Rating: 
Summary: IN SERIOUS NEED OF THE HEDGE CLIPPERS
Review: The world champs of horror, Straub & King have created this water filled ham size volume of forgettable lore of a quasi sequel, which is Dickensian in its weight, but quite po' in comparison with Poe. Did these guys get paid by the word or the pound? Once again we see King's cartoon characters in action across multiple "worlds"--the righteous "black man" the happy wisecracking "blind man" the "biker" with delusions of literacy, and the nasty runny faced "Wizard of Odds". Then there's happy Jack Sawyer fighting a never ending battle for truth, justice and Tyler the wiz kid destined to work revolving shifts on an image reminiscent of something from Hellraiser II. Of course, given the immense talent of these two, there are some wonderful passages sandwhiched in between a bunch of white bread narration and too much author inserted mayonnaise. The octogenarian bad guy, Burnside/Bierstone is the only interesting character in this overcooked stew--and he's the plenipotentiary of the real bad guy from the other side of Hell. Calling Dr. Burn-Burn, we need hedge clippers in editorial STAT! Want to make better use of your time than reading this? Lovecraft, Sturgeon, Lieber-Hell- even Derleth could be just what the Doctor ordered.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much
Review: I haven't read a lot of Stephen King's books, but I have read The Talisman, so I don't know how to compare to his other books. But I thought this was much more crude and disgusting than The Talisman. Being a sequel, I thought it would be closer to the original. It wasn't.Over-all I thought the plot and story-line were good, but I could have done without a lot of the details. I also found it difficult to "get into". All the talk of floating around as an observer made it difficult to keep interested. I was about 1/2 way through the book before I was comfortable with being the "observer." The double ending was also strange. I assume Mr. King did this to keep the reader unsettled. It worked. Even now when I think about it. I wonder what the "real" ending is supposed to be.
Rating:
Summary: tough going
Review: I just started this book. I've read the first few chapters, and I'm finding it tough going. The narrator, an omnipresent we, is obtrusive and offputting. There's too much description, and too little action. The main character has yet to be introduced. I'll try reading a few more chapters, but I don't expect a Steven King/Peter Straub novel to be something you have to struggle through. The best part of reading Steven King (normally) is how he immediately and effortlessly focuses your attention and gets you engrossed in the story.
Rating:
Summary: More story, less narration, please
Review: Stephen King and Peter Straub need to get a grip on their successful selves and realize that sometimes editors can make a book much better. "The Talisman" is a heck of a story, with exciting scenes, fascinating well-drawn characters, and lots of suspense and terror. I loved the story, but I hated the smarmy, ridiculous omniscient narration. It was intrusive and added absolutely nothing to the book's excellence or pace. In fact, I wonder how many pages could have been cut if an editor had deleted all of the floating narration. Always annoying, always too clever by half, the self-conscious narration interrupted some of the best scenes. The worst effect, though, was that the narration absolutely ruined the ending by telling the readers exactly what was going to happen next. Talk about your literary capital crimes! Seems rather obvious that we'll get another sequel. I look forward to knowing Jack Sawyer again and traveling in the Territories with him, but I hope that King and Straub will let their editor do what's necessary to make the next book sparkle and flow, without all the trite editorializing. C'mon, guys, you know how to tell a great story; tell it, and let the story speak for itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Hail to the King!
