Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Bag of Bones - Stephen King

So, I’ve decided that because I’m such a blooming procrastinator and barely remember the said book before I sit down to write the review, I’ll write mini-reviews. I’ll start writing bigger (and better!) reviews when I’m caught up.

 

For those of you that don’t know the plot, I’ll fill you in…

 

Bag of Bones sees forty-something novelist Mike Noonan return to his Lakeside getaway in Maine in an effort to write his latest novel. He’s been struggling to put pen-to-paper ever since the sudden death of his wife, and hopes that being in the relative comfort of his Maine retreat will give him the kick-start he needs. When he arrives there though, he finds the town in the grips of an elderly millionaire, Max Devore. Most significantly, he meets twenty-year-old Mattie and her daughter Kia, and they begin a somewhat complex relationship caught up in the clutches of the powerful millionaire Max.

 

There’s something special about King where I know that when I’m feeling down or whatever, I can jump into one of his many worlds and more-or-less escape everything. For that reason alone, I’ll always have a soft spot for him. His books always pull me in more-or-less immediately too. Sadly though, my attention always seem to waver a bit in the latter stages, and this one was no exception.

 

The book started out really well, but did go on a bit much at points. Ultimately, I felt the plot wasn’t strong enough to sustain a 700 hundred page novel. I think if it had been cut by about a hundred pages, it would have gone down a lot better with me. I think it would have been stronger as a consequence too. I always wonder to myself if Kings editor is too afraid to tell him to cut a book down, being as awestruck as he/she is!

 

The character’s here were really well done, and although I didn’t like Mike the whole time and found some of his rationalisation and decision making a bit flawed, he was rich and fully formed. Everyone, even down to the bit-characters, were realistic and believable.

 

There were some highly charged scenes that had me biting my nails furiously, while other's went on and on...so overall I think three-stars.

 

Again, it’s my damn idiotic reasoning that if I don’t love the characters a book doesn't stand out for me, and I think that’s what happened here.

 

Sorry to everyone that loved it!!