Kindle Book Review: Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Black House is the sequel to one of my favorite Stephen King novels – The Talisman. The Talisman follows the story of a young boy named Jack who is on a very dangerous and very important mission. (You can read my review of The Talisman here.) Black House follows the adult Jack, but takes a while to get there.
The book starts extremely slowly. It introduces us to seemingly unimportant characters for several chapters before revealing Jack as an adult. While it took too long to get there, I’m quite pleased with the fact that Travelin’ Jack grew up to be an extremely talented police detective.
When we find him, the retired Jack is living in a small town where there have been a series of horrific murders. He lives in a beautiful house next door to a blind man with whom he has become very close friends. He has been trying to stay out of the murder investigation, but the town is desperate for help and Jack starts to get involved.
I liked the book, but I didn’t love it. There was too much going on, too many characters, and not enough time spent in The Territories. The magic of the first novel was that we were taken on a journey through a child’s innocent eyes – everything was magnified thanks to his youth. The few journeys we take to The Territories with the adult Jack has them appearing as a very matter-of-fact place. There was no magic in it this time.
I don’t think it was a waste of time, but I certainly don’t think it was King’s best novel. I enjoyed the interactions between Jack and his friend Henry, and I loved the Thunder Five (the motorcycle gang that helps Jack). The other characters, however, weren’t all that compelling. Even the bad guy, who is usually just as interesting as the good guys in King’s books, wasn’t interesting at all.
I’d recommend reading it since King and Straub have hinted at a third installment in the story of Jack Sawyer. It’s not a fast-paced read, and it’s not the best novel you’ll ever read, but it’s worth slogging through to read about Jack Sawyer’s future.