Review: Master of terror Stephen King has returned. And this time, he's brought a friend along for the ride. After some lackluster offerings ("Bag of Bones," "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon," "On Writing," "Dreamcatcher") King, along with fellow "Talisman" author Peter Straub, has returned to the forum and form of storytelling where he does his best work. Make no mistake: This is not "Insomnia" caliber writing. Thank God. This is classic King, the stuff which "The Shining," "It," "The Stand," "Misery" and "The Green Mile" are made of. At long last. Ironic that it's only once he starts working with Straub again that the Stephen King renowned worldwide shows his face ... "Black House" is the sequel to Straub and King's last team-up, "The Talisman," and revisits that book's young hero Jack Sawyer 20 years later. With no recollection of his epic, almost fairy tale adventure as a 12-year-old, Jack now is a retired detective whose claim to fame is his leading a serial killer to justice almost by magical intuition. The town in which Jack resides, French Landing, faces a new threat: A serial killer known as the Fisherman, who kidnaps town children and - get this - eats them. The police chief wants Jack on the case, but he's resisting. As chilling a beginning as "Black House" has, things really get exciting once it's revealed that the killer dwells from the Territories, the other realm in which Jack saved the world so many years ago. The forces of evil (including a demonic being masquerading as an Alzheimer's patient in a retirement center and a death-bringing raven named Grog), are out in full force, and this time, Jack might not turn out to be so lucky. One of the characters who deserves stand-out attention is Henry Leyden, who is almost magical in and of himself. A blind radio-show host, Leyden has many on-air personalities, especially the ultra-popular and mysterious George Rathbun. Alternately mystical and endearing, Henry is a throwback to other classic King characters. He's a cool one, and audiences will love him. If it seems like Straub gets the short end of the credit stick here, that's not the intention of this review. Both authors are on the top of their game, so good that it's impossible to tell which author wrote what point in the book. (Even the authors find themselves unable to tell.) But this is a King novel, make no doubt about it, as we are getting ever closer to that Ultimate S.K. Novel. Straub himself suggested connecting "Black House" to the Dark Tower, a Publishers Weekly interview in the press packet information reveals: 0"It was my idea to incorporate it," Straub said. "One reason is that I wanted to know what that stuff was. I had no idea what a 'Breaker' was, what the Tower was, what the Crimson King was. 'The Talisman' is all but a Dark Tower book. When I suggested it to Steve, he said, 'I'm glad you said that, because I don't know if I can keep it out. At this point, everything I write is connected to it.'" So the Dark Tower is still a ways off in the distance, it appears. But, thanks to Straub, "Black House" gets eager readers ever closer to that world. The answers are coming, and if this latest book, available in stores Saturday, is any indication, the trip getting there is going to be one heck of a ride...
Rating:
Summary: Black House
Review: If you loved the Talisman, you'll love this book!! many reviewers said that if you hadnt read the Dark Tower series you wouldnt understand the majority of this book. I, however, have not yet gotten to the Dark Tower and i understood the entire book. I also recomend reading The Talisman before reading Black House or you may be a little lost. This is definitely a must read for any Stephen King fan!! i'm not completely sure what Peter Straub did to contribute, as it is predominately a King style book. read it! you'll love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Standalone sequel? Maybe, maybe not...
Review: I decided to pick up this book up before reading the original Talisman. I'm not sure if reading the first book would have helped me stay with this one. As it was I had a tough time getting into the mood. King & Straub waste no time jumping right to the details; the writing is not as as sharp as some of King's other works, but it is fine reading nevertheless.
Rating:
Summary: Towers and Houses
Review: First of all, I want to clear up some misconceptions about Peter Straub, as he's a <expletive deleted> good author. The reason why everyone thinks he contributed nothing to this novel is that his writing style and King's are EXTRAORDINARILY similar. His (Straub's) own personal trademark is that he does INTENSE character development, making the characters seem like people you could walk up to one day on the street and shake hands with. True, this makes his stories plod a bit (sometimes a lot), but it's essential to them. In this novel, Armand "Beezer" St. Pierre, the intellectual bikeganger, is one of those characters who've undergone "Straubization", as is the ultra-slimy Wendell Green. And there is a reference to another Straub book in here: Don Wanderly (the protagonist from "Ghost Story") is mentioned (though in passing). Secondly, I'm a huge Dark Tower fanatic, so I'm glad to see that the Crimson King, the never-seen bad guy of the series, is finally identified and that his motives are finally made clear (for those of you who've read the book, don't you sense a twist of "Lord of the Rings" in that motive?). I'm also glad that the function of the Breakers is finally explained, and that we are informed of the Roland Gang's progress through End-World. I also realy liked the character of Mr. Munshun (or Lord Malshun, or the Monday Man), the thoroughly despicable Charles "Burny" Burnside, the blind almost-philosopher Henry Leyden, and (of course) Jack Sawyer. Although the ending was a tiny bit depessing and the introduction was tedious, it was still a great read by two authors who had matured greatly since their last collaboration.
