Rating: 
Summary: King's gruesome tale may be familiar, but it still chills.
Review: I guess there comes a point in every writer's life where the major themes that run through his or her work have been touched upon. To some readers who didn't particularly care for a lot of those themes to begin with - as John Irving argued in his book 'A Widow for One Year' - these later works seem mere flaccid retreads, weak reflections of superior books (when the themes were new, hot, and/or unique). Some writers reach this point early - the before mentioned John Irving seems a good example, as do Peter Straub and Clive Barker - others reach it later.Stephen King has reached this point. Now this may not be a bad thing. King, in recent years, has shown a tremendous emotional growth as a 'literary' writer while remaining true to his pulp fiction roots, but more and more the tunes sound the same. Sometimes the mix works (as in Bag of Bones and the short novels Low Men in Yellow Coats and Hearts in Atlantis) sometimes not (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon). Dreamcatcher, King's first novel since being struck by a van and almost killed, is in the 'works' category. Some readers may groan that the material is yet another reworking of an oft told tale (Desperation being an excellent example, the two books are practically doppelgangers) and whine about elements reused from It (childhood friends doing battle with monsters), The Tommyknockers (mind and body absorbing space aliens), and the short story Weeds [aka The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill episode in the movie Creepshow]. But it is these very same elements that make Dreamcatcher a King story. Take some of those elements, make them into labyrinthian literary references and it could be a Straub story, or make them into a breech into some kind of strange fantasy world and it could be a Barker tale. The story is universal (pun intended) - King was just lucky enough to uncover it first. While in Junior High School four friends do a good thing, perhaps it is even a great thing, and are changed in ways they cannot comprehend. One in particular, who, as an adult, is nearly killed in a traffic accident, has been changed even further. This is good, because something very nasty has crashed deep within the woods of northern Maine and, during their annual hunting trip, these friends must confront and defeat this horrific alien lifeform before its flesh eating seed can be planted and given a chance to grow. The novel is long (not uncommon for a King tale), but, considering the scope of the danger, not unjustified and the story is tight. Personally I do not see where any cuts to shorten it could have been made. It is also very gruesome. The flesh eating byrus and the bowel infesting byrum are both shudder inducing. Believe when I tell you that you will not be able to break wind and NOT think about this book. Whether the story works for you or not depends entirely on how deeply attached you are to themes King plays when weaving a story. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty darn good for a man who almost died...
Review: You've gotta give the man credit. He's one of the most prolific writers of our time and the fact that he was able to turn out 620 pages after being almost killed by a car is pretty awesome. I really enjoyed the book. I've seen a change in the way that King is writing: a more mature, psychological aspect as opposed to the jump out and scare you tactics of some of his earlier novels. Yes, this book was rather reminiscent of an episode of the X-Files, but Dreamcatcher did catch me and hold me until the end. I figure if one has nightmares after reading a Stephen King book, or can't sleep, then it's a good book. There were several nights when this happened to me. I thought the ending of the book was very suspenseful. There are some slow parts throughout the book, and I was a little annoyed with the way the flashbacks were revealed, but all in all, I thought this was a really good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Fair
Review: Not the best King. I was mildly looking forward to reading this, it being hyped and well reviewed. I was disappointed. It has good points, and it is written by King, so it can't be all bad. This book is interesting and certainly has memorable parts in it, like the alien parasites and the particular scene in Derry involving a previous work. Overall, a sure read for King fans and for others, well, it's not bad, but there is better out there.
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Summary: If you go out in the woods today, you're in for a byrus!
Review: If you go out in the woods, today, you are in for a big surprise. And in the "Dreamcatcher," you find more than bears. After you discover the first horror, you find the trails leading back out of the woods and into the past. Duddit, the special child with ESP, speaks his own language, reminiscent of baby talk. His friends keep him from danger in the beginning of their bonding and later, Duddit steers the remaining members of the group into safety, using his ESP and getting the name of official "Dreamcatcher." I enjoyed the poignancy and care that Duddit brings to the plot. On the other side, Kurtz manages to strike pure terror into the tale with his mindless killing and power struggle to dominate his troops. He personifies power gone out control and you keep wishing him to meet his doom before anymore violence occurs. But the main conflict the byrus, an alien virus, keeps spreading like a cancer and infecting almost everyone that gets in contact with it. Mr. Gray has a mission for the byrus and you discover how he attempts it and what occurs. With his passionate craving for bacon, Mr. Gray adapts some human qualities. One of the most graphic descriptions comes when the alien critter emerges into the world. It seemed like a gestation that develops in the cruelest and vile manner. And the pain incurred could be likened to labor of the utmost degree. You will go from the heart of blackness and gore and come out of the "Dreamcatcher," thinking could this happen. Or does it happen when men suffer mentally and physically from external and internal pains?
