Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly involving, chilling horror
Review: The thing I noticed the first time I picked up a Stephen King book was his uncanny knack for detail. He could take a simple thing and go on about it for a paragraph and make it interesting. This is one of the key elements in "Desperation," a novel that thrives on its details. If it wasn't for the incredible descriptions of the Tak character, we wouldn't get that utterly grotesque mental picture of a creature that causes the bodies it inhabits to, quite literally, fall apart. Blood seeps from every orafice on the body like it serves as nothing more than a river system of open wounds. Tak is one mean SOB, and he's also one of King's most memorable villains. And of course, in order to combat a villain of Tak's stature, you need a good hero, or a group of good heroes. We have them in "Desperation." The middle-aged writer traveling the country, the young channel to God... Each character is interesting and well written, as King's character's usually are."Desperation" is mostly about Tak, and the power that he mysteriously holds over a small desert town full of dead bodies, and coyotes that obey his every command. The people who end up in this dead end town are nothing more than meat on a slab to this mischievious force, whom the devil would more than likely take in as a son or a brother. Tak is a merciless force of the paranormal that is hard to understand, but that is okay, but evil in itself can be a difficult concept. Heck, humanity can be a difficult concept, but that's what makes it interesting. Not really knowing what Tak wants even while we're seeing things from his point of view makes for some of the novels most interesting passages. Maybe it takes a reader that really gets inside and becomes part of the story, but I thoroughly enjoyed "Desperation," and being the nut I am for perverted jokes, I always laughed at King's little innuendoes. He must be a great guy to hang out with at parties.
Rating:
Summary: Made me a convert
Review: I had always avoided King because I think of myself as preferring "serious" literature. Desperation changed my mind about the horror genre entirely, and although I have since read several more of King's novels, it remains my favorite. People have complained this book is a rehash of previous works, but many solid writers re-visit themes and motifs that have particular meaning for them. No one criticized Hemingway for it. I'm not a big horror fan in general, but the real horror in this book is internal and familiar to almost everyone. Belief vs. skepticism. Insecurity and guilt. What if? Sure, there are a lot of memorable action scenes, but what fascinated me more is the unusual re-telling of the Book of Job. This book reminded me of some of Philip K. Dick's religious sci-fi novels. There's a tremendous amount of passion and soul-searching here. The writer is obviously the author's alter-ego, which adds another layer of depth. One of the other reviewers mentioned that Desperation caused him/her to seriously evaluate his/her religious beliefs. That's pretty impressive for a mass-market paperback, and I had the same reaction. The book can be read on at least three different levels, and it holds up on all of them. Just reading people's reviews made me want to go through it again.
Rating:
Summary: a very overlooked King book
Review: this is probably my favorite Stephen King book. I have read it 3 times, each time during lengthy trips across the world, and ech time I've read it it was as if it was my first. It is a very great book for me. For some reason I can imagine things in the book PERFECTLY, or at least in a way that makes the book truly come alive for me anyway. Each place they went to hide from Entragian was a place that I had been in in my life before or at the time I first read it. For instance the seedy, abandoned theater that they took to for shelter was the pornon theater that my father had purchased when I first read the book. And the way taht the theater was described didn't prove me wrong at all but actually made it seem like, in a wierd way, he was talking about the same building. But, either way that you imagine it, you are bound to enjoy it, because it is truly an excellent book. very creepy and...I guess that atmospheric would be an ok word to describe it. It picks up really fast..like right when it starts..Anyway. I Strongly reccomend this book as well as the sequel written under King's pseudonym, The regulators. You are sure to enjoy them.
