Rating: Summary: Too many plots! Review: Dreamcatcher has several good plots but it never brings them together into a cohesive whole. The first 80 pages were by far the best of the book, the rest rambles and jumps from story to story. This is novel that doesn't know what it is or what it wants. It could have been a great horror novel. It could have been a great novel about friendship. It just never delivers on the promise of that first 80 pages.
Rating: Summary: Scary, But another amazing story!!! Review: This was another amazing book by Stephen King!! Once I started reading it, I could not put it down!!!
Rating: Summary: great story Review: An alien invasion is always a great story when it is well written. This is well written. But calling the story just a alien invasion is not doing King justice. This is the story of four friends that manage to always get together for an annual hunting trip and what happens to them when they are contacted by the aliens. Dreamcatcher is as much a psychological drama as it is a scifi novel. The are many layers to this story: the friends, the army, and one of the aliens(Mr. Gray). How the aliens control their victims is not much fun when you think about it. There is a twist when one of the controlled victims also can fight back against the alien in his own mind. This story reminds the reader of War of the Worlds, except without the saucers. The ending also remind me of the War of the Worlds. This is a good read and it is fun.
Rating: Summary: Maybe It's Just Me Review: For once, I have to disagree with the glowing reviews that have been posted here. Dreamcatcher is a substantially subpar novel from the usually talented pen of Stephen King.Those of you who've read King now that his stories work so well because they combine believable human drama with horror. His characters are alive and real -- which makes the horror all the more powerful when it comes to the fore. In terms of the human drama, Dreamcatcher works very well. The four principles characters -- Jonesy, Pete, Beaver and Henry -- have been friends since childhood. During their childhood in Derry (familar to you readers of It), they saved a young boy with Down's Syndrom -- Duddits -- from the school bully. Since then, they have had a telephatic link among them through this boy -- their dreamcatcher. During their annual hunting trip, they are caught in the middle of an invasion by aliens that don't just seek to conquer the earth but to take over the very bodies of its inhabitants. The book tells the story of how they are entangled in this conflict while slowly revealing the details of their past. Like I said, the drama works well. The characters are solid and their reactions to the aliens, to their paranormal power are all believable and strong. But the horror falls flat on its face. It's a like an episode of the X-files gone wrong. It's a pity because King has some fascinating ideas -- particularly what it's like to be possessed by the alien and the nature of the alien itself. But I was never really scared. A useful comparison for this book is King's recent masterpiece "From a Buick 8" -- which concerns a similar subject. Buick was everything this novel wasn't -- chilling, fascinating, believable and touching. Buick 8's visceral horror had me turning the lights on and losing sleep. Dreamcatcher had me nodding off in impatience. The book has its enjoyable parts. The finale is very good -- although it is proceeded by a veeerrry slow midsection. And as I said, the human drama works well. But I would recommend many of King's other books before this one -- especially Buick 8.
Rating: Summary: A superb book, great read, immensely gratifying story Review: Do not listen to anyone who rates this book a one-star, then recommends "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Only an English-majoring, elitist could think "Dreamcatcher" was boring compared to "...Tom Gordon" If you're a regular person you'll really enjoy this book. On the other hand if you read books for the foreshadowing and themes maybe you'd enjoy "The Heart of Darkness" more. I won't go into great detail about the story because the less you know going in, the better the experience will be. Do Not watch the movie first! What makes this book brilliant is King's ability to pull the story in different directions. For example, there are multiple bad guys who keep you guessing whether or not they have any relation. It's a fantastic concept and it works. The most unsuspecting characters become the most heroic, and seeminly minor characters end up playing key roles. You really don't know what will happen until the end! It's really a suspense novel, more than a horror novel. But there are enough horror elements to display King's magnificent imagination. Elements of the story may seemed borrowed, but it was a masterpiece nevertheless. This is easily his best novel since "The Green Mile." I wish every book I've read could have been as satisfying and enjoyable as "Dreamcatcher."
