Rating: 
Summary: Keep your eyes on the car.
Review: A sad boy, a bad car and the twists of fate... Sounds like a rehash of "Christine", right? Wrong. "Buick 8" is nothing like "Christine". The Buick is from another world, maybe even another dimesion. Christine was definitely from hell. Ned Wilcox is grieving but he's no high school loser, like Arnie Cunnigham. Christine deliberately destroyed anyone who messed with her or Arnie. The Buick occasionally eats people who just happen to be around. So enough about Christine."Buick 8" is quite different from Steven King's other works. 90% of the novel is told in flash backs and by several different people, living and dead. The book gets off to a slow start, (this is deliberate, I think),smacks the reader with great big gobs of horror and then pulls up to an abrupt end. As usual King takes ordinary folks, puts them in a hideous situation and makes the reader care about them. The good, the bad and the pathetic are all lovingly portrayed. I loved Curtis Wilcox, I liked Sandy and pitied George and Eddie and Mr.Dillon (especially Mr. Dillon). My major complaints were about young Ned and Arky, both of whom seemed a bit overdrawn to me. My only other real complaint has to do with logic. In all the years that the monstrous Buick sits in Shed B and after witnessing all the ghastly things it could do why didn't any of the troopers try to destroy it? I enjoyed Buick 8 but it didn't thrill me or keep me up all night. It's a very good book full of great characters and incredible scenses but it doesn't have the same power or magic that King's earlier books had. Still, it does entertain and I'm sure it will be appreciated by Stephen King fans both old and new.
Rating:
Summary: King enters the Twilight Zone
Review: When first picking up this book it sounded like Steve was recycling his old stuff, sort of CHRISTINE meets THE TOMMYKNOCKERS. It also took me a little while to get into it but once it got going it was enjoyable. He's gotten back to basics with FROM A BUICK 8, a tale of an old car housed at a military base which also serves as a portal into another dimension through its trunk (cue Twilight Zone music)and soon all manner of bizzare objects materialize from beyond, thus giving the soldiers the opportunity to conduct strange experiments. But it seems that the car is actually alive and can feel pain & bleed... and also feel hunger, but for what?
Once again King has crafted an absorbing story which zips back and forward in time but which is easy to read and also thought provoking. Finally King just wouldn't be King without his obligatory "gross outs" which will inspire revulsion and delight in the adolescent part of every reader's psyche. This will keep fans happy until the publication of the next two DARK TOWER books next year.
Rating: 
Summary: "The King Of Strange Reads"
Review: I have to honestly admit that I usually do not enjoy most books in this category as they tend to be a bit too strange for my tastes. I know, I know, like dah, huh! Hey, this book was a gift (the reason I am reviewing it.) I am a person who doesn't receive that many gifts, and if you knew me better you could plainly understand why. Moving Forward... "From a Buick 8" although a strange story wasn't that bad. I think I liked it better than my last read by Stephen King. If you are a King fan this story is right up your alley.
Rating: 
Summary: AN ALL-STAR READING
Review: A blockbuster cast of vocal artists brings excitement to Stephen King's take on a car that spells danger. Among the readers are James Rebhorn, Bruce Davison, Becky Ann Baker, Peter Gerety, Fred Sanders, and Stephen Tobolowsky. It all begins in 1979 when a man drives into a service station in rural Pennsylvania - his car is a Buick Roadmaster. That's obvious, what's also soon obvious is the fact that the driver has disappeared. State Policemen Ernest Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox receive a call to pick up the abandoned car. A bit of a car buff, Wilcox immediately knows that all is not right with this car. For instance, it has no workable engine. Then, in a few hours Rafferty also vanishes. The car is stored in Shed B behind police barracks and, despite efforts, Rafferty's disappearance is unsolved. As the years go by the car remains a mute reminder of a taunting mystery. Jumpstart to 2001 when Wilcox is killed in an auto accident. A few months pass, and then his 18-year-old son, Ned, drops by the barracks from time to time. He soon becomes an accepted part of the troop's circle. It's not long before Ned looks into the window of Shed B, and takes on his father's unfinished task - solving the mystery of this strange car. This reading is a top production number. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: A pit stop on the way to the Tower.
