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Alex Telander's Reviews > Black House
Black House
by Stephen King, Peter Straub (Goodreads Author)
by Stephen King, Peter Straub (Goodreads Author)
Territories Band With the Dark Tower
On September 15th, twenty years ago, twelve year-old Jack Sawyer received his first experience of the Territories – a fantasy land created by the great minds of Stephen King and Peter Straub. On September 15th, 2001 Black House was released; the compelling sequel to the 1984 bestseller, The Talisman.
The deal with sequels is that they tend to suck, especially when they are compared (Jackie Collins comes to mind), but Black House reaches in and grabs you by the guts from the start. Once again King and Straub have done what they do best, and Black House may well in face be their best yet.
We last left little Jack Sawyer on the shores of the Pacific, having saved both his mother and her twinner in the Territories, as well as defeating the horrid man Stoat. Black House starts you off with the omniscient guidance of its talented authors in the small, quaint Wisconsin town of French Landing – the same towns that have made it into King’s books; a nice surprise here is that it isn’t the unknown hinterlands of Maine. Jack Sawyer is a retired LAPD detective (the reason for his retirement gets explained later in the book) living in French Landing. He no longer has any recollection of having traveled to anywhere known as the Territories.
But French Landing is about to be struck by a serial killer who has a passion for kidnapping little girls and boys – and there’s biting involved, ladies and gentlemen. The killer, whose identity is revealed early on, has a little knack that none of the others at the old people’s home possess: he can skip into the Territories. As to what he becomes over there, I’ll let you find out for yourselves. Meanwhile as the disappearances continue and the bodies begin to mount up. Jack is dragged into the investigation in various ways, all of which he doesn’t wish to partake in. The killer also has some clues to give Jack about his past in the Territories, the very history he has tried so hard to forget for the last twenty years.
But that is not all. For you Dark Tower fans, King takes the helm at certain parts, throwing you lines of information along the way, revealing more of the enigmatic words: Breakers, the Crimson King, those darned Low Men in Yellow Coats, and yes, even the Beams get mentioned here.
Originally published on September 24th 2001 ©Alex C. Telander.
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
On September 15th, twenty years ago, twelve year-old Jack Sawyer received his first experience of the Territories – a fantasy land created by the great minds of Stephen King and Peter Straub. On September 15th, 2001 Black House was released; the compelling sequel to the 1984 bestseller, The Talisman.
The deal with sequels is that they tend to suck, especially when they are compared (Jackie Collins comes to mind), but Black House reaches in and grabs you by the guts from the start. Once again King and Straub have done what they do best, and Black House may well in face be their best yet.
We last left little Jack Sawyer on the shores of the Pacific, having saved both his mother and her twinner in the Territories, as well as defeating the horrid man Stoat. Black House starts you off with the omniscient guidance of its talented authors in the small, quaint Wisconsin town of French Landing – the same towns that have made it into King’s books; a nice surprise here is that it isn’t the unknown hinterlands of Maine. Jack Sawyer is a retired LAPD detective (the reason for his retirement gets explained later in the book) living in French Landing. He no longer has any recollection of having traveled to anywhere known as the Territories.
But French Landing is about to be struck by a serial killer who has a passion for kidnapping little girls and boys – and there’s biting involved, ladies and gentlemen. The killer, whose identity is revealed early on, has a little knack that none of the others at the old people’s home possess: he can skip into the Territories. As to what he becomes over there, I’ll let you find out for yourselves. Meanwhile as the disappearances continue and the bodies begin to mount up. Jack is dragged into the investigation in various ways, all of which he doesn’t wish to partake in. The killer also has some clues to give Jack about his past in the Territories, the very history he has tried so hard to forget for the last twenty years.
But that is not all. For you Dark Tower fans, King takes the helm at certain parts, throwing you lines of information along the way, revealing more of the enigmatic words: Breakers, the Crimson King, those darned Low Men in Yellow Coats, and yes, even the Beams get mentioned here.
Originally published on September 24th 2001 ©Alex C. Telander.
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
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