Later

Later

By Stephen King

Once upon a time, I was a die-hard Stephen King fanatic. Not in a scary way, but in a “it’s the only thing I read” way. I was one of those people who rarely broke from horror/psychological thrillers. My second favorite author was John Saul at the time. (Still love the guy, I’ve just broadened my horizons since my twenties). So, I found this little nugget. Long than a short story, but not as hefty as a typical King outing. Later is a narrative masterwork. The plot is a bit on the been-there done-that with the trope of a young man being able to see and interact with dead people, which the book does poke its own fun at, but what really stands out this work is the voice of the novel.

The character of Jamie has a distinct personality, with his own cadence of speaking and storytelling, which is a bit apart from a usual Stephen King adventure. The protagonist doesn’t take himself so seriously, which sometimes can bog a book down. The same can go for a protagonist who doesn’t take situations seriously enough, leaving you feeling irked and annoyed. You know the type, if it were on a screen rather than a page, you’d be yelling at the TV. Jamie is a nice balance between the two. No easy feat.

This book, which is a quick read as far as King in concerned, is a part of his Hard Case Crime series. I preferred Joyland, not going to lie. The story of murder mystery, plus a haunted amusement park was a little more up my alley. But as far as the boy who can see dead people, this is not a bad outing, and if you need a quick King fix, pick up one of his Hard Case Crime books.