Rating: 
Summary: A Bright Spot among SK's Later Novels
Review: Many of Stephen King's readers (including some of the author's diehard fans) agree that the author's novels lost some of their pizzazz around 1987 or so. Although King's ability to create believable characters has remained strong throughout his career, he seems to have grown tired of the horror themes that inspired his earlier works.Needful Things is a bright spot among the post-Pet Cemetery novels. Despite the formidable length of the book, King's tale of a curio shop that caters to people's innermost desires is captivating from beginning to end. As another reviewer pointed out, the premise of the story is not exactly original--but this doesn't make Needful Things any less entertaining. The story is set in familiar King territory: the small town of Castle Rock, Maine. SK interweaves a number of complex subplots within the dark underside of small town life. Near the climax of the tale, the story switches rapidly from one subplot to another, practically compelling you to turn the page to discover what happens next. Although I liked Needful Things overall, there were a few points that could have been improved: -SK once stated in an interview that he would go for the gross-out if he couldn't scare the reader outright. (I am loosely paraphrasing a very old interview here.) Many of Stephen King's earlier works contained some genuinely spooky scenes. (Who can forget the woman in the bathtub in The Shining?) However, SK's later works tend to rely increasingly on B-movie gore. Needful Things contains a few too many descriptions of blood and guts, and a couple of scatological references that could have been omitted. I'm an adult and I've read worse, so these passages don't bother me--but this isn't the kind of writing that King enthralled me with in Salem's Lot and Carrie. -One of the key subplots of the story hinges on a conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants living in Castle Rock. At times, the intensity of the enmity between the two groups seems a bit unrealistic. However, this is a minor flaw in an otherwise well-crafted latticework of back-stories and subplots. If you didn't like Insomnia or Dreamcatcher, then you should give Needful Things a try. You may not like this book as much as The Shining, but it stands out among SK's more recent novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Needful Things.....
Review: is a great SK novel. The charatchers are interesting and what also makes it more interesting is the storekeeper is how he uses the people of Castle Rock turn on each other.
This novel is one of SK's best, and truly this is a must have for hard core SK fans like myself.
This ranks with the big boys like 'The Stand' 'IT' 'The Tommyknockers' 'Insomia' 'Carrie' 'Salems Lot' 'The Shining' and my list goes on.
If you want to be scared and looking for a good suspense novel, then this is it.
Rating:
Summary: You have to earn these needful things alright.
Review: This is one of Stephen King's best. The book is thick and it sure goes by fast. I read it in two days without really losing sleep either. This story tells about a man who owns a store and gives all his customers what they want, but there is a huge price attached to the item. And it is quite a huge price. We are not talking about money. They are told what they have to do to earn the item. It is not easy to do the things they are told to do and there are a lot of repercussions after the orders are followed. As they say, what goes around comes around. Read this before you see the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Classic King
Review: This is King at his best. Even if you have seen the movie, still read this book it has significant differences. The best part of this book is the best part of King's early work, no character is safe. For the most part you will not see many of the plot twists coming but they all work very well. Leland Gaunt is a great villian. Highly reccomend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Needful things brings in the King's best
Review: This was the best Stephen King book I've ever read, it's about an imp named Lelaund Guant who opens a shop in Castle Rock, and causes the customers to play pranks on others. Stephen King proves a unique ability to make you like and hate a character at the same time. 5 Stars(though it deserves at least 6)!!!
Rating:
Summary: his masterpiece?
Review: this may be SK's greatest. the psychology is great, a whole lot of suspence, his most interesting characters perhaps. it is amazing how he manages to balance all the intrigue. and there is a lot of intrigue in this book. the writing style is professional. th ending is stupid though. a man moves into town and starts a store where you can buy whatever you want. all you need is a little cash, and to do a little trick. and a trick has never hurt anyone? this book shows what conflicts are lurking in a community. conflicts that may resolve in violence. Gaunt knows how to exploit these conflicts. SK's descriptions and plots involving the chemistry between the people is what makes this book so great.
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King at his Best!
