Rating: 
Summary: A little review by a serious fan
Review: I have been a fan of King for years, and it is simply a given that when one of his novels come out I am in the bookstore that very day, plunking down whatever the asking price for a hardcover copy. There are many horror novel fans (believe it or not) who will tell you that Stephen King is a pulp author whose talents are based solely on the ability to toss off a 900 page book with an interesting sounding plotline every fall or so, but we true fans know that King's writing is much more than that, that he is a master storyteller capable of entertaining, shocking, and frightening at the same time. Needful Things is a prime example of King at his twisted best. The story centers on King's now mythical town of Castle Rock (undoubtedly an unlucky place; it is the site of Cujo and The Body to name a few of King's other works). A small rural town such as Castle Rock cannot help but take interest when a mysterious stranger breezes in and sets up shop (particularly a shop with a name as enticing as 'Needful Things'). The proprietor, one Leland Gaunt, can offer the residents of Needful Things whatever they want... for a price. Literally, the hopes and dreams of every person in town is somewhere on Gaunt's shelves, and as it turns out, most of them are willing to do anything to buy them. Of course, Gaunt doesn't simply take money; he requires a favor of his clients, in the form of a small service (usually a seemingly harmless prank or act of vandalism inflicted on another citizen). The people of Castle Rock are only too happy to comply, and that is where King really begins to spin the yarn. You see, Gaunt is very intelligent and very wicked. He uses the weaknesses and prejudices of the residents of Castle Rock against them, and soon his seemingly random series of pranks begin to connect, and suddenly the good folks of Castle Rock are set against one another, paranoid, vindictive, vengeful people who will do anything to protect their 'needful things'. Eventually, the killing begins. King turns his characters into killers and monsters in a frighteningly believable way, and ties the characters together in ways that will make you sit back and marvel at his storytelling. Obliviously assisting Gaunt is Ace Merril (yes, the same character from The Body, played by Kiefer Sutherland in the film Stand by Me) A criminal all his life, Ace harbors a hatred for Castle Rock that Gaunt cultivates and nurtures. The only thing that stands between Castle Rock and damnation is our hero, sheriff Alan Pangborn, who distrusts Gaunt and attempts to unravel his evil scheme (those of you who read King's The Dark Half will recognize Pangborn; he is one of its central characters as well). I must say after all this that I was less than impressed with the dramatic, climactic ending, which I found to be more than a tad cheesy and unfulfilling. However, the story leading up to the less than agreeable ending is well worth the mild disappointment. I would recommend Needful Things as a very enjoyable and exciting read, right up there with King's best works (the very best of which is the magnificent Eyes of the Dragon, which I will review some time in the future). If you are a King fan, Needful Things is a must, and if not, then I suggest it as an entertaing alternative to whatever your area of interest might be
Rating: 
Summary: The best I've read
Review: I just want to advise readers about this excellent writing masterpiec
Rating:
Summary: The greatest book I've read!
Review: Needful Things, I would argue, is King's best work. I have read most of his work, and I find this one most intriguing. The way he blends characters with events and
time is incredible. He has a wonderful sense of revenge and
mystery, but at the same time love and peacefulness, in Needful Things. I give it two and a half thumbs up. Great
page turner. Once he gets into your head, he has you. That's
what makes him a great author.
Rating:
Summary: "Everyone loves something for nothing...
Review: even if it costs them everything." Once again, Stephen King uses his well-developed, biting prose and sharp, twisted imagination to paint a moving portrait of small-town calm that becomes slowly infested with a gradually growing evil. This is NEEDFUL THINGS which, as mentioned at the very end, took Stephen King over two years to write, finishing it in 1991. It is one of his longer books, at 736 pages (in the paperback edition I own), but it held my interest throughout, actually increasing it the more I read! NEEDFUL THINGS is subtitled "The Last Castle Rock Story," and what a grand finale it is! Castle Rock is, of course, the fictional Maine town in which Stephen King has set some of his most memorable works. It also lent its name to his production company, which has churned out many modern film classics. Being the single place name that is most famously associated with King, it is a surprise to me (and, I suspect, to many others) that a total of only five of his many novels are set in Castle Rock: THE DEAD ZONE (1979), CUJO (1982), THE TOMMYKNOCKERS (1987), THE DARK HALF (1989) and NEEDFUL THINGS (1991). However, as King ominously reminds us at the beginning of the latter, "You've been here before." We sure have, and it is an absolute joy to revisit this most deceptively interesting of small towns that King has created for us. Sheriff Alan Pangborn, the lone holdover from the previous Castle Rock story THE DARK HALF, has lost his wife and only child to a tragically sudden car accident that occurred between that story and this one. It shocked him into a depressing reality, one that is helped somewhat by a kindred spirit in Polly Chalmers, who runs a sewing store and who has an enigmatic past of her own that she has never fully revealed. of course, she *will* let Alan in on the missing details...in time. However, they and others in the town take their minds temporarily off their own problems to investigate that new store Needful Things, which looks about ready to open. When it does, the fun really begins... The sinister storeowner, Leland Gaunt, is one of the best King villains; you know he is not the gentlemanly old fellow he seems to be at first when he entertains the impressionably young Brian Rusk, but you aren't quite sure (for most of the time) as to who (or what) he actually is. Of course, you begin to guess this early on, but King wisely chooses to reveal Gaunt's true identity very slowly, in scattershot throughout the book. Some reviewers on here have mentioned that for how long the story is, the