Rating: 
Summary: King's best characters yet
Review: I used to have the luxury of reading Stephen King's books in order, as they were released. He got faster, I got slower, who knows--stuff happens. This is all in explanation of why I just read Desperation. As usual for me, I liked the story, but loved the characters. I guess I'm not truly a horror fan. I read King for the realistic people and how they react in his "what would happen if..." situations. Typical of King's sharp timing, Desperation had excellent tension and suspense. It also had my all-time favorite King character--Johnny Marinville. This has-been author (Marinville, not King) with not much more than his sense of humor intact, takes us on the ultimate redemption trip. I don't mind that these stories usually wind up as a classic tale of good vs. evil, I just don't want the ending too simple or predictable. Desperation kept me guessing until the last 50 pages or so. It made me wish Johnny Marinville's travels could continue on--into other books.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST!!!
Review: I have been an avid Stephen King reader for many years. I started with "The Stand" which I thought was great. However, of the 30 or so books of his I've read, "Desperation" takes the cake! I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. It is typical King with stories of multiple characters and the back and forth thru time scenario. But it is the most INTENSE book of his that I've read. You find yourself losing track of time and wanting to stay awake until you finish the book. It is definitely "on the edge of your seat" reading. I recommend anyone, Stephen King fan or not, to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I will never buy a Stephen King novel again
Review: I enjoyed "IT" very much, but I feel disrespected when a writer turns on the "book writing machine". The book is not even worth ist weight in paper.
Rating:
Summary: Read it twice and gonna read it again pretty soon.
Review: Once I finished 'Desperation', I looked back upon the story in its entirety and realized I had just gone through King's best novel dealing in supernatural. Only plain old supernatural is not really the word for it; it's more like the way King himself put it: 'Desperation' is about God. About the things people will do (or not do) for the love of Him, and the sacrifices to be made at His will. Does that sound pretentious? Believe me, it's not. Just read the book and I'm quite sure you'll like it at least in that regard. And the God-issue is just the bonus. 'Desperation' scores big among King's other thrillers thanks to its scary plot and relentless action. It's decidedly my favorite King book (and I've read more than two dozen of his novels), right alongside 'Bag of Bones' and 'The Green Mile'.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good...
Review: I must say that I really enjoyed this novel. It was a fast-paced, easy read with an interesting storyline. Only Stephen King can make a 12 hour period last for almost 600 pages. That may not leave much room for character developement, but he does give some interesting background on the characters that kind of gives you insight into what they're like. The end of the books gets really freaky when the truth of one character is revealed and the fate of all the rest is sealed. Desperation is an entertaining, scary book that will make you want to keep reading until the very end, just to see what will happen to the characters. Because really, the characters are very likable and I don't know about you, but I started to really care about what happened to them. After you read this, I suppose you should read The Regulators, too. I haven't gotten around to that one yet, but I heard it really messes up your head!
Rating:
Summary: King at his best
Review: I really enjoyed this book. To begin with all the characters are interesting and are introduced in an endearing manor. King demonstrates that he truely has a gift for dramatic writing and the book is a real pageturner. Without giving too much away King does a good job of putting the characters in the middle of a battle between to forces. The characters of "God" and the "Tak" are mysterious and mystical and add a deph to the book not found in some of King's other works. What this book really does well however is makes the reader feel as though he(with the characters) has been thrust into pure Hell. The reader really wants the characters to escape the town of Desperation but at the same time wants the book to continue.
Rating:
Summary: One notch better than The Regulators, still a tad short
Review: I read more than 75 novels each year and have read most of King's stuff. Obviously, with so much output from one writer, there are bound to be hits and misses. This one was a near miss, in my opinion but that means it still succeeds and is definitely worth the read. I had not yet read The Regulators, the companion volume, when I picked this one up so I wasn't sure what to expect. I came away with the feeling that I had experienced a pretty good King novel. It is far from his best but I enjoyed it none-the-less. Stephen King is well known for marketing gimicry, pushing the envelope in the publishing business. At first it was through using brand names without permission. Then it was the alternate ego, Richard Bachman, followed by the serial novel (Green Mile) and now it is a "dual novel." Frankly, I don't think it worked this time. Having since read The Regulators, I just couldn't get the parallel between the two books/settings. Same names but different people and places. What was the point? Really, they are two seperate books. In this one, I enjoyed the patented realism that King always displays, setting the scene for the coming horror. The people that get stranded in the town of Desperation, Nevada, all become very real, as we read of their personal situations. Nobody does that better than King. And the resulting horrific consequences that follow make this one difficult to put down. We are kept on the edge of our seats the whole time. The only reason I didn't give this one 5 stars is because of the nature of the evil itself. 'Tak' remains somewhat of an undefined evil and we are never satisfied as to what it was/is. It's just sort of...there. Don't get me wrong, the manifestations of it are cool (and bloody) but it just felt incomplete. Still, an overall solid King entry. Just don't expect as much from its companion book.
