Rating: 
Summary: A little review by a serious fan
Review: I have been a fan of King for years, and it is simply a given that when one of his novels come out I am in the bookstore that very day, plunking down whatever the asking price for a hardcover copy. There are many horror novel fans (believe it or not) who will tell you that Stephen King is a pulp author whose talents are based solely on the ability to toss off a 900 page book with an interesting sounding plotline every fall or so, but we true fans know that King's writing is much more than that, that he is a master storyteller capable of entertaining, shocking, and frightening at the same time. Needful Things is a prime example of King at his twisted best. The story centers on King's now mythical town of Castle Rock (undoubtedly an unlucky place; it is the site of Cujo and The Body to name a few of King's other works). A small rural town such as Castle Rock cannot help but take interest when a mysterious stranger breezes in and sets up shop (particularly a shop with a name as enticing as 'Needful Things'). The proprietor, one Leland Gaunt, can offer the residents of Needful Things whatever they want... for a price. Literally, the hopes and dreams of every person in town is somewhere on Gaunt's shelves, and as it turns out, most of them are willing to do anything to buy them. Of course, Gaunt doesn't simply take money; he requires a favor of his clients, in the form of a small service (usually a seemingly harmless prank or act of vandalism inflicted on another citizen). The people of Castle Rock are only too happy to comply, and that is where King really begins to spin the yarn. You see, Gaunt is very intelligent and very wicked. He uses the weaknesses and prejudices of the residents of Castle Rock against them, and soon his seemingly random series of pranks begin to connect, and suddenly the good folks of Castle Rock are set against one another, paranoid, vindictive, vengeful people who will do anything to protect their 'needful things'. Eventually, the killing begins. King turns his characters into killers and monsters in a frighteningly believable way, and ties the characters together in ways that will make you sit back and marvel at his storytelling. Obliviously assisting Gaunt is Ace Merril (yes, the same character from The Body, played by Kiefer Sutherland in the film Stand by Me) A criminal all his life, Ace harbors a hatred for Castle Rock that Gaunt cultivates and nurtures. The only thing that stands between Castle Rock and damnation is our hero, sheriff Alan Pangborn, who distrusts Gaunt and attempts to unravel his evil scheme (those of you who read King's The Dark Half will recognize Pangborn; he is one of its central characters as well). I must say after all this that I was less than impressed with the dramatic, climactic ending, which I found to be more than a tad cheesy and unfulfilling. However, the story leading up to the less than agreeable ending is well worth the mild disappointment. I would recommend Needful Things as a very enjoyable and exciting read, right up there with King's best works (the very best of which is the magnificent Eyes of the Dragon, which I will review some time in the future). If you are a King fan, Needful Things is a must, and if not, then I suggest it as an entertaing alternative to whatever your area of interest might be
Rating: 
Summary: The best I've read
Review: I just want to advise readers about this excellent writing masterpiec
Rating:
Summary: The greatest book I've read!
Review: Needful Things, I would argue, is King's best work. I have read most of his work, and I find this one most intriguing. The way he blends characters with events and
time is incredible. He has a wonderful sense of revenge and
mystery, but at the same time love and peacefulness, in Needful Things. I give it two and a half thumbs up. Great
page turner. Once he gets into your head, he has you. That's
what makes him a great author.
Rating:
Summary: "Everyone loves something for nothing...
Review: even if it costs them everything." Once again, Stephen King uses his well-developed, biting prose and sharp, twisted imagination to paint a moving portrait of small-town calm that becomes slowly infested with a gradually growing evil. This is NEEDFUL THINGS which, as mentioned at the very end, took Stephen King over two years to write, finishing it in 1991. It is one of his longer books, at 736 pages (in the paperback edition I own), but it held my interest throughout, actually increasing it the more I read! NEEDFUL THINGS is subtitled "The Last Castle Rock Story," and what a grand finale it is! Castle Rock is, of course, the fictional Maine town in which Stephen King has set some of his most memorable works. It also lent its name to his production company, which has churned out many modern film classics. Being the single place name that is most famously associated with King, it is a surprise to me (and, I suspect, to many others) that a total of only five of his many novels are set in Castle Rock: THE DEAD ZONE (1979), CUJO (1982), THE TOMMYKNOCKERS (1987), THE DARK HALF (1989) and NEEDFUL THINGS (1991). However, as King ominously reminds us at the beginning of the latter, "You've been here before." We sure have, and it is an absolute joy to revisit this most deceptively interesting of small towns that King has created for us. Sheriff Alan Pangborn, the lone holdover from the previous Castle Rock story THE DARK HALF, has lost his wife and only child to a tragically sudden car accident that occurred between that story and this one. It shocked him into a depressing reality, one that is helped somewhat by a kindred spirit in Polly Chalmers, who runs a sewing store and who has an enigmatic past of her own that she has never fully revealed. of course, she *will* let Alan in on the missing details...in time. However, they and others in the town take their minds temporarily off their own problems to investigate that new store Needful Things, which looks about ready to open. When it does, the fun really begins... The sinister storeowner, Leland Gaunt, is one of the best King villains; you know he is not the gentlemanly old fellow he seems to be at first when he entertains the impressionably young Brian Rusk, but you aren't quite