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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.

Get it for your Kindle.

I first read The Talisman when I was about 12 or 13-years old, about the same age as Jack Sawyer, the protagonist in the novel. The book fascinated me in ways that kids couldn’t imagine before Harry Potter. It had fantasy, danger, and an added element that I always loved in books as a kid – a young protagonist facing the world on his/her own. Books like The Talisman and A Wrinkle In Time made reading my number one childhood activity.

I decided to finally re-read The Talisman after I found a sequel while browsing the Kindle store. Naturally, I wanted to refresh my memory before diving back into Jack Sawyer’s story. The Talisman is a tale of a young man, a child really, on a dangerous mission. He sets out to find the talisman, a mysterious object on the opposite coast of the country. He travels in both the real world, and an alternate reality he calls The Territories. The Territories are an idyllic place – clean air, no cars, simple clothing and homes. The physical description of The Territories most resembles medieval times.

Jack’s mission is to get the talisman to heal both his mother (who is dying from cancer on the east coast) and Queen Laura, the ruler of The Territories (who is dying from some unknown Territories disease). We are with Jack every step of the way. He has help along the way from a handyman named Speedy, a wolf named Wolf, and others.

I absolutely love this book. I loved it as a child (reading Stephen King novels far too early for my age) and I loved it while reading it for a second time. It flawlessly moves from “the American Territories” to “The Territories” (as Jack calls them) and back. The imagery is so powerful that you almost start to believe in The Territories yourself. The length of the book isn’t a problem, and in fact once you near the end, you don’t want it to end. (Luckily there’s a sequel titled Black House.) I would absolutely read it again, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy/mystery novel. You can grab the paperback on Amazon, or get it for your Kindle at the Kindle store.