Rating: 
Summary: A Home-Run!
Review: Ok, first of all, all you people out there cutting up on this novel have to stop comparing it to previous King works. OBVIOUSLY, King was not trying to write a "Christine-It-Gerald's Game-Salem's Lot-Carrie", so why make pros and cons based on nothing but the fact that King has been branded as a "horror writer" and therefore can produce nothing outside THAT genre. Though the tale isn't exactly a horror novel, it has a cleverly wound plot that keeps the reader interested and is incredibly well written under the circumstances given. King took a rather bland topic (I know ~I~ couldn't talk about a little girl being lost in the forest for 200+ pages without losing the reader's interest) and produced a great, intriguing story. The story is about a 9-year-old(?) girl named Tricia McFarland who becomes lost in the woods for days on end. Her only window to the outside world is her Walkman (she listens to the baseball games of her hero, Tom Gordon, hence the title of the novel). A bit slow at first, but becomes more interesting as it moves on. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, suspenseful tale
Review: Let me start by stating that I am not a died-in-the wool Stephen King fan, and definitely not a horror fan. However, the reviews on this book correctly led me to conclude that it is not a usual King book, and I definitely liked it. Nine-year-old Trisha strays off the Appalachian Trail as she lags behind her arguing mother and brother, and then becomes hopelessly lost when she tries to take a "shortcut" back to the trail. The suspense and tension in this book are those inherent in a story about a young, but determined child, armed with a very small amount of survivor knowledge. For emotional support, she increasingly imagines that her favorite pitcher, Red Sox's Tom Gordon, accompanies her on her trek and provides her with guidance and support. This is a wrenching story, as you keep hoping that this poor child will be found, will escape the woods unharmed, and so forth. I found myself saying "NO!" out loud when she made bad decisions, and encouraging her as she plunged ahead. This is a suspenseful and inspiring story.
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Disappointment
Review: I was really disappointed!!! I'm a 13 year old girl who has read many Stephen King books and I think he is an excellent writer. This book didn't even compare on my scale to other books such as Salems Lot. It was genuinly not scary at all to me. I was so bored with the book by page 100 but I thought it might get etter so I stuck with it. I was wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King at his best
Review: I've been reading most of King's earlier novels and expected this one to be like the others, with monsters and various paranormal experiences. But this novel isn't like that. It's actually not much of a horror story at all. But it's still one of the most scary novels he has ever written. The way King descibes a 9-year-old girls struggle through an unfriendly world, a world which couldn't care less about here, is truly fascinating. Being a hiker myself (in the northern Swedish mountains), I can easily picture everything she is going through. And that, I can assure you, is scary... This is a novel about courage and the will to survive against all odds. Even though you know that it's just a novel, you still can't help feeling for the girl. You want her to survive, you want her to get out of there. I was forced to put the book down after reading about half of it, and until I got the time the finish it, I actually found myself thinking about it all the time. I just couldn't keep my mind focused on anything else. The only bad thing about this otherwise great novel was that it was to short...
Rating:
Summary: If u go down to the woods today you're in for a big surprise
Review: This book is scary! ok theres no killer dogs or cars. Theres no blood sucking vampires or apocalpyses but its still a scary read. A little girl (nine year Trish, but big for her age) walks of the path and gets lost in the woods. She doesn't have a lot of food, and only has her walkman to keep her company - on which she listens to Red Sox games with her hero Tom Gordon. As she gets lost further (can you get lost even more?) she hears things, see things or thinks she does... Her imagination takes over, but it also keeps her together as she has visions of Tom Gordon looking out for her. I guess its similar to the Blair Witch Project (probably get cruficied for this comparision) but neither is really scary - its what goes on with the characters that is. And it both you're unsure of hows it going to end. Hey its a short book, grab it read and read it on a rainy day - just make sure you put it down before it gets dark! Also next time you go into the woods - stay on the path! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT STORY LINE!
Review: I thought that this book was told very well. At times you thought that it was going to be hard for Trisha to get out of the woods. King told the story great by using many things throughout the woods that were helpful to her and harmful to her. The book ended quickly but other than that this book is great!
Rating: 
Summary: King has made better ones before
Review: If I hadn't been given the novel as a present I probably wouldn't have picked it up in a while, but I believe that Stephen King has written much better novels than this one. He is characterized by being a master of terror, but there wasn't almost any terror portrayed here as in other, usually older, novels of his. Though I guess it would be fine for younger readers. So they won't be scared off too soon by King and dare to read his novels further.
Rating:
Summary: Brought me back into the fold!
Review: I used to read a lot of Stephen King's novels. In fact, "The Stand" remains my favorite novel of all time. But I quit reading him in 1993 after I read "Gerald's Game"- too gross and scary for me. I felt forced to finish it against my will because when I stopped I kept having horrible imaginings and dreams about how it would end. I feared my imaginings might be worse than the book's own ending so I begrudgingly and fearfully finished it, but I swore that I would not read anymore King. I turned to the less frightening (and often less interesting) "literary fiction" section of the bookstore and have been happily buried there for much of the last 7 years. Then I unexpectedly caught site of this little book at the check-out aisle at the grocery (a place where I had never previously purchased a book). Hit with a burst of nostalgia for my previous fondness for the author of my favorite book, I tossed it on the counter. I read this book in a single night and yes, I was scared. But, I remembered that I like that! Also, my years away made me realize what a fantastic writer he truly is. His characters and stories are the best of the best. Since then I've been making up for lost time, reading (and listening to and downloading) all the Stephen King I can find. Long Live the King!
Rating:
Summary: A haunting story...
Review: Stephen King outdid himself with this book. It was interesting and easy reading. I read the book in less than one day, however, it did make me "itch."
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Great Read
Review: This is Stephen King at his best; not too wordy, not too weird, not going into make-believe monsters and things that go bump in the night, just an honest, true-to-life story about a 9-year-old girl lost in the woods. For people that won't read King because he's too scary or gory, this is the book for them. I was surprised when I read it. I have been reading King since I was myself 9, and while some of his work seems derivative at times, this was a new and exciting venture. Everything in it makes you feel like you are right there, that you are in the midst of a huge, unending sea of trees, bugs, dirt, hunger, discomfort, that all you want to do is be safe in your bed at home. Trisha McFarland is a well-written character; you feel at home with her in the harsh surroundings, you root for her when she uses all her wits and strengths to keep on going, you pity her when night closes in and all relative safety evaporates into fear of what you can't see. I actually wished this book was longer, that I could keep on reading well after I was done. At little over 200 pages, this is one of King's shorter works, and it's one that could have kept going for quite sometime before becoming tiresome. If you've never tried King before, here is where you should start.
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