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Summary: One of King's best books; a powerful story
Review: This book MOVED me!! I will not say anything about the plot, for it has already been discussed and I wouldn't want to ruin it for anybody. But this book is fantastic! A virtual tour de force! Anybody who keeps away from Stephen King books because of his "horror reputation" should read this marvelous story, about loss, pain and mourning. I have rarely felt so much compassion towards a literary character. Mr. King shows that he his one of our best authors in brilliant fashion with this book. A complete success!!!
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Summary: King's best written novel in recent memory.
Review: With Bag of Bones, King's first novel under the Scribner imprint, he proves that although his style has changed he can still write a compelling -- and horrifying -- novel. This is not the same man who wrote Misery or the collected works of Night Shift. King seems to have a different perspective in life, and with it a new sense of how to tell a story.Bag of Bones is one of King's best written books in recent memory. The story draws in the reader with solid characters and an intricate mystery involving the house on Dark Score Lake and the final year of the narrator's dead wife's life. It is part ghost story, part love story, with a legal battle intertwined for good measure. While he never cheats, King's storytelling leads to a few red herrings which both frustrate and relieve the reader. Of course, it is still vintage King with a Maine setting and some nods to characters in his other books. Ralph Roberts from Insomnia makes a brief appearance, and Sheriff Alan Pangborn from Needful Things is mentioned in passing. He has also retained his flair for spinning words into carefully crafted webs that can ensnare a reader. There are moments in the book when I stopped and reread the passage for the sheer brilliance of it. In Bag of Bones, King has reached a maturity not present in some of his earlier work. While I will always list The Stand as one of my favorite three novels of all time, I think he now writes deeper, richer characters who rise above the "bags of bones" in his earlier novels. I believe King will one day be regarded as one of the best American novelists of the latter-half of the 20th century. He has the ability to take the fears and phobias of post-nuclear America and turn them into monsters -- something tangible which can be destroyed.
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Summary: WOW!
Review: I have never been able to get into any of Stephen King's books because I just didn't seem to like the writing style. However, I got my hands on an Advance Reader's copy of this book and was determined to read it.... Well, it didn't take to long to get drawn in to this amazing story that is so well crafted. "Bag of Bones" unfolds so perfectly that you feel as though you are the one experiencing the story; is this all happening to you. What an amazingly well-crafted book that makes me want to read more King.... I can't wait for more of his books to be like this one... It's a great new turn for Stephen King
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Summary: Stephen King's best yet!
Review: I must admit it's been awhile since I've read anything of Mr. King's. My reading preferences have been mostly non-fiction of late. However when I had the chance to read an advance copy of Bag of Bones I decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. I highly recommend this book to all of Stephen King's fans and also to anyone who has never read him.
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Summary: First-Rate
Review: BAG OF BONES is a sort of shift for King, with a literary feel, but it is still a real suspense read, just a different sort of suspense, but the best one I've had since Craig Furnas's THE SHAPE, with King shifting into especially high gear toward the end. People make a big deal that King is turning fifty. But don't forget that Mario Puzo had his FIRST success as a writer with the GODFATHER when he was fifty, and Puzo is still writing like crazy all these years later. So, King, keep `em coming!
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Summary: Best KING in a LONG TIME!
Review: This is the BEST King has written in a LONG LONG time.And like any dedicated fan of course I've kept buying his books in the hope that he would return to some of his former glory. And now after a long wait HE HAS !! Believe me the wait has been worthwhile!!!! This book is captivating and quitely intense, it is not as graphic in detail or as gory as some of his other greats (IT, The Shinning) But this is definately a MUST for any serious King fan, and if your just a 'beginner' as far as his novels are concerned then this is a FANTASTIC place to start!
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Summary: The King's New Clothes.
Review: Bag of Bones is not only the new book of The King, he also tries on new clothes. (This, by the way, is a review from a Dutch reader, so if all the words aren't O.K., I'm sorry). King makes a good attempt to change his direction in writing, which results in this thick brick of a book. With Bag of Bones King had weakened his pure Horror style. Instead of that, he goes more 'soft'. I think maybe for the real die hard fans, this is not easy. For new readers, this is a chance to meet the new King. I hope he reaches a lot of them, because this new one is very good. The story is good, and the plotlines are excellent, but because he has put romance in the book, the shocking effect has become less. It was his own choise to change direction, of course, but I think I like the old King better. Maybe it is a matter of getting used to. I'll try. I have read the book with very much pleasure though, and will read the next ones just as I used to. Niq
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Summary: King's Best
Review: I think a lot of so-called serious readers think schlock and Stephen King are synonymous. Well,King's new book,Bag of Bones,will put even their ghosts to shame! Like the Mississippi Delta bluesman,Robert Johnson,you can hear King's soulful voice on every page of this haunted love story.King is also paying homage to Daphne Du Maurier's classic tale,Rebecca.But that homage never gets in the way of King's own very original yarn. The main character,Mike Noonan,is a writer of gothic mysteries.He is also a resident of that most infamous of Main towns,Derry.As the story opens,he is still trying to cope with the death of his wife after four years,as well as a severe case of Writer's Block.There is something here for everyone: a love story,a ghost story,a meditation on what it's really like being a full-time writer, some blues music,and a few small town bigots thrown in for good measure. King's signature wit and conversational prose are also very much in evidence throughout the ! book. Bag of Bones is King at his best.There's a wisdom here.The wisdom of what it's like to be human.King went down to the crossroads,and fell down on his knees.He came back back with a bag of bones to wake up the living!
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Summary: King Greatest Novel Yet!
Review: I just finished my advanced reader's copy today, and I truly must say this is King's greatest novel yet! Not only is it a well written ghost story, but it has the feel of a literary novel with a well plotted romance thrown in to boot. For anyone who hasn't read King, I highly recommend this title!
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Summary: His best in a long time-great story
Review: Four years ago, best-selling author Mike Noonan's wife Jo died. Now forty, Mike is still grieving his loss. He has not written a new book since his spouse passed away. Instead, he has handed in old, unpublished manuscripts. However, his stock has run out and Mike knows he must overcome his writer's block if he is to continue as an author. Determined to finally write a new novel, Mike travels to his country home in Maine where things have radically changed since he last was there. Millionaire Max Devore runs everything in the small town as he makes an all out effort to obtain custody of his three year old granddaughter. Ever since his own son died (father of the little girl), Max has not cared what happens to his daughter-in-law as long as he has the child. Mike finds himself playing Quixote as he takes up the cause of the widow, who he begins to love. However, even as Mike begins to write anew, he has to deal with more than just Max. He struggles with malevolent spirits who want to enact vengeance over a violent act from the previous century. The King is back. Anyone who feels that Stephen King has lost his mantle as the royalty of horror needs to read BAG OF BONES to realize that the beloved author is back in grand style. This is a great ghost story because of the poignant humans, all struggling with grief of a sort. The insight into the writer's process seems more autobiographic (don't know for sure) because the subplot seems to have Mr. King's deepest emotions imbued throughout the passages. The horror segments are classic King, but it is his mortal characters that make this his best novel in years. Hariet Klausner
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