ending presents a bit of a letdown. I'll admit that it wasn't quite what I expected, and it did disappoint me a little; however, I also realized that a story dealing with the supernatural and occult probably *shouldn't* be too-neatly-wrapped-up at the end. All in all, NEEDFUL THINGS develops at least a dozen characters very well, from those with whom I deeply sympathized (Sheriff Pangborn, Polly Chalmers, eleven-year-old---and first customer---Brian Rusk, his younger brother Sean, Nettie Cobb and Myrtle Keeton) and others I absolutely detested (Wilma Jerzyck, Danforth "Buster" Keeton and Reverend William "Steamboat Willie" Rose; I just love SK's knack for picking great nicknames!). This is a story that is tremendously absorbing, effectively disturbing and worth every bit the time it takes to really get into it. NEEDFUL THINGS is one of the best Stephen King books I have read at this point; mind you, I have read only a handful of others so far. Now I really want to read the rest of his incredible collection of gloriously twisted, imaginative works! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED; AGES 17 & UP
Rating:
Summary: Not one of his epics, but still a brilliant read
Review: There are three types of King books: the really long epics, the reasonably long tales-about-a-town, and the shorter individual stories about individual people. "Needful Things" fits into the middle category, and boy is it good. OK, it starts quite slowly, but the likeable characters make you want to read on and find out what happens. By the time you're halfway through the plot itself begins to pick up momentum, and the final chapters steamroll by in a flash. Castle Rock is one of the better and more likeable communities King's created--Polly Chalmers, Alan Pangborn and Norris Ridgwick are all enjoyable heroes (and heroine), and Leland Gaunt is a really creepy old demon, one of King's really memorable villans. OK, you might still be a little unclear as to exactly what HAPPENED once you finish the book, but the characters are so good and the finale to spectacular that you won't really care. Great stuff--perhaps a bit too fantastical for some, but if you enjoyed "Insomnia" you'll enjoy this.
Rating:
Summary: Massive, perceptive and strongly allegorical
Review: Leland Gaunt might be an incarnation of evil, but that doesn't make him a one-note character. The dynamic between Gaunt and Castle Rock's inhabitants is in a constant state of evolution: sometimes Gaunt is the focal point around which the other characters gravitate, a spider capturing more and more victims in its numbing, deadly web; at other moments, he is at the periphery, an active observer of his creation like an inferior demiurge who relishes in pain and mayhem - the prices he commands for the 'needful things' he sells is much more spiritual than material. The most interesting aspects of the novel are related to religion and the sacred. Gaunt takes the guise of Good as he seemingly brings wonder to people who didn't have any, and he appears to give his clients access to the sacred while violently cutting them from the profane world; but this is less a religious experience than a pernicious illusion devised by a dark magician. The book's structure is such that its length poses no problem to the reader - it is quite the opposite. King delays the inevitable Pangborn-Gaunt confrontation as much as he can, and the pace quickens in the novel's second half. 'Needful Things' lends itself to a plethora of allegorical readings, including Gaunt as the guru of a dangerous sect; as a druglord; as an author of macabre fiction (his clients need to 'believe' his stories as much as readers do and they soon become addicted to his 'work'). This is not an easy novel, but one that inquisitive readers should look for.
Rating:
Summary: Devil in the Flesh
Review: The dull town of Castle Rock, Maine has its ordinary routines. Everyone knows each other's business and they enjoy the peace and quiet, especially after travelers who have a summer cottage leave for the fall. However, there is a new traveler in town and he's doing more than just visiting. With several items in the store window, Leland Gaunt opens 'Needful Things' which sells odds and ends that are 'one man's trash, another man's treasure.' The prices seem reasonable enough, however much is in your pocket and a promise to do a favor; to play a little prank on someone. Seems harmless... until you piss off the wrong person and things start to get out of hand. Leland Gaunt starts selling even more 'needful things' and people who want them are willing to pay any price, even if that means their souls.
Rating:
Summary: Everybody has a price.
Review: A simple clever idea neatly executed.
If the devil came to your town or city to destroy your community, how would he go about it? This book provides a convincing and entertaining answer to that question. Mr Gaunt is new in town, new yes but he knows the residents only too well, he knows more about them than they know, he understands their pressure points and the price of each of their souls.
The cleverness of this book is that it is so believable, the genius of Gaunts game lies in the differences between human beings, when he sets out to make one person destroy another he plans his moves exquisitely, breaking Wilma's windows seems relatively mild to the boy he selects for the job, yet to Wilma, it is calculated by Gaunt to make her homicidal with rage. Animal rights mean little (morally) to the man he selects to kill Nettie's dog, yet to the lonely, vulnerable and unstable animal lover Nettie, it turns her into a monster. Smaller misdeeds are turned into terrifyingly larger ones with great profit for the Devil Gaunt. Everyone has different values, everyone's endurance limit is different, and so like a row of dominos the town begins to lose it's mind.
Rating:
Summary: Hillarious
Review: Fantastic. Close to my favourite Stephen King book. Most memorable for me was the servant-lady's discovery of her murdered dog: ("Sweet Jesus merciful and mild. Raider! You ain't dead, are you? You ain't dead? Oh, oh no! Oh my little doggy!")
The characters' attacks on one another were superbly entertaining, the bad guy was interesting, and though the ending was a little disappointing, this was incredibly entertaining. King's got the sniping, gossipy small-town atmosphere down pat.
Rating:
Summary: So what happened???
Review: After reading over 800 pages, King never tells us if the Catholics have their bingo night or not. Sheesh!
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