Home :: Books :: Horror  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror

Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Dreamcatcher

Dreamcatcher

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 .. 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 .. 67 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not for new King readers
Review: All of Mr. King's work's are good; some are better than others. DREAMCATCHER, unfortunately, goes in the "others" category. The story is complex, the references to earlier works (IT, TOMMYKNOCKERS) are plentiful to the point that a casual reader will think he's missed something. Still I enjoyed it (as I enjoy them all), but I would not recommend this as a place to start if you're not already a diehard King fan.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: awful..just awful
Review: I looked forward to this book like crazy. It got off to a slow start then picked up and then it went right down hill again. I kept speed reading through some of the pages-something you should never do-but it was so bad. Boring, badly written and it could have been told in about 300 less pages. I bought it as i have all of SK's books and will continue to buy them, sometimes he can suprise you. but let this one rot on the bookshelves. it will never go out of print, i mean Geralds Game is stll around (what a howler that one was). Stay away it's as bad as The Tommy Knockers. Yeck!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Book, Not the Best
Review: Okay, I have read almost all of Stephen Kings book and have enjoyed almost all of them. Books that deal with aliens and UFO's are not my favorite books to read. The only way I would read one those books is if Stephen King wrote it. This was a good book, it got me interested and it kept building the suspense so I was eagerly turning the pages to see what would happen next. Not his best book but it should be read nonetheless.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: His worst since "The Dark Half"
Review: I gave this book 3 stars in deference to the fact that Mr. King wrote it while recovering from being hit by a van, an accident that almost killed him. The book is unavoidably colored by that accident and the subsequent recovery period.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I was especially looking forward to a return to some of the supernatural/super-unnatural themes that I enjoyed so much from his earlier works. Don't get me wrong; I have been immensely pleased with his most recent work. Bag of Bones, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and - most especially - Hearts in Atlantis really shine and are indicative of his continued growth as a writer. (I personally believe the title story from Hearts in Atlantis is one of the great pieces of short fiction produced in the last 100 years.) Perhaps my expectations were too high, I don't know. For whatever the reason, I was immensely disappointed.

As simple as possible, the plot breaks down like this: A super-intelligent fungus from outer space (shades of Lovecraft's Mi-Go here) bent on world assimilation crashes a ship into northern Maine and sets about trying to take over every human being it comes across. Unfortunately for the fungi, this world seems to be too cold and bizarre for it to conquer easily (one wonders why they didn't just crash in Rwanda or Texas). The US military steps in to contain the "infection." The fungus finds a group of friends with peculiar mental talents that make at least one of them, Jonesy, an ideal host. Then there is a long chase sequence wherein the military and one of the aforementioned group of men, Henry, attempt to catch the infected Jonesy before he can infect Boston.

Them's the brass tacks, although there is quite a bit of annoying detail left out. The group of friends have mental abilities that stem from their friendship with a man named Duddits, who is stuck in the perpetual childhood of Down's Syndrome (and is the Deus Ex Machina of this book). A man named Kurtz, who is both a lunatic and a more-than-passing nod to the character from Heart of Darkness, runs the military operation. The fungus (which ends up being personified in the character of "Mr. Gray") has all kind of problems with Earth not the least of which being us humans and our "difficult emotions." Of course, Mr. Gray is mightily tempted by the "sins of the flesh" which Jonesy and his oh-so-human body and emotions present.

These themes have been visited before, and they're not given much in the way of unique treatment here. Even the main protagonists seem like thinly veiled versions of the main characters from IT. The more interesting characters (and, perhaps, the more difficult to write) of Beaver and Pete are removed early on, leaving us with the vaguely suicidal, intellectual snob Henry and the college professor Jonesy - whose only defining characteristic seems to be that his body is all messed up from a recent car accident. (In fact, you could make a case for Jonesy's injured body being the real hero of the book.)