Review: I've never read a King book I didn't like, and I've read most of them. Maybe that makes me sort of biased. This is not a major King work. It could have easily fit into a compilation piece as a novella, but that doesn't mean it's not worth your while. A lot of people have been comparing this book to Christine, but other than the fact that both books revolve around cars, there are few similarities. While both of the cars are nasty villainous contraptions, the title Buick spends most of it's time parked behind the barracks of a troop of Highway patrolmen, not stalking would be victims. This isn't a cut and dry story about good vs. evil, but rather the unknown and how we deal with it. Of course, there's a lot of fear, and maybe even some to boot, but the story isn't so much about the mean car as it is about the people who've taken on the responsibility of protecting John Q from whatever nastiness lurks inside it. As a Dark Tower fan, it's impossible for me to read any King novel or story without comparing or connecting it to the series itself. While the author is never so ham-fisted as to make any direct connection to the series, fans will notice some pretty strong connections. From the very beginning, I connected the Buick (and it's enigmatic driver) to "Hearts in Atlantis," more specifically the short story "Low Men in Yellow Coats." Anyone familiar with Ted Bratigan, the Low Men and the breakers might make the same connections I did. As the story progressed, I was certain that the Buick had some connection to the Tower, or at least the multiverse King has created outside our own familiar world. Without giving away too much of the story, it becomes obvious early in the story that the car is not of this earth. Where it's from, or more importantly, why it's here are questions that never quite get answered. That leads into the major theme of the book: how we deal with the unknown. Generally, we fear it, and King gift has always been playing with that emotion. Unlike a lot of King's books, this one doesn't try to be a strait forward scare fest. While it is reminiscent of a lot of King's earlier scarier books, King explores the question of fear rather than the fear itself. Like many of the characters in the book, King spends his time dissecting and analyzing the fear. While small in scale and the author is a little conservative when dealing out the shocks, King's ability to manipulate the reader is stronger than ever. Instead of dumping a bucket full of pig's blood on our heads all at once, he holds us down and applies one tiny drop at a time. To me, King has aged like wine. While some of his earlier fans were turned off by his direction in the mid nineties, I thought he produced some of his greatest work. One thing is sure, King has lost none of his edge, but has instead gained a lot of new tools which he uses as expertly as ever. This isn't his opus or anything but it's still a great read. I can't wait for the final three volumes of the Dark Tower series.
Rating:
Summary: The best for last
Review: If this really is King's last real novel (the forthcoming Dark Tower books don't quite count), then he's going out with style and grace. "From A Buick 8" is a wonderfully gripping read, full of the creepy crawlies, but mostly it's a moving, melancholy meditation on time and loss, more "Green Mile" than "Christine". His command of character and flow are wondrous at times. You believe in these people; you can see them, you know them. I've always thought that was his great gift and the real secret to his popularity--his people live in the same world we do. In them, we recognize ourselves (and our landscapes), and somehow that provides solace, as if we're finally being seen and understood. (It's similar to what Springsteen does.) The scary stuff was always secondary. Anyway, this one's awfully fine. It kept me up nights--and there's really nothing better in the world than a book that keeps you up nights. (It's like having a secret power source, and is almost as rare.) There are more subtle writers in the world, but there's not another who's given me more pure pleasure. I always feel wide awake when I'm reading Stephen King, as if I'm reading with my whole self. Being one of his Constant Readers has been one of the best relationships of my life. We sort of grew up together. I think he really means it about not publishing anything else, and that's a loss destined to be as resonant for me as the ones he details so beautifully in this last, best book.
Rating:
Summary: No '54' Buicks In The Near Future For Me!
Review: The premise in "From A Buick 8" by (the true master of this genre), Stephen King, is one of life filled with Buick/Crazy 8's; phenomena that confuse us, mysterious happenings that we don't understand. "From A Buick 8" provides the reader with an interesting portrayal of police ways and subplots; (ie:loyalty, family and forming unbreakable bonds.) Loved the story, but have to say, I foresee no '54' Red Buicks in the immediate future for me! (jusk kidding!)
