Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous Beyond Belief
Review: I can't really add to any of the other positive reviews that are on this website, but I can say that they are all very true. This is King's best book (maybe other then Bag of Bones) since 1993's Dolores Claiborne, or 94's Insomnia. This book is glorious. It's is exciting right from the very beginning, with the cat nailed on the sign. It's also very smart, very interesting, and...I dunno, just quite great. It's a quick read, one that I read in ten days in a time when I wasn't nearly as fast of a reader as I am now. The tale is great, it's a very well-written epic and the evil is so original that it could nearly blow the mind off me. Okay, I know that this is a bad review, I've been half watching Everyone Loves Raymond (whatever it's called) while writing this, but I think I've gotten my point across. This is a great book. I'm sure if you give it a chance, you'd love it!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent on several levels
Review: Desperation isn't your run of the mill horror novel, I'll give you that much. To be sure, it has an engaging plot, interesting (if confusing--I suggest putting something between this book and The Regulators if you're not good with names) characters, and good atmosphere, but the element that I was most impressed with was Stephen King's mastery of theological discussion. God has showed up time and again in King's writing, and generally it's an element with which some subset of his readership is not satisfied with. In The Stand, people complained when God saved the day because they thought that it was traitorship to the story, for example. Indeed--the very idea of melding notions of Christian faith with such a decidedly fatalistic genre would seem to be a little half-cocked. Fortunately, King seems to understand some things that less educated reviewers have missed. Even within the Christian community there are a lot of different stances on what God is and how He interacts with the world. King, however, understood that the specific problem that existed between his writing and the notion of God lay within the problem of evil, and for people interested in that tired old theological debate, this book provides another level of interest. In a sense, Desperation is very much like a modern retelling of Job, incorporating old ideas with contemporary culture, and even (in one of its weaker creative moments) setting out the formula for the relationship between man and the God of Job. That said, if you're strictly allied with your religious views or consider them to be an intrinsic element of your life, you may not be comfortable with this book. Ardent atheists will likely be threatened by King's fair address of one of their central criticisms (the argument from evil), while contemporary Christians may be uncomfortable with his construction of God. While this book has all the familiar and attractive King elements, it is also a book about God, and that's something to keep in mind if you have a vested interest in the issue. Overall, I'd say that this is probably a good read for most anybody who'd willingly pick up a Stephen King novel. It is a bit more graphic than some of his more recent fare (probably his worst yet in that regard), but overall he provides an interesting story, engaging characters, and an interesting take on an old discussion.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much religious symbolism
Review: I was utterly disappointed when I read what was then Stephen King's latest novel, "Desperation." The first fourth or so of the book was quite good, with the introduction of the maniac cop. This is the reason why I give this book two stars - had it not been for that part of the book it would have recieved none. So what happens next? King decides that taking his readers into the ancient struggle between good and evil is a good idea, and it would be if it were not for the overly obvious "symbolism" the book offers. Not only does this book give me the impression that King has re-discovered his methodist upbringing (I believe it was) - or even become a born-again Christian. I also found it hard to feel anything for the main characters, which is otherwise a trademark of King's novels. Perhaps it's just my rock-solid belief in atheism, but King's struggle to mention God as much as possible really made this book a disappointment. The little kid with a direct line to God is even called "David." Please. Read another book by King - I suggest "It" or " The Shining." "Desperation" - not approved.
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic, but Still Beguiling
Review: Steven King writes novels pretty much the way McDonald's sells hamburgers, churning them out on a never-ending assembly-line. True, they're not nourishing or particularly tasteful, but every once in a while they're just something for which one has an occasional hankering. But there is also another bonus involved in both processes. One knows exactly what one is going to get. In the case of McDonald's, we're going to get an overcooked piece of identifiable beef that is not going to send us to the emergency ward. With King, we can predict that we will not be sorely disappointed, but neither will we be looking to the thesaurus, searching for superlatives to describe our reading experience.
