Rating: 
Summary: Great Premise, Typically Weak Ending
Review: This is a typical Stephen King offering. I'm a big fan of ghost stories and this was a fantastic idea. It is a compelling read and will keep you turning pages long into the night. Plus, unlike many ghost stories released today, it is not an evil, sinister book that leaves you feeling sick to your stomach. I would have given this book a 5 star rating and ranked it as one of the best ghost stories I have ever read if he could have pulled off an ending to compare with the excellent story. As is the case with most King books, though, he built a great story only to disappoint with a ridiculous climactic scene. Because of his endings, King is fairly overrated in my opinion. He's never brought off an ending to compare with "Sixth Sense."
Rating: 
Summary: Nice binding, interesting cover art
Review: Attention Stephen King fans and Stephen King. Don't hate me because I'm truthful.....This book, Bag of Bones, seems to have been made in the following manner: 1. Make a character (a rich best-selling writer, coincidence?) who should be pitied because of his situation. 2. Try and double that pity by giving him writer's block. 3. Bore the readers with what amounts closely to Casper (with a spelling disability) playing Scrabble with magnetic letters on a refrigerator so that said letters spell out little messages. Example: donT bYe tHIs boOk 4. Include two key scenes after the reader has struggled through 450 pages to trick him/her into thinking the book was interesting. Scene #1: A gun battle between custody lawyers and computer store security guards. Scene #2: The rape of a black woman. I'm not making this up. 5. As a working title, use "What I Did This Summer (Ghost Added for Effect)" Now, I gave the book two stars because I like the main character's style a little. It seems his life is made up of best sellers. ....I'm not going to waste my time thinking about Bag of Bones anymore. Thanks for reading my review. Trust me.
Rating: 
Summary: Good King
Review: I've had the unusual chance lately of reading both BAG OF BONES and THE SHINING at the same time. I have been reading BONES quietly alone in my room, while I have been introducing my girlfriend to the world of Stephen King by reading THE SHINING aloud to her. After comparing the two, it is interesting how BONES shows both King's maturation as a writer, and his weaknesses of late. First, the good stuff. BONES is a terrific story (set around Derry and Castle Rock, of course). It follows the life of Micheal Noonan, successful writer, as he copes with the death of his wife Jo. While he seems emotionally adapted to live alone, he has a serious problem: Mike can't write. He is under a spell of SEVERE writer's block. As he anguishes over it, he returns to his summer home, and discovers the possibility of new love, the long-sought return of his writing abilities, and several unusual occurances that seem to suggest that Mike Noonan's house (and he, as well) is haunted. Once again, King proves that his best qualities come forth in the creation of his characters. Even in his least successful novels, King has always shown a flair for characterization. Noonan is a wonderful protagonist; his grief at both the loss of his wife and livelihood is palpable. (King might be using the author-as-hero ploy a bit too often. Noonan might not be Stephen King himself, but he is a publishing relative (Robert R. McCammon, perhaps?)) The people he meets are equally entertaining, down to the smallest role. Royce Merrill, an ancient crone with nothing to do but leer, is only in one scene that I recall, but his appearance remains with the reader. While some have commented that King goes on too long in his desciptions of how the book world works, I find it adds to the story, and moves along quite enjoyably. I also get the sense that this is the part of the novel that is TRULY autobiographical. And while BONES may not have the horific thrust of other of King's works, King can still write suspense with the best. A scene of Noonan's near-drowning, in absolutely absurd circumstances, is a marvel of descriptive terror. Finally, as in most of King's stories of late, his reintroduction of people from other novels adds a good touch of insider humour. There's Ralph Roberts from INSOMNIA, Norris Ridgewick from NEEDFUL THINGS, and we find out what happened to Thad Beaumont from THE DARK HALF. These are minor touches, but it adds to the overall picture of his Maine novels. Now the bad stuff. Well, not bad. Disappointing. Perhaps it's a sign of our times, but what once may have been spooky is now merely second-nature to us. In BONES, King's spectral manifestations makes themselves known by writing phrases with refridgerator magnets, and by thumping the walls and ringing bells. Reading these passages, I couldn't help but think of THE SHINING, where King creates monumental terror over a firehose that is lying in the middle of a hallway. Not moving around, but simply lying in one place. Ringing bells just can't compare. King's final scenes (sorry, won't give away the ending here) are uneven as well. As I read of Noonan's final battle, I couldn't help but think of the climax to THE HAUNTING (not the terrific original Julie Harris movie, but the remake with Liam Neeson). The ending of the movie was not frightening at all. Worse, with its overuse of special effects, it made me laugh. Somehow, King's ending had overtones of the filmmaker's desperation at trying to wrap up the plot. King also has an epilogue that functions as a sort of explanation of what happened previously. The story may have needed it, but King's use of exposition reminds me of nothing so much as the ending to PSYCHO, where a detective calmly and rationally explains Norman Bates' psychosis. It's a coda that doesn't work. But that's quibbling. King isn't out to scare the reader in the same manner as in THE SHINING or SALEM'S LOT. As Noonan's agent remarks on the newest publication, this is a new area that should reach a lot more readers (not that King is lacking in that department). It's good Stephen King. Not great, although at times, it is as good as anything he has ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent story!
Review: I loved this book. I have read a number of Stephen Kings books and this is one of my favourites. The reasons are the heavy atmosphere of the setting and the story largely involving just the main character. I usually avoid "horror stories" because my imagination goes into overdrive but I make the exception for Stephen King because they are always so much more than just a scary story.
