Gunner's Books

The premise of the story is simple and classic King: two siblings, driving across the country, hear a lost child calling for help from within a field of tall grass. They decide to investigate, but there’s something supernatural and malicious going on in this particular field. It’s a nasty story, suspenseful and gruesome, and though not the most offensive stuff King’s ever written, it’s close. Of course, that’s exactly the kind of story most people would hope for from these two authors. It’s definitely worth the read, just not over lunch.

Now, you know who Stephen King is, but you might not already know that his son, Joe Hill, is following in dad’s footsteps and is already an accomplished horror author. It’s my personal opinion that Hill has already shown the potential to overtake his father very soon, in skill if not in notoriety. In addition to two fantastic novels, a book of chilling short stories, and arguably the best graphic novel series in existence, he has also been credited with providing King with a superior ending to his recent time-travel book, 11/22/63. King fans know that his books tend to be long and engaging, but his endings are very hit-or-miss, so Hill’s contributions are incredibly valuable in this regard, and father-and-son collaborations like this one can only help both authors hone their craft further.

Regarding the narration of the audiobook by Stephen Lang, it’s tolerable at best. He’s not a very good actor, nor does he pull off female or child voices at all, and every bit of dialog is read in the same slow and plodding manner that he reads the narration; no emotion, no urgency, just reading words on a page rather than trying to bring a story to life. Luckily the story itself is good enough to let this slide.

Rating: 4 out of 5