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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.
I read 'The Talisman' to which this forms a sequel many years ago and can't remember much about it other than I found it rather a disappointment, being a fan of both authors' work. Anyway, that isn't really a difficulty for the reader since there's enough background to fill in the gaps.
The book starts in a very disconcerting and distancing style where the reader is a bird's eye view being whisked from place to place and shown/told lots of things about various characters and situations. This gradually calms down although the whole book continues to be told in present tense with occasional head hopping between characters and quite a lot of info dumping about people's backgrounds. I found it a slow, very long read bogged down from time to time by dragged out pacing and I had to take a couple of breaks to read non fiction as a refresher.
I wasn't keen on protagonist Jack who takes a fair while to finally take on the role he should in solving the initial child murders - no doubt indirectly leading to unnecessary deaths - and much preferred a secondary character (avoiding spoilers as this character is eventually killed off). There are some powerful set pieces, such as the assault on the five biker characters (again, Jack is directly responsible since he should have told them to wait until he was available, rather than approach Black House by themselves), but most of the time any chance of building suspense is deliberately sabotaged - the reader is told that particular characters are about to be killed off. An odd character choice is to make a lot of an old lady at the carehome, constantly telling the reader how lovely she is etc, as if she is going to be key in some way, but only having her make one real appearance.
The distancing of the early chapters occasionally recurs - once, near the end, there is an actual reference to the two men (though not by name) who are writing the story so there is always the sense that this is just a made-up story rather than something the reader can immerse themselves within. As a fan of birds I also found it rather a misfire to have an "evil" crow featured. For fans of the Dark Tower series there are quite a few direct references, with the murderer being directly implicated in the plan to destroy the Beams and bring about universal destruction.
Altogether, it was rather a mixed bag and I would rate it at 3 stars overall. ( )
Black House is a story that could only be created in the minds of Stephen King and Peter Straub. In the sequel to the Talisman, we catch up to Jack Sawyer 20 years later, living in a small Wisconsin town. He’s presently a retired Las Angeles homicide detective as a result of a sketchy incident.
Jack is trying to live a simple life in his new community, with his new friends. Horrific murders take place in this sleepy town that are similar to ones that occurred decades earlier. The local chief of police begs for Jack’s help...
I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below. A Book And A Dog( )
So many of King's feature youngsters dealing with adult sized horror, it's easy to wonder what became of these young people when they matured and how they processed the horrors of their youth, whether or not it lingers. And Uncle Stevie has himself wondered, giving us the second half of [It] and [Doctor Sleep]. Jack Sawyer of [The Talisman] is one of those endearing characters, and his journey one that begs for a follow-up. [Black House] focuses much on the lingering effects of the terrors of his young life but is much lighter on the details from that other land where Jack quested. It still features, as the dark force trying to puncture the veil into this world emanates from there. Jack has become a policeman, and the evil making its way into ours has taken the form of a killer who preys on children. Though he took an early retirement, Jack is pressed back into service and he soon learns there are elements of the crimes only he can understand, and only if he's willing to remember all the things he's tried to box away in his mind. The police procedural elements of the novel create an intense and readable narrative. But having read [The Talisman] so recently, and it's a favorite, I pined for more from those other lands and those who people them. But it's a small quibble - this is still a solid entry in the King canon.
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta.Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
You take me to a place I never go, You send me kisses made of gold, I'll place a crown upon your curls, All hail the Queen of the World! -- The Jayhawks
Dedikation
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta.Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
For David Gernert and Ralph Vicinanza
Inledande ord
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta.Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
Right here and now, as an old friend used to say, we are in the third present, where clear-sightedness never guarantees perfect vision.
Citat
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A kid in this place would stand out like a rose in a patch of poison ivy, if you know what I mean.
Avslutande ord
Information från den engelska sidan med allmänna fakta.Redigera om du vill anpassa till ditt språk.
"Welcome back," she says. "My heart, my life, my love: welcome back"
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.
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Google Books — Laddar...
Nov./Dec. 2012 SK's Flavor of the Month - Black House
3
The book starts in a very disconcerting and distancing style where the reader is a bird's eye view being whisked from place to place and shown/told lots of things about various characters and situations. This gradually calms down although the whole book continues to be told in present tense with occasional head hopping between characters and quite a lot of info dumping about people's backgrounds. I found it a slow, very long read bogged down from time to time by dragged out pacing and I had to take a couple of breaks to read non fiction as a refresher.
I wasn't keen on protagonist Jack who takes a fair while to finally take on the role he should in solving the initial child murders - no doubt indirectly leading to unnecessary deaths - and much preferred a secondary character (avoiding spoilers as this character is eventually killed off). There are some powerful set pieces, such as the assault on the five biker characters (again, Jack is directly responsible since he should have told them to wait until he was available, rather than approach Black House by themselves), but most of the time any chance of building suspense is deliberately sabotaged - the reader is told that particular characters are about to be killed off. An odd character choice is to make a lot of an old lady at the carehome, constantly telling the reader how lovely she is etc, as if she is going to be key in some way, but only having her make one real appearance.
The distancing of the early chapters occasionally recurs - once, near the end, there is an actual reference to the two men (though not by name) who are writing the story so there is always the sense that this is just a made-up story rather than something the reader can immerse themselves within. As a fan of birds I also found it rather a misfire to have an "evil" crow featured. For fans of the Dark Tower series there are quite a few direct references, with the murderer being directly implicated in the plan to destroy the Beams and bring about universal destruction.
Altogether, it was rather a mixed bag and I would rate it at 3 stars overall. (