Book Review: Black House

By Stephen King and Peter Straub

 

Summary:

Jack Sawyer returns years after his initial adventure. He is thirty-one and retired, worn-out from being a LA detective. He doesn’t want to chases killers, in spite of his talent for finding them. He moves to a rural town, just as a serial killer starts snatching and eating children. Jack wants to ignore the killer, allow the FBI and French Landing’s Police Department handle the case, but everything about this case has Jack’s name written all over it. This killer, the Fisherman, may be getting help from an otherworldly being born in the Territories. Jack may be the only one who can solve this case and stop the murders.

 

Impression:

This novel, in my opinion, is a great improvement on the first novel, The Talisman. I did appreciate the stronger ties to the Dark Tower, but the novel felt closer to home. This novel was written about ten years ago and all those weird notions of pedophile homosexuals and cartoonish black people seem to have all gone away. I was also captivated by the otherworldly villain, Mr. Munshun. He’s this one-eyed monster man with a mouth full of shark’s teeth. He’s been riding on the Fisherman’s back, guiding him toward special children. Mr. Munshun lets the Fisherman eat all the mundane kids, but woe be on his head if he lays a finger on those special children.