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Fiction. Horror. HTML: Twenty years ago, a boy named Jack Sawyer travelled to a parallel universe called The Territories to save his mother and her Territories "twinner" from a premature and agonizing death that would have brought cataclysm to the other world. Now Jack is a retired Los Angeles homicide detective living in the nearly nonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, WI. He has no recollection of his adventures in the Territories and was compelled to leave the police force when an odd, happenstance event threatened to awaken those memories. When a series of gruesome murders occur in western Wisconsin that are reminiscent of those committed several decades earlier by a real-life madman named Albert Fish, the killer is dubbed "The Fisherman" and Jack's buddy, the local chief of police, begs Jack to help his inexperienced force find him. But is this merely the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious and malignant force been unleashed in this quiet town? What causes Jack's inexplicable waking dreams, if that is what they are, of robins' eggs and red feathers? It's almost as if someone is trying to tell him something. As that message becomes increasingly impossible to ignore, Jack is drawn back to the Territories and to his own hidden past, where he may find the soul-strength to enter a terrifying house at the end of a deserted track of forest, there to encounter the obscene and ferocious evils sheltered within it..… (more)
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Billed as a sequel to The Talisman, Black House doesn’t really continue that story so much as pick up the thread of its main character’s (Jack Sawyer) life as an adult. King aficionados will relish this novel as a full-force return to the type of story King tells best.
To make things even better, there are no subtle allusions to the world of the Dark Tower: it’s explicitly part of the plot. Hearing about the beams, the Crimson King, the Gunslinger, and the breakers all over again brought me right back into that world.
If that last sentence made no sense, you should really read the Dark Tower books followed by The Talisman before opening up this one. It’s worth the time.
Now we wait for the anticipated third book of the trilogy.
THE BLACK HOUSE, by Stephen King and Peter Straub, is a sequel to THE TALISMAN, and you probably need to read the first one to get the most out of it. It also makes reference to the Dark Tower series, but not in a way that's integral to the plot. In fact, I almost found the Dark Tower references distracting – they came across in a wink-wink-nudge-nudge sort of way.
The pacing in this book I found poor. High action scenes were weighted down with so much description I found myself skimming a lot to try to find out what was happening. After all the buildup, the final confrontation with the villain sped by and was over before I fully realized what was going on. The beginning of the book seemed to go on and on for chapters before anything happened, filled with minute details about the town and characters who didn't necessarily end up being central to the story.
Like most King books, the characters were intricate and interesting. Even bit players had personality. Jack Sawyer is one of King's favorite characters, and it shows. Maybe a little too much. There were a couple of times where other characters made huge sacrifices for information that Jack figures out all on his own, diminishing their contributions. For me, that sucked out some of the drama of the book.
The beginning was too long and the end was rushed, but the middle of the book was excellent. As the investigation unfolded and Jack re-discovered his own hidden talents, the writing was as rich and lush as I have come to expect from King. If that had held through the whole book, I would have recommended it without hesitation. As it is, this book as a whole doesn't quite pass muster.
The story picks up Jack Sawyer's life after forgetting his experiences in the Territories, and after a successful career as an LA cop. He retires to a small town, where he is once more required to save the world through his specialized knowledge of the Territories. There is a visit from Speedy/Parkus from The Talisman, and of course, many references to The Gunslinger series. If you like either The Talisman or The Gunslinger, this should appeal. Not nearly as horrific as many of King's other novels . . .
I have little experience with Peter Straub, but Stephen King always
Black House is written with the flair and style typical of Stephen King, with a slightly different narrative style that I assume is the result of Straub's influence. I picked this book up expecting to be impressed and I was not disappointed.