Rating: 
Summary: Even the movie wasn't bad.......
Review: (that should be 4.5 stars, by the way) I must say, I'm one of these people who will praise King and his works until the end. Everything is GOOD. Nothing is BAD. All works are created equal. But this book broke formation and stood out from the rest. Instead of projecting a film into my head (as he always does.....come on, admit it!), King managed to project an ACTION film into my biased skull. The climax simply blows you away. But it is not just the explosive ending that earns this book the title of STANDOUT.The characters are engaging (cliche, cliche) and wonderfully developed, and you feel even 'closer' to them than you are normally brought to feel with King books. Mr. Gaunt is quite the appealing Lucifer ("...Fe***tio gives me a headache."). The paced storyline is built up beautifully, making it extraordinarily hard to put the bloody thing down; and when it is all over, you feel quite low in that you are longing for more. For those of you who read King plainly for the sex and violence/horror, you will not be disappointed. As I said, the book is an action film, and all action films are quite abundant in violence and gore. Enough said. And the relationship between Polly and Sheriff Pangborn (and to a lesser extent, between Myra, Cora and Elvis)should be enough to satisfy any hetrosexuals out there. So, all in all, a highly enjoyable read that, while perhaps not awarded 'classical' status by critics, is certainly a personal favourite for me. And, for a change, the movie complemented the book (relatively) well. Please, give it a shot.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic read until the end. 4 1/2 stars...
Review: Stephen King's "Needful Things" takes place in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. A new store has opened up that is run by a man named Leland Gaunt. He specializes in carrying everything and anything that you could ever want. The only problem, is that each person's "needful thing" comes at one HELL of a price, that could end costing the person their soul. Stephen King is not my favorite author, but I have read enough of his books to know that some are better than others. To this day, I still feel that Needful Things is one of his best books. The idea behind the story is what really makes this book fun to read. The idea that the Devil himself could come to a town and tempt the town members with their deepest desires is very appealing. The best thing, is that the characters do it all to themselves, because everything is based on free will. All the Devil does is show the characters the way, and convince them to pull a "harmless little prank" on members of the town. The story is extremely well written and moves at a very fast pace. I usually read a 400 -500 page book in 2 -3 days. That is how long it took me to read Needful Things. The 731 pages just seem to fly by, because King manages to create a story that involves you in the lives of each of the characters. As much as I would love to give this book 5 stars, I cannot because of the ending. You are left on the edge of your seat waiting for the end of the book to come, only to be left hanging by an ending that leaves things up in the air. This is the type of story that deserves a clear, cut ending. I will say this however. King's character development is at its all time best in this book. The reason being obviously because he created a whole town. Every character introduced is enjoyable. The main players are the Devil Leland Gaunt who is King's best villan ever, Sheriff Alan Pangborn who is the hero of the story, Alan's girlfriend Polly Chalmers who suffers from arthritis, Nettie Cobb and Wilma Jerzyck who spend thier time bickering and fighting, and Danforth "Buster" Keaton who is the other main villan. Needful Things is filled with comedy, romance, suspense, and overall terror. The story is well written and appealing, the characters are all great, and by the end of the story you feel like you have gotten to know a lot of them. With only one major flaw, the book is an overall treat to read.
Rating: 
Summary: "Everything is for sale, for a price of course"
Review: Stephen King once said about this book, "Everything's for sale, but the only price is your immortal soul. I thought Needful Things was hilarious!!" Sadistic, eh? But I have to agree with Mr. King, because I just loved the town's (Castle Rock) slow descent to madness, and its inevitable destruction. Even though not a drop of blood is spilled till almost page 300, you are hooked from the beginning of the book, where you meet Leland Gaunt, the Proprieter of Needful Things (a store with all your heart's desires, at only the price of your soul and to play a "little" trick on one of your fellow townsmen) till the chaotic destruction of Castle Rock, one of Stephen King's most memorable locales, home to the stories "Cujo","The Dark Half" and the excellent short story "The Body". This book is also superbly written with King's haunting metaphors and spine-tingling characters that scratch at your back, but strangely the last 50 pages or so seem to be not as well written in some of the action sentences, but that dosen't mean the ending isn't good. Also, I think King did a good job of keeping the plethora of characters in order, as SK managed to tell ALL.. the characters' stories without the plot falling apart, and I applaud him for that. Congratulations Mr.King, you have crafted an excellent story that stays with the reader after he finished it, and once again you have entertained me. Also the end was strikingly funny and sadistic to me (The VERY END) and topped off what was to me, a very Needful Thing in my Stephen King collection
Rating:
Summary: Hypnotic Joyride
Review: In tradition of 'Salem's Lot, Stephen King writes Needful Things through the view of many characters, not just one main character, and keeps the reader guessing throughout the entire novel what will happen to which character. It works so well in Needful Things that I found myself reading madly and gaping my mouth many times. Truly a gruesome and horrifying experience, in Needful Things, King creates great characters, Alan Pangborn, Norris Ridgewick, Polly Chalmers, Nettie Cobb, Hugh Priest, Ace Merrill, John LaPointe, and maybe the best villian he has ever created in Leland Gaunt. The way he makes Gaunt so low key and friendly, and evil at the same time is wonderful. He also ties in all his other novels which have taken place in Castle Rock such as Cujo, The Dead Zone, and the novella The Body, very well. Sure, you'll be flipping back to see what character did what to whom when the novel takes its turning points, but that's the fun of it. How King can write so many things in 700 pages and keep the reader hooked and interested. And of course, the ending in which evil does not fully lose. God I love that! Needful Things, one of Stephen King's most entertaining books. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: One Man's Needful Thing Equals Another Man's Trash
Review: After starting this book I began to realize that I was perhaps reading one of Mr. King's better books. The writing was crisp and punchy and the characters were believably drawn out, not to mention quite funny. Soon, I saw the story working on three levels: 1) that, yes, we all have "needful things" (one's man trash is quite simply another man's treasure) and that 2) we would do anything to hang on to our "needful things", be them religion, memories of childhood, relationships or even a ball card ("you can have yours, just get away from mine") and that 3) perhaps it is "needful" in and of itself to want to wreck havoc, murder and chaos upon the world in which we live. You see, the characters in this book jump in to the fray, so to speak, quite willingly. Perhaps Mr. King is telling us, in his inimitable, cynical fashion, that we "need" to be bullies, conquerors, destroyers in this world and just might actually enjoy it.
