucinations and a few meagre supplies to help her on a nightmare journey.

Joyland – Stephen King

College student Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart but he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child and dark truths about life – and what comes after – that would change his world forever

Now… This IS GOOD. After reading The Colorado Kid (IMO bloody awful) and recently LATER (only okay) I wasn’t expecting much from King’s other Hard Case Crime novel but I was pleasantly surprised.

This is a coming of age tale mixed within a murder mystery amongst romantic connotations which all blends together nicely for this story.

If you haven’t read any of King’s Hard Case Crime novels I highly recommend that you start (and maybe finish) with this one. Enjoy your trip to Joyland!