Rating: 
Summary: Only because I am a diehard Stephen King Fan
Review: All right, so I bought the book after September 11. And I have a hard time slugging through it. I don't get it. The tension is not there, I should be worried more about Ty, but I'm not. Since he is the future, right?
I'm one of those who liked 'The Stand' best - true fight between good and evil. And a little too close to reality at this moment.
No, Stephen King, even in combination with Peter Straub, not my thing anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: very disappointing
Review: I've read everything by Stephen King. I'm very much a fan of his novels. And as one reviewer said before, regardless of the reviews, I will read it anyway. But I must tell you that Dark House is a very big disappointment. It's story line started off great. I was excited about the tie-in with The Talisman and the Dark Towers, but as the book progressed, the story line dwindled and it lost it's appeal. Too many characters, for too thin a story line.
Rating:
Summary: very disappointing
Review: I've read everything by Stephen King. I'm very much a fan of this novels. And as one reviewer said before, regardless of the reveiws of the book, I will read it anyway. But I must tell you that Dark House is a very big disappointment. It's story line started off great. I was excited about the tie-in with The Talisman and the Dark Towers, but as the book progressed, the story line dwindled and it lost it's appeal. Too many characters, for too thin a story line.
Rating:
Summary: Paperback, please!
Review: This was a hard book to read -- and an even harder one to rate! Did I like the book? Well, yes...no...maybe?? The only way I can really rate this book is in stages. This may help the readers who are desperately scanning Amazon for a glimmer of hope that the book is worth the money they spent on it. That is what I did after attempting to start the book for the third time. A reviewer said there was light at the end of the tunnel around page 50. And I found that to be very true. The first 50 pages I wanted to attribute fully to Straub since I could not get into them at all. Being a very big King fan, I wanted all the parts I liked to be King and the ones I didn't to be Straub. I'm sure there are Straub fans who feel just the opposite. There were faint glimpses of hope as we were introduced to people instead of flying around with a 'bird's eye view' of this town on the edge of slippage. I just had to type that word slippage here because if I didn't overuse it like King/Straub did, I wouldn't feel like this review was worthy of the book! Other words were equally overused causing the reader to 'fall out' of the book. I mean, is bitchrod really that awesome a word? I loved Henry. Who wouldn't? I am sure he is as bitchrod as a person could be. And after 5 references to that, I, like everyone else, most definitely knew it. (And don't even get me started on Oppan...oh, I can't. It would just be one time too many.) It was nice being reacquainted with Jack, the Territories (briefly), and Speedy Parker. I liked the characters of Sophie, Henry, and the bikers. The middle of the book was very good. It was involving and paced fairly well. The 'talking to the reader' was distracting, but I used those points to remind myself that I had other things to do and that I needed to put the book down. It worked wonders! The Dark Tower references -- made me glad I have read the series. If you haven't, you might want to backtrack some before reading this book. I can only hope that King will drop Straub for the continuation of the Dark Tower series. In fact, let's stop this collaboration train right here. You did it once and it worked beautifully with the Talisman. But this second effort missed the mark. Much like Blaine. And now to the end. Was there a page limit? Did King/Straub reach it and decide that a quick wrap-up was needed here? And after the quick wrap-up, did I really need the author to remind me again that I was reading this book and could stop if I didn't want to read what happened next? Because I wouldn't like it? Major spoiler! Thanks King/Straub. When I want the end of a book to be spoiled next time, I will just log in to a website review. I truly didn't need that commentary. And now it is rating time. I can give a 1/2 star for the beginning, two stars for the middle, 1/2 star for the end. It is worth the read but not worth the hardback cash. Wait for the paperback. You'll be glad you did.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorely disappointed
Review: Ok, ok, ok - so SK & PS flew us across the landscape - it was new, it was different, what's to complain about? I thought it was clever and innovative. Ok, ok, ok - so it was not a sequel to The Talisman like the sequel most of us had in mind, but was more of a teaser to the Dark Tower series. Get over it! They did what they wanted to do and wrote what they wanted to write. Do I have a gripe with this book? You bet I do!! I (like all of you) love SK's books (the only Straub booked I liked was Ghost Story - he should have quit while he was ahead) and have loved them since day one. Every once in awhile he comes up with a stinker, and this one qualifies for the stinker of the century. It was embarrassing to read. With each page I turned I became increasingly sad, to be subjected to such drivel. And the stuff about Chummy's obsession with "baby butt" was totally over the line, out of bounds, game over, zip up your fly ..... So I was shocked and completely surprised when I came to the epilogue to discover that all of a sudden the tone of the narration had completely changed. It was as if the nasty writer (or writers) who had penned the previous 620-odd pages had left the room and an old friend had stepped in to finish things off. I had tears in my eyes reading the last pages, but still can't help but wonder what in the world transpired to compel someone to write the previous 600 pages of dreck.
Rating:
Summary: ICK......I couldn't even get half-way through it!!!!
Review: "Black House" was a screwball interpretation of something I have no clue about. I just could not get into the book....maybe i needed to read "The Dark Tower" series first. Lately, however, King's books have been tedious to read....I didn't even finish the part where the boy was taken...i just couldn't stay interested. I hope King goes back to his writing of days gone by......Cujo, Pet Semetary, etc......books that were worthy of his name!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Is it a screenplay, or a novel?
Review: When I got my copy of Black House, I first pulled out my copy of "The Talisman" and re-read it. It's an excellent book, and hard to put down. Then I started reading "Black House". By the time I got to page 11, I was asking myself, "Is this a Screenplay, or a Novel???". The narrative style used in this book makes me feel like I'm watching a movie. I enjoy books over movies because they give you insight into what the characters are thinking, thus drawing you in more. I told myself, "Well, maybe this is just 'setting the stage', and will change to a normal narrative soon." So I skipped ahead to page 36. More of the same. I flipped forward to page 255. STILL this odd narrative style. I went back to page 11, and read a couple more pages, but I couldn't stand it anymore. I closed the book, put it down, and I don't plan to ever open it again. I'm hoping my neighbor can stand that writing style, and will read it and tell me what happened to Jack Sawyer. Better yet, I hope Stephen King and Peter Straub repent the error of their ways in a few years, and re-write this book in the normal manner. THEN I will read it. I advise everyone to borrow a copy from the library before purchasing this book, to see if you can stand to read this style before wasting your money.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved it.
Review: I just finished Black House. I loved every minute of it. I had read the talisman years ago and liked it. I reread the talisman (I would recommend it), before I read Black House. I hope there is a sequel. It seems they left the door open for it.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost, but not quite
Review: Considering how much I loved The Talisman, I was at the bookstores the day Black House came out. Unlike The Talisman, this book is a lot harder to get into. It's a wonderful book, as long as you don't expect it to grab you the way The Talisman did. Black House isn't quite as adventerous. Much more of a pity-me book for Jack.
Rating:
Summary: Not _The Talisman_
Review: Like many of the other reviewers, I was excited to see a sequel to _The Talisman_ in the works. I loved the earlier book and looked forward to seeing where Jack Sawyer would go next. Well, I must say that only perseverance got me through this book. The opening section's writing was so tedious and overly detailed. I was glad I stuck with it but I hope if the proposed third book does actually occur, the authors will pick up the pace at the start of the book.
Apparently, those who know the Dark Tower series benefit from their knowledge when reading this title. I didn't find it a problem but I may try (again!) to read that series.
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