Rating:
Summary: Dark sequel to Talisman
Review: Black House is the sequel to the authors' much earlier collaboration Talisman. In the latest entry Jack Sawyer is in his early 30s and a retired policemen living in Wisconsin. However, there is a serial killer in the woods who is modeled after real life serial killer Albert Fish. Jack must be lured back from retirement to solve the crimes, which are linked to trouble in the Territories. The problems within the Territories fit within the framework of the Dark Tower series. Unlike Talisman, Black House is a must read for fans of King's Dark Tower series. Readers who devoured Talisman over the last 17 years will want to read Black House to follow the progression of "Traveling Jack". Talisman reader had every right to expect great things from Sawyer as an adult and will be initially disappointed to find that, after a meteoric rise in police work, he is retired and trying to hide in the back woods of Wisconsin. It appears that Jack has forgotten all his travels from 20 years before and needs to be jolted to remember the Territories. So the novel progresses as he reluctantly helps the local police to track down the serial killer and at the same time must recover his past memories. Both solutions are needed for much bigger reasons related to the Dark Tower. Much of the tone of Black House is playful, the authors doing a little nudge-nudge, wink-wink with the readers. It can be a bit annoying as one could get the impression that the authors aren't taking it seriously. On the other hand they could be taking the Somerset Maugham approach, here's a really good story so you sit back and enjoy it.
Whatever the intent Black House carries more of Straub's voice than Talisman did. Talisman is dominated by King's style, so much so that one struggles to find any of Straub in it. However, Straub's style is stronger in Black House. Perhaps this is due to Straub's solo success since Talisman or perhaps it's due to King's recent injury. Whatever the cause Black House seems more the work of equals than the master/apprentice relationship of Talisman. Black House is a first rate novel but not without some problems. First, the idea of Jack forgetting his travels doesn't fit with the earlier novel. Jack's father and Morgan Sloat routinely traveled between our world and the Territories. It isn't reasonable to expect Jack who was the most powerful of all the characters to forget them. Repressed memory syndrome has been discredited for several years and while it made for some good stories at the time it's just not a viable device. Second, the denouement is contrived to gild the lily of an otherwise great story. The third problem I have is that everybody in both Talisman and Black House who claims to be a practicing Christian is a fake or phony and/or evil. Considering that some 60% of Americans attend church services regularly, the authors are slamming a large portion of their potential readership. King has obviously done a flip since the heroes of Desperation said the Lord's Prayer before heading off to fight the forces of evil. Fourth, the Tyler Marshall character assumes greater importance as the novel goes on and has powers in the same way that Jack had in Talisman. However, this is the same kid who at the start of the novel is hanging around with bullies and dolts. Why would the remarkable son of a remarkable mother hang around with the losers that he is at the start of the novel? Fifth, the novel is too long with a lot of filler passages intended to create atmosphere or round out characters who really aren't important. Stick to the basics guys. The above complaints are relatively minor as the novel is quite good overall. Some of the characters are excellent especially Henry Leyden, Jack's blind friend. The Fisherman is a monster modeled after real life killer Albert Fish. He is without a redeeming characteristic- truly sick. The atmosphere is well described and there are some passages one would not want to read while alone in the house. There are also some good insights into human nature. One passage that was particularly touching was a reflection on all the things we should say to the people who are close to us while we are alive; things we often don't say and wish we had after they are gone. That passage might be the pearl of great value in Black House. All in all it's a must read for those of us waiting for the next installment of the Dark Tower series. For King's legion of horror fans, there's plenty of horror to go round. Straub's fans will enjoy the atmosphere. It's a worthy entry into the canon of both authors.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment after a long wait
Review: The Talisman was one of my favorite books. It had the right mixture of fantasy combined with light horror. I found myself reading it 4 or 5 times. When I heard the sequel was coming out, I was very excited. I put myself on the waiting list for the hard-back and eagerly awaited its delivery. What a disappointment! A story that didn't pick up till well half-way through, very little mention of "the Territories" (which I'm sure all of us were hoping for), disgusting pervert killing kids in the worst possible way, bringing it back to tie in with the "Gunslinger" series...I'm sorry, but I really felt greatly let-down by this book.
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