This is particularly true of <Desperation.> It delivers on all the fronts that we have come to expect from Stephen King in the last decade. It has a plot only marginally predictable, with some truly ingenious twists, a cast of characters that have been formed out of a cookie-cutter, and enough blood and gore to get us 600+ pages past the meandering flashbacks that clutter the otherwise inventive narrative. What has become most predictable and formulaic in recent King novels, primarily the smarmy repartee, the inability to resist bringing in brand name endorsements (Jolt Cola, Ryder Trucks, and Barney's NY fashions, to name a few), gets in the way of an otherwise very good horror story. At this stage, we really could do without the 40's movies banter, which was highly appropriate when the characters were played by Bogart and Bacall or Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, but ring tinnily here. Even an 11-year-old always has a smashing retort whenever he is addressed by one of the other characters. Which brings us to the central character himself, David, a thinly disguised Christ-figure, who suffers the ultimate sacrifice, but must somehow muster the faith and the strength to do battle with the Tak-evil force that surfaces from the China Pit in this Nevada podunk town. We've gone through this before in <It> and <The Talisman>, the young protagonist who is wise way beyond his years, who must undergo the ultimate suffering before emerging as a savior. And yes, if there are complaints to be made about King repetition, this surely has reverberations regarding <The Stand>. It takes place in Nevada and deals with a band of good-guys standing up to an unspeakable evil.
Chalk it up to 4/5ths inspiration, 1/5th repetition. This is, despite its flaws, an immensely readable novel, with enough actually compelling philosophy (a-la The Book of Job) and even asks the same questions that caused Ivan in <The Brothers Karamazov> to deny a God who could condone human cruelty. This reader, at least, was beguiled into believing I was reading something meaningful as well as entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A page turner
Review: From the very first chapter I found this book gripping. It is one of those books that is very hard to put down, and as a result my work suffered. But I shall not complain about that as it was one of the most entertaining reads that I have ever had. I am just about to start on the companion novel, "The Regulators" and I hope it's just as frightening and entertaining. I have read a few of King's novels, and this surely ranks up there with the best, although "The Stand" still tops my list. But for someone who enjoys that type of story, 'good against evil', 'God against Satan', then this book is for you. The characters may not be quite as developed as they could be, but that's just a small thing. The fact is, is that this book does what it intends. It keeps you turning pages and scares you silly. Terrific read!
Rating:
Summary: Hit a nerve
Review: While currently working on my own a true novel where evil characters wear cops uniforms, this story really hit some nerves. I wish we could find a "Tak" in the real world, but usually only fiction allows us to clearly define the face of evil and give it a name. This may not be the very best of King, but if you love this sort of stuff as I do, it's just a variation of "great" in entertainment works. There were a few somewhat cliché aspects, but I would prefer to label them as common horror story frames of reference. I also drifted off a bit in some parts, but it was worth hanging in. I had a feeling in this one, that King wanted to reach for a bit more than just horror and shock as a writer, though this is what I was reading this book for, and this was nonetheless ultimately delivered. I found many of the descriptive visualizations were motion picture like stuff. I think a story easily converted to film here, if not already in the works. rrjackson
Rating: 
Summary: Alittle quarky
Review: This book, though interesting, was not a real hit with me - I'm used to Stephen King books with a little more pazazz, and then this idol being a sadistic aphrodisiac? it just wasn't working with me. Usually, Stephen King novels add more of a punch and...I can't exactly put my finger on it, but something was missing that needed to be in this novel. It may have kept me on the edge of my seat, but I wasn't about to fall off.
Rating:
Summary: *A Read I'll Never Forget*
Review: I'm only fifteen years old, and this is only the second Stephen King novel I've ever read (the first being "Bag of Bones"), but, in my humble opinion, I don't see how it could get much better than this. This book pulled me in, made me feel like a part of the story, and like I knew the characters as if they were my closest friends. Everyone says that Stephen King's earlier work is better than this, but I don't see how it could get better. However, if it is, I can't wait to get my hands on the early stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Desperation
Review: This book was the first novel I have read by Stephen King. I loved it. It had just the right horror effect.It keeps you on the edge of your seat and you can't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Still the Master of Straight Ahead Horror and Suspense
Review: Desperation marks a return of Stephen King to horror strictly for horror's sake with his usual touchs of the metaphysical and higher themes placed throughout but never getting in the way of the suspense which is driving the novel. For such a long book taking place in a single weekend, the plotting is wonderfully tight and efficient and designed for major thrills. The action begins immediately and never lets up. All of his favourite character types are there and he shows great pleasure in mixing them up (and also beating them up). King's horrors are the most fun with many different personalities showing the story from different vantage points. The classic and still the best King, 'Salem's Lot, is the best example of this and Desperation is a notable addition. Sadly, the Richard Bachman book, The Regulators, issued as a odd companion piece to Desperation is quite weak. For an exciting page turner, Desperation can not be be beaten.
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