Rating: 
Summary: Review: Bag of Bones
Review: Bag of Bones was a riveting tale that I could not put down. It was mainly about a writer named Micheal Noonan, who suddenly lost his wife to a brain aneurysm. The book takes place mostly at Sara Laughs, a summerhouse of the Noonans'. Micheal gets involved in a situation with a young widow and her custody battle with her powerful father-in-law for her daughter. Bag of Bones was one of King's finest works, in my opinion. This is because it's so different from his regular horror stories. It still has that touch of terror, but it also has an incredibly sensitive side to it. This side is shown through the soft hearted Micheal Noonan. This story also stands out so much from King's pieces because it's full of little details that show a very human side of the characters. This book is a good model for writing, since it's so full of imagery, "Once more it was dog-hot, the sun glaring out of a white-haze sky and lying on everything like melted brass." This is one of the examples that make images clear in this story. Another technique that King uses well is making the characters come to life. Micheal Noonan speaks his thoughts in a very real way,"-the clearest memory I have is of eating Jo's chocolate mouse and crying...crying mostly, I think, because I knew how soon the taste of it would be gone." This really draws the reader in and helps them relate to the character's feelings. The setting in this book really helps the mood and plot. Since it takes place in an old town, a lot of history is involved, including ghosts and unsolved mysteries. There's also a lot of symbolism involved in Bag of Bones, since he has many dreams, that represent events in his life. He dreams of Sara Laughs, who once was very famous in the town, and represents the pain of the past and how you can't bury your secrets. The main theme of this story, the way I interpreted it, was that love will never leave you, in death or life. Micheal's dead wife was with him in engimatic ways throughout, and many bonds of love were mixed into the story. This book isn't necessarily something everyone would enjoy. It gets into graphic details sometimes that are not very pleasant. I think King could work on that. It seems to me that he has a very gory side that he has to express in every story he writes, and if he could've left it out of this one, I'm sure many more people could enjoy it. Points can still be made effective without descriptions of smashed brains and other not so delightful details. The length of the book is very long, and in some parts I think he could have cut it a bit shorter. The details were very effective, but at times could get bothersome when they became drawn out. In all though, this was a book I absolutely loved. It really was thought provoking, and made you think long after the book was finished.
Rating:
Summary: Another surprise!
Review: I was almost certain that I was going to dislike this book. The description sounding boring, but having finished Hearts in Atlantis earlier, I knew that the back cover doesn't always tell the truth about what's packed inside. I think this is a book that you will either love or hate. I've noticed that King has become much more proficient with character development (I mean, come on, he did provide some background but at least didn't start out from the day Noonan was born up until present time). So if you buy into the Noonan development, chances are you'll stick with the rest of the story. Having recently finished this book, all I can say is - Wow! There were quite a few surprises (plus some good ol' horror cliches). Everything makes sense in the end. This is another great display of King's maturing talent. I can't wait to read more!
Rating:
Summary: Death to the King
Review: Bag of Bones is a writer-haunted book, too. The spirits of Herman Melville and Ray Bradbury are deeply felt, and so are the tale's two romances (the hero muses on his marriage and falls for a young single mom with a marvelous, psychic daughter). There is also good-humored satire of the real bestseller book world--the hero complains that "the publicity process is like going to a sushi bar where you're the sushi." In its deep concerns with love, sprawling families, the writer's life, endangered children, and good old-fashioned storytelling, the book resembles a John Irving novel. It is also absolutely classic Stephen King, packed with nifty turns of phrase, irreverent wit, and lurid ghouls who grab you from beneath the bed while you cower under the covers.
Rating:
Summary: I'll stick to his non-fiction
Review: Although I enjoyed the movie "Stand By Me" I had never read anything by Stephen King. I read his recent non-fiction "On Writing" and thought it was great. And so when I saw "Bag of Bones" I picked it up. A good case can be made that the writer Mike Noonan is an alter ego for Stephen King. If so, Stephen King thinks very highly of himself. Not only is Mike Noonan this resourceful hero rescuer, but his devoted sexy wife spends her afterlife being devoted to him, and an incredibly beautiful 20-year-old is hot for him too. What a stud. Early in the book, I thought that the protagonist's wife was actually mad at him, and I thought that the reason for that would be revealed. That made the supernatural stuff scary, and the protagonist's psychology interesting. Half way through the book, the supernatural stuff became ludicrous, and it was clear that the wife was not mad at him and the book was just a bag of mediocrity.
Rating:
Summary: S-P-O-O-K-Y! It Blew me away!
Review: This is the first Stephen King book I have read and actually finished. His characters were just so amazing, and they seemed so real. This book was full of suprises and lots of scares! I am in the 8th grade and I finished the 30 chapter book in 11 days. Now that I have read my first Stephen King book I would like to continue reading more of his books. For anyone who would enjoy reading a thrilling novel I suggest you check out Stephen King's "Bag of Bones". It's a story that will stick to you and you will definitely enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: S-C-A-R-Y! You might have a nightmare just by reading it
Review: This was the first time I read the books by Stephen King, I have always thought he is a crappy author, guess I was wrong. Bag of Bones turned out to be really really scary. After I read it at night, I would be kind of scare to turn off the light and to go to bed. It had a big affect on me, I always thought that I'd for sure have a nightmare after I read the book, but I always get too tired to dream after I read the book. It is scary, sweet, cute, funny but sad. I don't like when main characters die, like Mattie. It was really sad and I hated it.
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