Pretty heavy stuff and I enjoyed "Needful Things" (in concept and book) thoroughly until the cop-out ending. Too much mysticism for my taste. This book was pretty brutal, unkind and devilish and the ending was quite rushed and convenient, which is surprising for King, who is as long-winded an author as I've ever read. Still, a fun and thought provoking book.
Rating:
Summary: Hasn't lost a thing!
Review: P>I first reviewed this book several years ago. It was one of the first books by Mr. King that I had read. I loved it. Now that I've had the chance to read much more of his work, what do I think of it now? It's still great. This is one of his best cast of characters assembled here. Alan Pangborn, Norris Ridgewick, Henry Payton, Ace Merrill...everyone is very real-seeming and three-dimensional. But as is often the case in good fiction, the villain steals the show. Leland Gaunt will entrance the reader as much as he did the people of Castle Rock, while simultaneously making you loathe him utterly. This is interesting, because most of King's villains are able to evoke *some* sympathy for the reader; Randall Flagg, IT, and Tak are just a few examples. So what's the difference? Why are those three--among others--capable of being rooted for while Leland Gaunt receives only boos? Randall Flagg, IT, and Tak only want to kill you, and they have semi-indentifiable motives. Gaunt, however, simply wants to be entertained by the carnage and chaos. He'll steal your soul and sow havoc in the same way that you or I would turn on the TV. He'll manipulate whole towns simply for his amusement. Thus it is that King does an excellent job of portraying him as a demon who deserves nothing more than absolute destruction. Overall--still great!
Rating:
Summary: Holy Cow! I can't believe this movie didn't do so well!
Review: So, as usual, Stephen King weaves a tale of human nature. What would you do to get anything you wanted, and what price are you willing to pay to keep it. I absolutely loved this book. I must have read it five or six times. Stephen King creates a masterpiece that combines every element of writing in this book. The characters are believable and the story is also believable. I love the way he uses smaller chapters in his books to give it a sense of anticipation. I don't want to ruin the book for you but i'll tell you a little bit. A small town gets a new shopkeeper who is a little out of the ordinary. He sells items that everyone wants, the little boy is able to procure a baseball item that is more than just a card, it talks. Eveyone gets a special item, but is required to do something in return for it. mayhem ensues. I'm not going to tell you anymore, but i will say this, the movie of this story was excellent and I'm suprised it didn't do as well as it should have. All in all and excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: all good things must come to an end(has some spoilers)
Review: All good things have to come to an end and this one ended with a bang. That was expected. I thought I would miss being able to go back to Castle Rock, which turned me against the book in the beginning, But I was not left hanging and I was not dissapointed. The book is about the little town of Castle Rock, its a quiet town with normal people then a new store comes to town the store is called needful things. Nobody knows what it means but as its first customer finds out this store has something for everybody. and the price seems resonable, Just a harmless prank but the owner of the store Leland Gaunt has less than harmless intentions and it will take the sherrif Alan Pangborn his girlfriend Polly Chambers and Norris Ridgework to put an end to all the mayhem that ensews
Rating:
Summary: Satan opens shop in a small town
Review: In this strange and original story of "Greek tragedy" proportions, the Devil in mortal guise as a respectable gentleman named Mr. Gaunt opens up a store in a small town in Maine, but although he's very open to give a good bargain, what he sells has too high a price! The negative influence he wields on certain people in the community turns deadly, culminating in a climax where the whole town runs amok in anarchy as it seems like he has turned everyone against each other. Good characterizations, as many well-developed characters are introduced into the story, and great plot too. Much more than just your average "horror novel." (...)
Rating:
Summary: "Everything is for sale, for a price of course"
Review: Stephen King once said about this book, "Everything's for sale, but the only price is your immortal soul. I thought Needful Things was hilarious!!" Sadistic, eh? But I have to agree with Mr. King, because I just loved the town's (Castle Rock) slow descent to madness, and its inevitable destruction. Even though not a drop of blood is spilled till almost page 300, you are hooked from the beginning of the book, where you meet Leland Gaunt, the Proprieter of Needful Things (a store with all your heart's desires, at only the price of your soul and to play a "little" trick on one of your fellow townsmen) till the chaotic destruction of Castle Rock, one of Stephen King's most memorable locales, home to the stories "Cujo","The Dark Half" and the excellent short story "The Body". This book is also superbly written with King's haunting metaphors and spine-tingling characters that scratch at your back, but strangely the last 50 pages or so seem to be not as well written in some of the action sentences, but that dosen't mean the ending isn't good. Also, I think King did a good job of keeping the plethora of characters in order, as SK managed to tell ALL.. the characters' stories without the plot falling apart, and I applaud him for that. Congratulations Mr.King, you have crafted an excellent story that stays with the reader after he finished it, and once again you have entertained me. Also the end was strikingly funny and sadistic to me (The VERY END) and topped off what was to me, a very Needful Thing in my Stephen King collection
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