The book seems disjointed at first, almost scattered, but about halfway through settles down into a smoother storytelling style. Of course you probably won't give much of a damn at that point as all the interesting elements have either been removed or degenerated into stuff you've seen a million times before, quite often from King himself.

There ARE bright spots. King still writes well, and fills the pages with that particular colloquial style he has which makes you feel as if you're being told a spooky story by your uncle while at camp. It isn't exactly a chore to read, just not quite up to what King is capable of.

Bottom line: if you're a King fan you will probably find something to enjoy, even though you know it's not his best. If you're not a King fan, perhaps you should wait for the next one or read one of his more recent offerings. Either way, I'm hoping that the next one is better.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Ouch, I Didn't Like This!
Review: I'm a big fan; I've read everything of his that has been published, including his essays. The only book he has ever written that I did not like was "Hearts in Atlantis." I eagerly awaited "Dreamcatcher" and grabbed it the moment I saw it. I was extra-excited becaise it is his first book since his terrible accident and I was happy for him that he was writing again.

At first, I could not put this book down. Part One was fabulous, with disgusting aliens, fascinating character development, and creative, suspenseful scenarios. But as I began to read Part Two, annoying flaws in the text began to manifest and the narrative began to seem heavy-handed. I became confused by the many Jonesy's and mind-trips. I stopped caring about the characters and felt that each had been given a stock "Oprah show" flaw by King (alcoholism, suicidal ideation, etc.). The hit-by-a-car guy seemed like he was whining too much. The wacky military guy (Kurtz) seemed too much like the wacky military guy in "The Long Walk". Characters started dying too quickly. There were no major female characters being given spots in the narrative yet (except for a previous chapter with Duddit's Mom)! And what was up with the aliens? Two kinds? I liked the snake-things but the grays were just not fully developed as unique to King's imagination. I know King has a much better imagination than that! Finally, I think the title of the book is cliche. It has the word "dream" in it, an overused word in book titles. Was the dreamcatcher supposed to represent the characters broken dreams? If so, please!!!

I don't think I can finish this book. This will be the first King novel I have not finished. I feel bad because I really like Stephen King and I want to be a loyal fan, but this book is not to my liking. I am disappointed. He can do SO MUCH better! I have faith that his next book will be great.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not one of his best.
Review: This was not one of King's best works. It bogged down in the middle, the chase scenes were too long. He could of trimmed a fifth of the book and it would of been better and more enjoyable. I know that not all his books are as good as his others and that's acceptable. I will look forward to the Black House coming in September.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Author of Fragmented Recollection
Review: I am kind of disappointed in this book. I miss the page turners that Stephen King usually writes. It's obvious that King is a fan of Beavis and Butthead. I'm only half way through the novel, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish the rest. So far I'm not on the edge of my seat.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I am an avid King reader and have read just about everything he has written. Like other readers who have reviewed this book I found myself unable to finish this one. A couple of the characters are interesting but they take a back seat to the characters that aren't and King's real strength, his ability to build suspense, is simply missing in this book altogether. You keep asking yourself, "when will this chapter end so we can get to something interesting?" Eventually, I gave up looking for something interesting and gave up the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's about time a new Stephen King novel came out!
Review: I thought Dreamcatcher was great! I loved all the characters (even Mt. Gray). I really half expected the men in the yellow raincoats or Roland to come in at the end and was somewhat disappointed when they didn't. Stephen King is one of the most talented writers of all time as far as I'm concerned. I only wish I didn't have to wait so long between books!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Another King Bomb
Review: I wish Stephen King would realize that he does his best writing in novellas and short stories and lay off the over-long novels which only fill pages. And please....try writing a novel with no children in it. Look back over King's novels and you'll find he seldom gets away from this ploy. How about his giving us a nice 300 pager full of adults and maybe then he might be scary again. By the time I read the last chapter I was hoping all of the characters would die and Mr. Gray would win. Perhaps he's killed his leg demons now and can try writing something less soul cleansing and more mature.


<< 1 .. 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 .. 67 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates