the king is dead --- long live the king!!!
920967
from the Roosevelt era to the Nixon era -- descriptions of how each family affected the White House and vice versa -- not a juicy "tell-all" -- interesting -- well done -- the First Ladies would have been lost without the framework provided by the White House staff -- the staff's first allegience was to the White House
2680086
I would have given this five stars if not for the very end. Just saying.

This was a perfect King yarn, right down the dissatisfying ending, so what did Chizmar contribute? Don't get me wrong, I subscribe to Ellery Queen and have always liked his stories, but they are mysteries, crime, not this. Anyway, I digress.

This is the tale of a young, chubby girl, already working on changing herself, who is giving a magic box. By an important man. Any casual readers will not understand the significance of the man that gives Gwendy the box, but those of us that read all of King's work will recognize him right away. This magic box does more than one trick and the story is all about Gwendy's use of these "trick".

I enjoyed it immensely. I felt there were many nods to other King stories like Rage (Bachman, in this case), 11/22/63, all the Castle Rock novels, of course, and even himself at the end. There is a reminder of a certain magical ream of paper King was given, along with his wife Tabitha and another friend at college. All three ended up published novelists. Coincidence? I've never thought so and neither does King. I think the ending here was a nod to that bit of magic in his own life.

I will definitely reread this, but I may skip the final pages and make up my own ending.
4170511
Blockade Billy... This book has seen many mixed reviews. I for one LOVED IT! . Yes it is a different style for King, we are used to the spine tingling terror of mad men that lurk in the darkest of shadows of his brilliant mind. So one would automatically assume this one would be of the same style and nature of his best selling novels. It is Not, this does not make it bad by any means! To be honest I thought it was genius of him to write the book in this style. Telling the tale through the eyes of an elderly man whom lived through this bizarre tragedy!

For baseball fans this is a MUST READ! Even if you are not a player or fan of the game you will be sucked into this story from the start! As always King gives great details into the who's what's and OMG NO WAY's of this nightmare. Yes I said Nightmare because that is what it really is. Further more what will astonish you is the fact that this is based on what was supposed to really have happened and is being told to you ( or MR KING I should say) from the mouth of a man who witness this horror first hand!

Baseball scary? I'm sure you are asking yourself, yeah right is your expression! Read IT! You will find plenty of blood and gore with in its pages! Add in the scare factor of it really happened along with the cover up and wipe out of a National Team! You thought old boy Rose was an issue with a mere gambling problem wait to you get a load of Blockade Billy! He makes Rose look like your cookie baking grandma!

Another thing people complain about is that this is a short story. Yes , it is. But it is a dam good one! Not all good stories need to be a full fledged novels and I believe he did right by this one keeping and short , sweet and to the point! No need to drag it on , it does what it was intended to do , to tell you the story of unspeakable horrors this man brought to the game, country and sport!

So from one King fan to another, Give it a read !
1618753
The king may have had a speech defect, but this DVD is perfect!  Listed as "Like New", it arrived promptly in a sealed DVD case and looks and views as "Is New".  I am more than 100% satisfied with this Amazon.com purchase!!
2895255
I can't believe it's over. Prophecy is dead and gone.. But I don't want this to be the end of Richard and Kahlan's  story. Surely, Mr. Terry Goodkind  will bring them back to life with another crisis in This "New Golden Age".. Because nothing is ever over with when it comes to Fantasy and Fiction..at least I am hoping and praying that there is more to their story......... We can only HOPE !!
2330385
As one who has read all of King's novels (except for the Dark Tower series - fantasy just can't hold my attention), I must say this one is high on my list of favorites.  Those who love his funky humor and attention to small details (the Havenites seem to live and breathe) will enjoy this great  (albeit long) novel.
If you're a fan of 200 page westerns (i.e. my  husband), you too may complain about the "long-winded"  descriptions.  Take my advice - "That's PLOT, dear!" and read on,  I'll bet you'll find yourself wondering where the time went!
1595046
This story even has (for King anyway) a happy ending! Or does it? Those who've read the DT and all his tie-in fiction will especially enjoy.
363808
Great book by the master Stephen King!!!! This has motion picture written all over it. The twists and turns are all classic King.
680539
I did not order this. How did this end up on my account?
  I find King David (of the Bible) a gruesome character, because he mutilated corpses by cutting off their penises to become king. I find people who praise him disturbing. Why would I subject myself to a story about such a person?
4673046
this book feels like King has lost his magic touch for fear..........undeveloped characters, unanswered questions, and just too many holes in the plot.  I have read more King than I can recall, but this is, perhaps, the biggest let down I have ever experienced.  I plodded through just to finish....I had read the reviews and saw a good number of them expressing disappointment; I wish I had listened.  The ending is so dull, that it almost feels like King was bored.  King seemed to have trouble holdig back on his personal politics in this one.
4290593
I loved the cover! That's why I bought it. Inside it had a number of black and white drawings, each one was spooky to me. Especially, the one of Richard III, from the chapter, "The Royal Raptors". He was so greedy and heartless, he "snatched away" the 13 yr old son of King Edward IV on his way to his coronation! Stuck him in London Tower! Lured from Westminster his younger brother the duke of York, and they were never seen again. He did it to become king himself. He was appointed by their father King Edward IV to protect them. This guy is just one of the sneaky villains of royalty. It's non-stop terror, sex, and a little bit funny. There's a flashy king who you would never think conquered in war games. Fat ones that stunk like hell and had puss boils all over. Who was having sex with who? The killings, bribes, roberies, gluttony. I couldn't put it down. Since it was based on facts it even mentions the current royal family. I'm going to read it again because it was easy to read and contains a wealth of factual information. In the Appendix it lists the various Monarchs' birthdays, when and how long they reigned, who they were married to and when they died. All kind of juicy info. The family trees are listed in the front. You have to read this!
1505457
Hill died shortly after completing this the 24th in the series.  It gets Andy back on the job after being blown up two books back.  Andy hasn't lost his touch or his politically incorrect utterences (:grin).  There is some worry about Pascoe, and when Andy might finally hang up his spurs and call it a day.  I guess now we'll never know :-(
1773643
And most amazing of all is how the attacks against those who hold up the King James Bible keep going on and on and on.....The King James Bible has gone out to the tune of more than a BILLION copies. It is the greatest, bestselling book of all history! NOTHING has ever compared to it before. You can always tell a new bible revision loyalists. They rabidly go to the Greek or to the Hebrew to try to uphold their own deity. To support their "cause" and ease their conscience! The revisionists believe that they are gods and that they can correct that book any time they choose. Don't believe it? Well, just ask them, they will tell you. I've seen them all my life. In churches, where they will get in the podium and attack that book from dawn to dusk. You've heard it all before --- "The King James translates this word wrong --- it should be this______" and thus setting THEMSELVES up as the final authority on what God MEANT. You know - you poor, illiterate people sitting down there in the pews, you can't figure out what the book MEANS even though it is in your OWN language (English), but you can look to ME because I KNOW HEBREW and GREEK and I WILL TELL YOU WHAT IT SAYS!  Uh-huh, EXACTLY what the popes of Rome did for hundreds of years - forbade the people from reading the Bible and told them that only THEY could tell them what it meant! Same old trickery. Does it ever end?  No, and it won't until the works of the devil are forever stilled. He hates that book! Millions upon millions have gotten saved, born-again READING THAT BOOK! Many have given their LIFE for that book!!!  Keep your SWORD of the SPIRIT (King James Bible) ! Don't trade it for trash! All the revisions compare themselves to the KING JAMES? WHY? WHY, oh WHY? Because that book is the STANDARD, and in their evil, wicked hearts, they KNOW THAT! See if they compare the NIV to the RSV, or the NASB to the NIV? NO, they don't! They ALWAYS, always compare their rotten works to the STANDARD! And the standard will always be the AV 1611 Kimes James. Written in ENGLISH, of course. "Where the word of a King is, there is power:" (Ecc 8:4). And if they can't assassinate that book, they will try to assassinate the one who authorized the translation, King James. "Oh, what a terrible person he was," or "didn't you know, he was a pervert?"  (uh-huh, yeah right!), or "OH, what awful people the translators were - they were illiterate," etc., etc. - you know - well, we've heard it all. They can't kill the message, so they try to kill the messengers or attack their character, EXACTLY as they have tried to do to the author of New Age Bible Versions. And on and on it goes, yada, yada (yawn). What else is new?
3322090
Stephen King is back!!! This book was excellent!!
1697013
I just finished reading this novel today, and i must say it is one of Mr. Kings best works to date. He brings it all - Horror, Mystery, Romance and Life-Like problems all into one book. This is his second novel, and much better than his first novel - Carrie. The Scenes including Barlow, The Child Vampires and the Vampire Mike brought chills down my spine, and nearly caused me too put the book down (as i was reading this at night)! Mr. King has a way with words, and describes the town and townspeople so well, you would think that the little town of Jerusalem's Lot and Floyd Tibbits and co. were real. A great haunting read - reccomended to any King fan or a fan of Horror/Vampire novels!
2982806
Bill Bixby lives!  At least in our memories.  May he rest in that great Steambath in the sky.....still smoking that cigar and defying a higher power to dismiss him to oblivion.
1582282
Can't wait for all the kings books to arrive! You rock Heather!!! Keep up the good work!!! #canIhaveAking2
Good Luck!