Review: My first Stephen King book was "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" and this book is by far better than that. I didn't expect much more because I enjoyed the first book I read and didn't really look for improvement. The style King uses and his ingenious ways of thinking up plots are one of a kind. In this book a man opens up a store full of the things people want the most. Rare baseball cards, insight into what really happened during an untimely death. This book will leave you reading nonstop during some parts and you will honestly lose track of time because it's so good. Anyone who is considering reading Stephen King's books but needs a good place to start, buy "Needful Things" because it will have you hooked for life.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as other Kings but in no way worse
Review: Needful Things, how should I say it, is not a bad novel. It is just different from some of Stephen King's other work. This book doesn't really deal with supernatural events and people with special powers and abilities. Needful Things, all in all, a very good novel with several shocks and twists but to me it was just a very enjoyable story with a clever beginning, middle, and end. When I mention shocks, I do not mean scares. This book is not at all scary but the unexpected turn of events or the relationships between the characters is what urges the reader to continue reading. When I first began it, it seemed a little boring. As stated in my Misery review, the book only gets interesting when something actually starts happening and we feel the people's reactions to it. It is, by far, one of the best King books that I read not just because of its twists but all of its realism despite the villain. It feels as though you could meet any of these characters anywhere if you bothered to look. King has a gift for making realistic people, just not making them go through realistic situations. Once again, he bombards us with violence, sex, drugs, and other events that don't make a single difference to the outcome of the story. Needful Things takes place in Castle Rock, a small town in Maine that was the setting for other King novels such as the Dead Zone and Cujo. A new shop has opened and has quickly become the talk of the town. Needful Things, as the mysterious owner Leland Gaunt calls it, is a different kind of shop. Inside of it you will most likely find what you've always dreamed of having but have never received. Mr. Gaunt is willing to give you the item but as always there is a price to pay. The more Mr. Gaunt sells the more the Sheriff of Castle Rock Alan Pangborn begins to realize his awful plan, which results in a gigantic battle between Alan Pangborn an Mr. Gaunt. Once again, several thoughts in the book are just sick including a particular character who commits suicide (I won't tell you who just so not to wreck the story) and a battle with a poisonous spider which I still don't believe should have been involved in the story. Sure, the ending is farfetched but clever and does ensure room for a sequel(although it probably won't take place in Castle Rock). The characters and storyline are well developed and change thoughts many times throughout the book. Although the actual villain of the story, Leland Gaunt felt as though he was the main character in the story. His wicked and charming ways make it hard for us to distinguish whether he really is evil or whether he is the calm gentleman all the customers recognize. Very recommended and fun to read, Neeful Things is a novel you shouldn't miss out on. It's one purchase you will not regret.
Rating:
Summary: Castle Rock's grand finale
Review: This is one of Stephen King's best ever. As the plot goes, Satan himself in the guise of a kindly old person of a gentleman named Leland Gaunt, opened an unusual shop in the small town of Castle Rock, Maine -- offering everything "that your secret heart desires", but it turns out that the price for the items being sold are more than what they've bargained for; and the ultimate payment for the people of Castle Rock are their very souls. The climax however, comes as a little bit almost nearly out-of-hand, that it seems quite cartoonish... anyway, NEEDFUL THINGS (w/c's one of those KING novels that are made into a motion picture, in this case starring Max VonSydow as the 'kindly' old Gaunt) is a must for SK-buffs and horror fiction lovers. And furthermore, the novel depicts a relevant message for our age's consumeristic lifestyle and attitudes.
Rating:
Summary: Though it is not King's best cannot be as low as 4 stars
Review: I found this novel to be beautifully put together. It surprised me to see so many plots put together so well. However, what truly amazed me was that within these many plots, he was able to put in even more themes. And he put everyone of them in better than most authors can include even one. This book is exremely entertaining, stunningly suspensefully, but neither of these can compare to how beautifully it was brought to a conclusion in the end of the story. If you read a Stephen King novel, and do not feel that he has much to his stories beside the horror, do not judge his quality as a writer until having read this one.
| 