Rating: 
Summary: Richly readable but ultimately unsatisfying
Review: Even the worst of Stephen King's novels are engrossing reads. That's probably the best description of this one. King wastes little time setting up the action or providing any depth to his characters. (In fact most of the characters in this novel are "types" recycled from his earlier work. There's the "cynical artist struggling for redemption"--see THE STAND or MISERY. There's the "ordinary boy with the special gift"--see, well, any number of King's books. You get the idea.) I think his true genius is that his books are gripping in spite of these shortcomings. Still, this one really feels hollow after it's done. King has an interesting idea. Maybe the worst "monster" or all is really God. It's not a new idea for him--there's a line in THE STAND where one of the characters talks about God always requiring a sacrifice. "His hands are bloody with it." And the idea of the Old Testament God as a monster has real possibilites. But it's an idea that's raised here rather than really explored. And what's worse, King ACTS like he's explored it--acts like he's really said something. So you wind up at the end of the book feeling, "Huh--did I miss something?" As is the case with so much of King's writing, the ending is a disappointment. It's rather like King gets these wonderful ideas for fiction, and he spends all his time and energy getting into these ideas and working them out. But they don't actually go anywhere. Still other questions remain unanswered in the novel. Who is "Tak" (the demon/monster that God wants destroyed)? How did he wind up in Desperation? The whole thing is richly readable but ultimately unsatisfying. Oh--one more thing. There's this odd overlap with the characters from THE REGULATORS. DESPERATION has some of the same characters--except they're not the same. In DESPERATION,the cop who terrorizes desperation has the same name as the cop who tries to fight the evil in THE REGULATORS. And the Carver family is in both novels--except that the names of the kids in one book are the names of the parents in another. And the monster, Tak, appears in both novels, except that its powers are slightly different in each. I'm not sure what the point of all this is. King is working out two slightly different versions of the same fantasy? Like much else in the novel, this is a tantalizing idea, but not much is made of it. (I'd be interested to read about what other readers think about this.)
Rating:
Summary: Comical, un-King, and overall desperatingly mind numbing...
Review: This book was rather comical at parts...Whenever someone would yell "Tak!" it was rather funny...but it got old too soon. This book was not horror however, for it didn't incite even the most minute amount of fear into you, unless you happen to be a ten year old. I could not even finish this book, as it was not aimed at mature level readers. King intwined a tres numb Judeo-Christian value into the novel which absolutely degraded the level of the book. This book was not King's forte and should best be left alone.
Rating:
Summary: "The Regulators" was great--"Desperation" is even better!
Review: When I picked up this book, I saw that it shared many characters and plot ideas with Richard Bachman's "The Regulators". I was curious, and bought it. GREAT CHOICE! If you've ever wanted a good strange, suspenseful novel, get this book! The characters capture your interest the way you want in a good story. The tale is carefully woven, and plot twists abound. Many books have a shocker at the end; this has them every chapter, which you might expect from King. This would be a great book for most people. I have a few suggestions though. If you are extremely uncomfortable with violence and/or profanity, you may want something else. The violence IS the story; without it, there's little. However, the profanity is gratuitous. But what can I say, it's 2000 and that's alright these days. And they don't take away too much, so it's a good read nonetheless. One thing I also want to say: Many reviewers of "Regulators" were disappointed...they said it wasn't as good as "Desperation". So I suggest you do as I did; buy both, but read "Regulators" first! It's also excellent, and it gets your interest very high; then you read "Desperation" and things get even better! One warning: if you get so engrossed in the book you can't put it down (not too impossible), seek help. It'll be there when you get back. I hope you enjoy these books. I know I did.
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