One-idea book tires -- way too long for small plot...

Like a burlesque sketch that is funny for a minute or two but gets boring when nothing new happens for another half hour, King gives us an interesting premise that goes almost nowhere for the rest of the book. An old Buick is left at a gas station by a mysterious person who disappears, as does one of the investigating State Police of Troop D in Western PA; thereafter, the car is stored at the barracks and occasionally puts on laser light shows, emits strange creatures from its trunk, and similar horrible stuff. The story is told through the voices of the many troopers who have watched it over a period of twenty years or so. Other than drawing out the characters of that diverse group, as well as that of the young dead trooper's son, Ned, sort of the central listener, we're not treated to much other action or plot development. Sure, signs of King's effective rendering of scary events sparked our interest from time to time, but overall the whole book was like a one line gag repeated ad nausea. As far as we're concerned, this tale would have fit nicely into one of Kings many short story compilations; but we didn't feel the story and events were meaty enough to warrant some 350 pages, culminating in a fairly lackluster ending.

This was by no means one of King's scary, suspenseful, gripping novels of the bizarre and terrible -- it was just one small idea that burned brightly for a few minutes then went out. For our money, we'd skip it.