Stephen King's "Lisey's Story" Book Review

Lisey’s Story

By Stephen King

Published by Scribner

528 pages

Lisey’s Story does not “start out” like most Stephen King books. I’ll give you the loud and clear on that. In fact, as I commented to a friend, if a person wasn’t a slave- err, I mean fan of The King, a person just might get a little fed up with the beginning of the book and maybe drop it, concluding it to be not worthwhile. That person would be wrong, but anyone who is reading it is probably a King fan to begin with, so they’ll know, as I did, that the point, when he gets to it, will be either glorious, terrifying, or, more likely, both.

It is two years since Lisey’s husband, Scott, has died. She has wrestled with grief and anger, anyone familiar with loss will sympathize. She is only now beginning the arduous task of cleaning his office, with the help of her slightly-off sister. However, the meandering tone set in the beginning of this book could get a little long for some. King trails around, not really seeming to get anywhere, and we dash between characters and times abruptly. There’s a whole lotta thinking going on, and not quite enough action. However, when the story does take off, it does so in grand King fashion.

All at once, the seemingly loose threads of the book begin to come together. Lisey finds herself the unwitting victim of a psychotic fan of her late husband, a man insanely reasonable and impossible to placate. She also finds herself dredging up old memories, some that she has buried on purpose, such as the magical, beautifully threatening world that Scott visited frequently during his life, Boo’ya Moon

Scott has left Lisey a legacy, a treasure hunt of clues leading to the answers to the mysteries surrounding Scott and his adventures in Boo’ya Moon. As she follows the sometimes-gruesome trail, Lisey overturns stones with squirmy, classic King stuff beneath them- Scott’s traumatic childhood and very unusual family, for instance, but it quickly becomes very possibly the only path that will allow Lisey herself to survive.

Lisey’s Story is a horror novel, yes, if such an indescriptive title can still be placed upon the work of Stephen King. Personally, I think we need to make up a brand new word to use as a description for his writing…. Something that implies the greatness of it, the yumminess, the chocolate chip cookie dough ecstasy of reading his books. Ok, maybe that’s just me, but dammit, it is not a coincidence that he’s so aptly named. Back to my point. Yes, it’s a horror story, and a fine one… creepy crawly thoughts will plague your mind when you read it before bed… but more than that, this is a love story. We the readers get a glimpse through the door of a marriage that is based on love, deep and true and undeterred by death. In short, we get to see Mr. King’s romantic side here, and it’s just as deep as his imagination. Very, very touching.

As always, King beguiles with well fleshed-out characters. These are people that think the way people think, act the way people act. That is with the exception, of course, of the psychotic villain who acts as only people in King’s imagination acts. What a very, very scary place to live. But I’m so glad he lets us visit!

I give it a PINK on the Reading Rainbow.