sure (for most of the time) as to who (or what) he actually is. Of course, you begin to guess this early on, but King wisely chooses to reveal Gaunt's true identity very slowly, in scattershot throughout the book. Some reviewers on here have mentioned that for how long the story is, the ending presents a bit of a letdown. I'll admit that it wasn't quite what I expected, and it did disappoint me a little; however, I also realized that a story dealing with the supernatural and occult probably *shouldn't* be too-neatly-wrapped-up at the end. All in all, NEEDFUL THINGS develops at least a dozen characters very well, from those with whom I deeply sympathized (Sheriff Pangborn, Polly Chalmers, eleven-year-old---and first customer---Brian Rusk, his younger brother Sean, Nettie Cobb and Myrtle Keeton) and others I absolutely detested (Wilma Jerzyck, Danforth "Buster" Keeton and Reverend William "Steamboat Willie" Rose; I just love SK's knack for picking great nicknames!). This is a story that is tremendously absorbing, effectively disturbing and worth every bit the time it takes to really get into it. NEEDFUL THINGS is one of the best Stephen King books I have read at this point; mind you, I have read only a handful of others so far. Now I really want to read the rest of his incredible collection of gloriously twisted, imaginative works! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED; AGES 17 & UP
Rating:
Summary: Devil in the Flesh
Review: The dull town of Castle Rock, Maine has its ordinary routines. Everyone knows each other's business and they enjoy the peace and quiet, especially after travelers who have a summer cottage leave for the fall. However, there is a new traveler in town and he's doing more than just visiting. With several items in the store window, Leland Gaunt opens 'Needful Things' which sells odds and ends that are 'one man's trash, another man's treasure.' The prices seem reasonable enough, however much is in your pocket and a promise to do a favor; to play a little prank on someone. Seems harmless... until you piss off the wrong person and things start to get out of hand. Leland Gaunt starts selling even more 'needful things' and people who want them are willing to pay any price, even if that means their souls.
Rating:
Summary: Everybody has a price.
Review: A simple clever idea neatly executed.
If the devil came to your town or city to destroy your community, how would he go about it? This book provides a convincing and entertaining answer to that question. Mr Gaunt is new in town, new yes but he knows the residents only too well, he knows more about them than they know, he understands their pressure points and the price of each of their souls.
The cleverness of this book is that it is so believable, the genius of Gaunts game lies in the differences between human beings, when he sets out to make one person destroy another he plans his moves exquisitely, breaking Wilma's windows seems relatively mild to the boy he selects for the job, yet to Wilma, it is calculated by Gaunt to make her homicidal with rage. Animal rights mean little (morally) to the man he selects to kill Nettie's dog, yet to the lonely, vulnerable and unstable animal lover Nettie, it turns her into a monster. Smaller misdeeds are turned into terrifyingly larger ones with great profit for the Devil Gaunt. Everyone has different values, everyone's endurance limit is different, and so like a row of dominos the town begins to lose it's mind.
Rating:
Summary: Hillarious
Review: Fantastic. Close to my favourite Stephen King book. Most memorable for me was the servant-lady's discovery of her murdered dog: ("Sweet Jesus merciful and mild. Raider! You ain't dead, are you? You ain't dead? Oh, oh no! Oh my little doggy!")
The characters' attacks on one another were superbly entertaining, the bad guy was interesting, and though the ending was a little disappointing, this was incredibly entertaining. King's got the sniping, gossipy small-town atmosphere down pat.
Rating:
Summary: So what happened???
Review: After reading over 800 pages, King never tells us if the Catholics have their bingo night or not. Sheesh!
Rating:
Summary: A horror for need
Review: I just got finished read a book, and I realized what is SK's horror. Someday I will read every book of SK. Because his story is grotesque and plot is fast and discription is cruel.
The whole situation was weird...and getting weirder all the time. As time went by Needful Thing is a poison place, and Mr. Gaunt is a poison man. Only he's really not a man.-Who is HE? Maybe devil.
Rating:
Summary: One of Stephen King's Best
Review: Outside of the Dark Tower series, The Stand, and It, this is my favorite Stephen King book. For me, Leland Gaunt is my third favorite Stephen King villain with Greg Stillson and Randall Flagg in the top two spots. This novel ends the Castle Rock novels, even though Stephen King did mention Castle Rock in some of his future novels, but this is the last one where Castle Rock is the focal point. The Castle Rock series ends with a bang, quite literally.
What I like most about this novel is that Stephen King takes his time in developing the characters before the chaos is put into full swing near the end of the novel. Stephen King has his work cut out for him in that the vast majority of the novel concerns itself with the deeds that Leland Gaunt has his customers play on other members of the townsfolk and thier consequences. Even in the midst of the chaos that is slowly rising up, Stephen King succeeds in giving us characters who are very realistic.
The novel is slow to begin with, but at the last part, it reaches an extremely fast pace. There are parts in the novel that are fast paced, but even the parts that are fast paced are written in detail. Some may find the attention to detail a bit boring, but I found that the detail added to the richness of the novel. In a way, the climax of the novel helped to shape on particular fight sequence in "The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower."
"Needful Things" is an excellent read and the characters are compelling. It is obvious from the start that Leland Gaunt is the villain, but the depth of his villainy is not seen until the final part.
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