Rating:
Summary: A volatile ride in a garaged car
Review: Stephen King is a great storyteller. When he creates a character like Ned Wilcox, you can feel the depth of pain and emotion in a teenager trying to cope with the sudden loss of his father. Then he uses the same extraordinary writing talent to present us with a 1954 Buick Roadmaster that's not a car but a machine from another dimension. You know it can't be real, but when the three state cops from Troop D start to dissect the bat-like think that comes out of the Buick's trunk, your stomach muscles will tighten as if it was actually happening. King also evokes great memories for a child of the 50s. A dog named Mister Dillon, the old sarge named Shoendienst, Arkey the big Swede who sounds just like Lawrence Welk and the Buick 8 itself take you right back to the Eisenhower era even though the story starts in 1979. When Brian the low life torments his arresting officer with an insult from their high school days, the chant of "Fat Eddie Jack You Boys" will stick in your head for days. In contrast to "Hearts in Atlantis", however, the Buick 8 isn't quite as interesting as the 50s non-cars that came for Ted Brautigan. This story spends a lot more time on the car than the lives of those affected by it, slowing it down a bit in the middle. When Sandy Dearborn, "the new sarge", is sitting in an old diner, looking at the countertop jukebox selector and listening to obscure rock 'n roll tunes like Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love", he tells us that "life in Statler PA bears Christly little resemblance to the Hallmark Hall of Fame." Right, but did we need the supernatural Buick parked in Shed B for twenty-two years to reach that conclusion? Probably not, but King still makes you glad you came along for the ride.
Rating:
Summary: King still has it!
Review: After reading Dreamcatcher, King's last novel which i felt was pretty cool but a little bloated at times, I was looking forward to reading this book the minute I heard about it, and believe me I couldn't wait to get started. I am visually impaired, so I am very pleased that Simon and Schuster Audio produced this book unabridged on cd and casette. I found the packaging of the cds to be quite confusing at first, but I'm here to talk about the book, so i'll stick to that. I'll not waste everyone's time giving you an outline of what the book is about since I'm willing to bet you've probably already seen the book description. This book is *not* another Christine. Yes, it's about an evil car or what perports to be a car, but that's where the similarities end here. The audio version of this book was quite nice. It was different because usually, one person reads the entire book from start to finish, but in this case, there were 5 different narators, one even read 2 different character's parts. They all did a great job of portraying their characters and after a while, you knew exactly who was talking when. My only real gripe with this story is that King has this real thing with the dark tower universe. In every story he writes now, there is always some sort of element of it in there. From the Tommyknockers to Rose Matter, that "other world" thing is getting to be a bit old, but somehow, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. I thought it might bother me more, but it didn't. Overall, I would say give this book a read, and if you've never tried reading it on casette or cd before, it's worth the extra bucks. Definitely a gripping read, especially near the end. It does take a while to get into the characters, but if you stick with it, i think you will be rewarded. There are also a few very unexpected twists and turns I found refreshing in a story like this. In short, buy it. You'll like it. Especially if you liked King's other books.
Rating:
Summary: Why a car?
Review: I have read the book, and the story was not too bad, but like Hearts In Atlantis he (King) does not quite manage to bring the story anywhere, and this occures to you just after reading the first chapters. It is a bit "out there", and off course it is ment to be, but did it have to be a car?? Could it not instead have been some "alien"-thing found, something really NOT of this world? Something no one had ever seen before, like the "droppings" of the car, perhaps. I finnished the book, off course, because you get a little curious, and you want to know what this "car" turns out to be the gateway to -which, off course again, you do not. King gives you a hint, but nothing rememberable. So, if you are a King-fan, this one might disappoint you a little. Not that it is bad written, it is simply just missing the usual touch one expects from King, and I really got the impression he has done it a little too easy for himself this time. This book has an end that does not reveal much, if amything at all...
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