By: Stephen King
Synopsis
Set in the Maine territory King has made mythic, Bag of Bones recounts the plight of forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan., who is unable to stop grieving even four years after the sudden death of his wife, Jo, and who can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his word processor.
Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, Mike finally returns to Sara Laughs, the noonans’ isolated summer home.
He finds his beloved Yankee town familiar on its surface, but much changed underneath – held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, who twists the very fabric of the community to his purpose: to take his three-year-old granddaughter away from her widowed young mother. As Mike is drawn into their struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here – and what do they want of Mike Noonan?
My Thoughts
Wow! I’m not sure what else to say. Incredible novel. I am in awe of Mr. King’s storytelling.
I don’t normally read horror/paranormal books. Which means that this is my first Stephen King novel. It is my husband’s favorite book of all time, and I’ve been promising him for a while that I would read it. So, trusting him when he told me it’s not too scary, I finally decided to pick it up. To be honest, I feel a little silly reviewing Stephen King. I mean, it’s STEPHEN KING. But since these are just my thoughts, let’s give it a go anyway.
Yes, this is a very creepy novel. And, as I have already stated, I do not typically enjoy scary things. However, I found myself thoroughly enjoying all the spooky elements of this novel. I have discovered that while I do not like scary movies or TV, reading something spooky doesn’t bother me. My guess is that because when reading, I control the images in my head and there is no creepy music intensifying things.
It caught my attention from the very beginning with the incredible foreshadowing, and I was very curious to find out what was coming. For example, one very ominous passage was on page 72: “I left the house, locked the back door, got into my car, and drove away. I have never been back.” I couldn’t help but to speculate as I read, which is something I don’t normally do. I don’t like to solve the mystery before the book does. No need to worry. You won’t figure it out.
He also has quite a way with words. His ability to help the reader see the setting and feel the narrator’s emotions without being overly wordy is truly a talent not to be underestimated. I could see, hear, and almost taste the things and places he described. An example of this is on page 187 when Mattie describes sensing something in the bed with her as “…a headache in the nerves.” I understood exactly what he was trying to convey.
The characters were all believable and well developed. I immediately liked Mike and Jo, and felt sadness when Jo died. I wasn’t crazy about Mike’s attraction to Mattie, but I understood that he was lonely. I adored Mattie and Kyra, and wanted everything to turn out all right for them. I felt sympathy for Mike’s caretaker, Fred Dean. I think he was trying to do as good as he could. Of course, I couldn’t stand Max or Rogette Devore. They were just evil.
This was one of those books that is so absorbing that when I would have to stop reading, it would take me a moment to come back to reality. When I finished it, I had to blink my eyes a few times in order to rejoin the real world. I love when a book does that!
These are just my thoughts. What are yours?