Rating: Summary: DISTURBING Review: This is brilliant! i am an avid King reader and can safley say that this is one of his best book EVER, (along with such classics as 'The Shining' and 'The Stand') The concept of this novel is easy to grasp; a straight foward alien invasion, but is done with the flair and the wit that so carachterises Stephen King's writing, managing to combine both terror and laughter effectivley. the scene where McCarthy lets rip fart after fart is digusting and hilarious, but the thing inside him is downright scary, as well as grusome. As with most King books, the protagonists are not your typical heroes, but rather four hunters just as confused as everyone else, maybe more so, and with a past that is coming back to haunt them. each is their own, individual, character and it's easy to get a mental picture of them in your head and not lose track of them. This is King back on form, showing that his accident hasn't stopped him from doing what he does best: scaring people.
Rating: Summary: My Favorite SK Book Review: I may be alone having this my FAVORITE,but i have only read a few other stephen king books such as MISERY,PET SEMATARY, and THE TALISMAN. This is about 4 friends going to woods somebody comes and then theres lots of aliens,then there is this evil army guy named Kurtz who wants to kill them,then they chase eachother around and stuff. Not such a big deal is it? Think again! When they end up in Derry the part that really sent a chill down my spine was:(i have seen the movie IT but not read the book)"Under the names still visible in the trucklight spray painted in jagged red letters were the words.. PENNYWISE LIVES
Rating: Summary: Stephen King uses the F-word more than Ozzie and fam. Review: I have read all of Stephen King's books, both fiction and non-fiction, and was very disappointed with "Dreamcatcher". I think the story was more of a psychosomatic vomiting relating to King's recent accident and sounded rather morphine tainted. It was like a fruit salad (parts and pieces) of his other stories and lacked it's ability to stand on it's own. Sometimes less is better, and even though I love a long read, "Dreamcatcher" needed to be downsized and rehabed into something a little clearer and crisper. Why have all of Stephen's books gotten progressively more infected with profanity? I'm not a prude, but knowing a million ways to rhyme the f-word and other crude language really doesn't captivate me. Like the "Byrus", this ran amuck.
Rating: Summary: "Dreamcatcher" will ensnare your interest Review: Stephen King is not the master of horror; he is the master of empathy. The thing I found most intriguing about what few King books I've read is that while they're frightening, the books take while to get to the trademarked cataclysmic doom. "Dreamcatcher" is no different. Four friends in high school, Jonesy, Pete, Henry, and Joe "The Beaver", displayed an amazing act of courage once. Seeing a kid with Down's Syndrome being harassed horribly, they came to his rescue and became his friend. This changed them in ways they were not fully aware of. Years later, the four boy are in their mid-thirties. They haven't completely fallen out of touch, making phone calls every now and then and always congregating in Maine for their annual hunting trip. On this year, something is very different and very wrong. While Henry and Pete are out getting supplies, the Beav and Jonesy do a little hunting. Jonesy nearly shoots a man on accident and tehn discovers that the man is disoriented and sickly. Concerned, he and the Beav take him in. Of course, it hits the fan not long after this. Without giving much away, people die. This is a Stephen King book, after all. The difference is, King makes you care about the characters first, making the deaths meaningful. It's not a terribly frightening book, but it is gripping. The 900 pages fly right by, only faltering at one or two points and even then only momentarily. People have said this rips off classic horror/sci-fi films like "Alien" and "The Thing" (which are, of course, rip-offs of sci-fi/horror films from the '50's), but forget to include "Outbreak" to the list. I don't feel that King stole in any way from them, but you do get similar feelings of revulsion and shock as you did from such films. "Dreamcatcher" is a thrilling book throughout, sometimes frightening, sometimes touching, occasionally hilarious ("BACON SANDWICH! WITH MAYO!"), and always disconcerting. For a good read, pick this up. If you're new to King, while this isn't a bad place to start, "The Stand" is a little closer to King's normal horror archetype. And remember -- Sit tight!
Rating: Summary: wow!! Review: this book is definitely the best King book i have read so far. Right from the very beginning i could not put it down. There is so much graphic detail and action, how could you? all i have to say is, i cant wait until the movie comes out.
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