Rating: 
Summary: An Unforgettable Read
Review: Ever had the experience of thinking throughout the day of the characters in a book you're reading, and wondering how they are? That was me, every moment I wasn't reading Black House. This book may be a little hard for some to start - the opening narrative requires attention and discipline - you have to force yourself to go along with the authors' floating view. Make your mind's eye into a roaming camera, and just go with it. Within two or three pages, you'll lock into this way of seeing and be able to move from scene to scene without trouble, and with the beautiful bonus of a well fleshed out physical setting. I haven't read Peter Straub before, not even the Talisman, but am a lifelong Stephen King fan. Consider this background when I tell you these two things: 1) There is just the right balance between King's and Straub's voices, and they complement each other in a way I hadn't expected - I could still feel King's presence, but it seemed more mature, more directed, more lyrical then his typical style. Mr. Straub, I presume. 2) This book does not need to be read as a sequel - it stands alone beautifully. If you haven't read The Talisman, that's okay. Pick this up. I came to care about the characters created here - I found them lively and funny and enjoyable, and felt they interacted in a "real" way, like actual, complex people. If you need one more piece of encouragement to read this book, here it is: Black House finishes in a satisfying way. You shouldn't find yourself scratching your head and going - 'now, what happened here . . .' The authors did a stellar job of plotting, and it shows in the details - having finished the book this evening, I could probably sit down and outline it, start to finish, because it made sense. It flowed. This is a fully realized story set in a fully realized world (or two or three) and a great achievement for Stephen King and Peter Straub.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, tedious, and unintelligent
Review: What a disappointment! This was my first introduction to Stephen King suspense fiction, and it reinforced why I have avoided this genre in the past. The plot was predictable, the prose was unsophisticated, and the combination of those two factors made the book a bore to read. I have always looked down upon pop fiction, in general, with a certain sense of literary arrogance, but for some reason I elevated Stephen King to a level slightly above the likes of John Grisham and Danielle Steele, but after reading Black House I have to wonder why. This book is the kind of frivolous, unintelligent trash that barely deserves a slot on the paperback shelf in an airport bookstore. Black House, the sequel to The Talisman, follows Los Angeles detective Tom Sawyer to small town Wisconsin where he plans to enjoy his early retirement. He is quickly drawn back to active duty after several local children are abducted and murdered by an apparent copycat killer known as the Fisherman. Sawyer’s pursuit of the killer leads him to the Territories, a mysterious, parallel world of Twinners and mystical powers. Jack’s investigative skills, supernatural powers, along with some help from the Territories, lead him to a dark, secluded house – the black house – where unearthly evil powers torture small children with rabid dogs, supersized attack crows, and electric stun guns. Sound interesting? It’s not. The supernatural plot elements, for which King has been highly regarded throughout his writing career, are childish and completely unsatisfying. This book is written at the third grade level, and if you consider yourself more intelligent than that, you should avoid it.
Rating:
Summary: King is King
Review: Stephen King continues to prove his literary superiority. Not only is Black House his most recent classic, it stand at the foreskin of modern horror. Kudos, my friend, kudos.
Rating: 
Summary: Growing up
Review: I was 17 when I read The Talisman, just slightly older than its hero Jack Sawyer. I read it once a year for about ten years, when it finally failed to elicit tears, gasps and night-thoughts. I've just finished Black House and feel that Jack has grown up, just like I did. Unlike many recurring characters, Jack has been allowed to mature and develop into the man it was clear he would become. I would have been disappointed with less. This book is dark and difficult, with many references that will be obscure to some readers. Not being an avid Stephen King fan (my favorite is Insomnia) I'm sure I missed some as well. Those references are the main reason I gave this book only four stars. The reference to the 'red, red robin' startled and annoyed me, as did the hearkening to the Crimson King. They had no place in this sequel because there was no valid tie-in to The Talisman. It made Black House seem less a collaboration than a reminder to go back and peruse the body of work Mr. King has produced. I kept fighting down sneaking thoughts of subliminal messaging and battling the distraction to become completely immersed in the story. Black House builds off of The Talisman, with Jacky all grown up, and the story has grown up with him. Still a classic good versus evil, there is more ambiguity in this tale than The Talisman. But in the 18 intervening years surely we have grown up enough to step away from black and white. If Black House had failed to recognize that it would be an abysmal failure.
Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: I absolutely loved The Talisman and The Dark Tower series so I was incredibly pleased when I received The Black House as a gift. I couldn't wait to see what King and Straub had come up with this time. Having just finished it, I have to say that I was incredibly disapointed and that only two such big authors could have gotten away with publishing a book that required so much editing. Overall the story was majorly unbalanced -- the first 100 pages were just pure description and meeting characters. I have nothing again description, but come on! Any other book I would have put down long before this one finally started to pick up. I hated that "floating camera" narrator -- it was extremely irritating and distracting and robbed many scenes of their punch by hinting at future events. The final showdown at the end of the book was strangely anticlimatic and very underdeveloped. Much too easy for all the buildup that went into it. Normally when I get a new Stephen King book I read it in a matter of days but this one didn't tempt me to stay up all night as others have. It took me a couple of weeks to slog through it. Save your money and get it from the library if you must read it -- that's where my copy is going.
Rating: 
Summary: Black House Ultimately Disappoints
Review: If you read Amazon reviews of Stephen King books, you've probably come across a few of mine here. I usually give King five stars because he is simply the most compelling writer I know. His books are sometimes uneven, but he is such a master at stringing words together that I am entertained by his verbiage, if not the story and/or characters. That remains the case with Black House, though I finished the book much less entertained than I usually am by a King tale.
I haven't mentioned Peter Straub yet because, in my view, Black House is very much reflective of King's sensibilities. It harkens back to characters from other SK books, such as Ted Brautigan from "Hearts in Atlantis." It ties its story to mythology previously rendered in The Dark Tower series. While I'm sure Straub did his fair share of the writing, this is still very much a Stephen King opus.
As you know, Black House is a sequel to King and Straub's previously collaboration, "The Talisman." Therein lies the source of my disappointment. Almost all of "The Talisman" took place in King and Straub's parallel universe, known as "The Territories." It's a fascinating place -- a bent and skewed version of our own world. But almost none of "Black House" takes place in The Territories. It's pretty much a supernatural detective tale, with "Talisman" boy-hero Jack Sawyer now grown-up and a crackerjack homicide cop. It was fine, as far as it went -- it just didn't go far enough for me.
It took me about four times as long to read "Black House" as it usually does to devour a King novel, chiefly because I simply wasn't compelled enough to pick it up as often. That's unusual for me.
Summing up, "Black House" is worth the read, but it doesn't represent Stephen King or Peter Straub at their best.
Rating:
Summary: Great story, done well
Review: First, for those looking for an epic quest, really wouldn't that be a little repetitive? The Talisman was amazing, but having Jack (or anyone else for that matter) do a cross country run to find it again would have been a little pointless. Instead, this book ties together a lot of things from The Talisman, the Dark Tower series, and many of King's other books. If nothing else, I understand the Dark Tower, the role of the gunslingers, and the role of the Breakers now far better than before reading the book.
The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was the first 60 pages or so...flying around from character to character and place to place was dull, and the story didn't advance for quite a long time. The rest of the story made it all worthwhile, however.
Rating:
Summary: You Have to Read This Book
Review: I had started to lose my faith in King's writing abilities of late (think Insomnia, Bag of Bones, and Hearts in Atlantis), as his books tended to be more of a snooze-fest than a page-turning white-knuckle read. That has changed with Black House, an adventure that is a sequel to the Talisman, makes reference to the Gunslinger series' characters, and is just an enjoyable read from start to finish. This is one book you'll be staying up past your bedtime to read.
Rating:
Summary: A Claustrophobic Experience
Review: Black House is a collaborative effort by the same authors that blessed readers with The Talisman. Unfortunately, the sequel effort by Stephen King and Peter Straub does not live up to the original work. One of the things that was magical about The Talisman was its sheer epic proportions. The plot was a truly epic type of quest; the characters were fascinating, especially Wolf; and the setting was transcontinental and multi-dimensional in scope. Compared with The Talisman, Black House is downright claustrophobic in nature. There aren't any real strong characters, the plot seems almost contrived at times, and the narrowness of the story's setting is largely confining. In the pages of Black House, Jack is a grown man...retired...and living in a fairly rural area. A series of brutal murders draws Jack back into mainstream life and his former law enforcement career. From that moment on, the rather helter skelter writing style evolves into a plot that is fairly predictable...a rarity for either of the contributing writers. There is some enjoyment to be had within the fictional realm of Black House, but the experience is about as satisfying as the inclusion of cheerleaders in golf.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful read!
Review: I am a long time fan of both the authors, and I was highly aticipating this book for a long time. Stephen King and Peter Straub did not let me down! It was a little slow going at first, as the story opened up. But quickly the authors had ahold of me and there was no letting go! While you don't have to read "The Talisman" first to understand and enjoy this book, I recommend that you do, as there are many references to the territories. Also, Dark Tower fans, there are references to the Dark Tower, the beams, gunslingers, and the Crimson King. One can't help but wonder if Jack Sawyer will show up in the upcoming Dark Tower books! This was a much better read then I've had in a long time....MUCH thanks to both of the authors for a job WELL DONE!
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