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Summary: A welcome return to many of King's favorite themes
Review: Let me begin by saying this book is scary. King is obviously exorcising a lot of demons here, not he least of which is the way he has struggled through rehab following his accident. Characters in the book have their bodies rebel against them in a dozen horrible ways. If you've read enough of King's work, you know what a complex, wierd, and wonderful relationship exists between a writer's life and his work. "Dreamcatcher" could be fodder for a million term papers if one were to analyze it in this way. You, however, may prefer not to. Once you get passed all that, what remains is great, strange, scary and heartbreaking story. I have to say the first quarter is extremely powerful, scary stuff. Not that the rest isn't good (there is a chapter about a certain character becoming a "movie star" that may be one of the best things King's ever written) but once the many mysteries are revealed, they just can't live up to our huge expectations. It's nice to see him return to the theme of friendship again and for once I feel like a Stephen King book could be longer(!). The ending felt abrupt and cut off. I feel like we could have spent more time with these characters...perhaps we will.
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Summary: Vintage King
Review: Breaking my rule of never writing for a book with more than twenty reviews in grand style... Dreamcatcher is a textbook example of a Stephen King novel. This is either a very good thing or a very bad thing, depending on your point of view. I take the middle, and say that, while the King formula is entertaining, it does not challenge the reader in the way a horror novel can and should. This story begins in the classic King fashion, with a great deal of time spent getting to know a bunch of alchoholic, middle aged white guys before something bizzare happens to them. This time its extraterrestrials, making this King's take on War of the Worlds. The story begins when Jonesy, a college professor, nearly shoots a man who has been impregnated by an alien weasal-thing. These weasals gestate in the carrier's intestines, eventually exiting from the rear. Be prepared for some lovely descriptions of the victim's backside after the weasals are done with them. Dreamcatcher has a decidedly New Age twist, using a character with Downe's Syndrome as the focal point for a psychic connection between the four main players. His name is Duddits, and his story is the truly sad part of the book. I thought the ending of this novel was a bit pedantic, but overall Dreamcatcher is a solid effort by King. He weaves events from his own life into the narrative, one suspects that some of the weirder bits were written while in a percoset haze. Dreamcatcher should be considred along with Needful Things, the Stand, and the Dark Half as King's best.
Rating: 
Summary: It was co-written...
Review: Stephen king may have outlined the plot but it was not written totally by him. One of the "ghost writers" was English. I read the book but I am getting increasingly bored with the mass produced stuff. Tom Clancey is doing the same thing. Supervising, not WRITING! What does "fag" mean in Stephen King's own language?.. Who in the US Army would say "fag" and why? plus there are gramatical errors that are indicative of a northern england person.
Rating: 
Summary: Too weird
Review: I'm a big King fan and I think the man is a great storyteller BUT. I could not finish this book. The farts and body function descriptions went on and on and on in the beginning then I became so disinterested after the bathroom scene (which was great classic King) that I became confused about what was going on because my mind started to wonder and everything ran together and I didn't know where the characters were or who they were or what they were talking about..... It just could not hold my attention. I may try to read it some other time because I did pay for a hard copy.
Rating:
Summary: Slogging through
Review: I started this book with great anticipation, however I have found it difficult to finish the last third of this book. I think he could have written the same piece more effectively if 1/2 of it was taken out! It started out with a bag, but then somehow lost it's steam.
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting And Fun Book!
Review: When I first started reading Dreamcatcher, I found myself wanting to give up on it. It wasn't because his writing was horrible or even because the story was dull, but it was because I was getting tired of all the overly described gas/burping problems that took place with the characters that were found in the woods. I understood after the first dozen times the problems that a couple of the characters were having in the gas and burping department but Stephen King described this stuff to death! I usually like reading books during my lunch break, but I learned to just put the book down when I wanted to eat. Nevertheless, I stuck with it and I really found myself immersed in this book's storyline, especially the one involving Jonesy and Mr. Gray. I know that Henry and Duddits were key players in the book, but, Jonesy and Mr. Gray stole the show, as far as I was concerned. I loved the mind games that Jonesy and Mr. Gray were playing with each other throughout the book and these "two" made the book very fun-to-read. This was my first time reading one of Stephen King's books and now that I have an idea what to expect, I am looking forward to trying some of his other books.
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