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King at His Best
Review: Last fall, I had a little time on my hands to kill and I decided to stop by the library. I picked up the Stephen King book Hearts in Atlantis. I brought it home and finished reading it. I was intrigued. However, I was perplexed-this was my first Stephen King book-and I didn't find it to be all that horrifying. Anyway, I read Pet Sematary, just to be sure, and halfway through I was hooked. In October, at Border's Books and Music, I purchased Desperation. I read a few pages when I got home, and I found myself unable to put it down. This is by far his best book I have read so far. The setting is in the lonely town of Desperation, Nevada. Entragian, or Tak, the evil spirit who has taken his body, is out to rule the world. Steve Ames and Cynthia stumble upon a horrific scene as they follow Steve's boss into Desperation. The Carvers, Mary Jackson, Jonny Marinville, and Steve Ames and Cynthia are now trapped, and Tak is getting angrier by the minute. How will they survive? I strongly reccomend this book to anyone with a strong stomach. (You'll know why when you read it) There's a twist and turn every other page. You'll find yourself reading this book all night! You won't be able to put it down! Guarenteed!
Rating:
Summary: Made me a convert
Review: I had always avoided King because I think of myself as preferring "serious" literature. Desperation changed my mind about the horror genre entirely, and although I have since read several more of King's novels, it remains my favorite. People have complained this book is a rehash of previous works, but many solid writers re-visit themes and motifs that have particular meaning for them. No one criticized Hemingway for it. I'm not a big horror fan in general, but the real horror in this book is internal and familiar to almost everyone. Belief vs. skepticism. Insecurity and guilt. What if? Sure, there are a lot of memorable action scenes, but what fascinated me more is the unusual re-telling of the Book of Job. This book reminded me of some of Philip K. Dick's religious sci-fi novels. There's a tremendous amount of passion and soul-searching here. The writer is obviously the author's alter-ego, which adds another layer of depth. One of the other reviewers mentioned that Desperation caused him/her to seriously evaluate his/her religious beliefs. That's pretty impressive for a mass-market paperback, and I had the same reaction. The book can be read on at least three different levels, and it holds up on all of them. Just reading people's reviews made me want to go through it again.
Rating:
Summary: Desperate attempt at insanity
Review: This book was about the fourth Stephrn King book that I read, I found it to be amzingly inventive. It starts off with Mary and Peter Jackson, driving down a lonely highway in Nevada, after Mary sees a dead cat nailed to a road sign she becomes uncomforatble. Soon a strange police cruiser appears to be stalking them and after a while they are pulled over. Things lead to another from here, I would elaborate on the plot more but I have a helluva head ache so I'm signing off.
Rating:
Summary: Nightmares every day
Review: Hands down... This book gave me ongoing nightmares for 2 consecutive weeks.
That's the power of Stephen King.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful read!
Review: The story is set in a once thriving copper mining town called Desperation, only now it appears to be eerily deserted.
From the first page,
"Oh! Oh, Jesus! Gross!"...
..."On that sign. That speed-limit sign...There was a dead cat on it...nailed there..."
this book had me hooked. Great characters, each with recognisable traits. I found myself not being able to stop reading...HAVING to know what was going to happen, yet as I got nearer to the end of the book I didn't want it to end. An excellent book which I also found theologically thought provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: Revisiting King
Review: When I was in high school, I went through a major Stephen King phase. He was the only author I would read, and I didn't stop until I'd read every thing he wrote (up to "The Green Mile"). That was a few years ago, and recently I was in the mood to come back to him and do some catch up with the things he's written since. I read "Desperation" and I'm currently in the middle of its sister book "The Regulators," and while I enjoyed "Desperation," I do have to admit that I've outgrown King somewhat. I don't know if he's gotten worse as a writer, or whether he's always written like this and I'm just remembering him from a different perspective, but his writing is just so SLOPPY. I feel like there's no tightness to it at all; it's like a really fatty piece of meat---there are good parts, but you have to cut around all of the inedible portions to get to them. He builds some nice effective creepy dread in the novel's first half, but by the time it's over, it's not really scary anymore. I admit that I was pretty hooked for the whole thing and did my share of page turning, but the whole time I was reading I was aware that I was reading schlock well below my reading level, and King's writing never affected me like that before. I know that sounds pompous, and I really don't mean it to, but it's just the honest truth. He really belongs in the same class as John Grisham, except he's got more imagination in his thumbnail than Grisham has in his entire body. After I finish "The Regulators" I think my Stephen King craving will be satisfied for some time to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong theme, interesting read
Review: I've read literally ALL of Stephen King's books. If this were my first, I might give it five stars. Having read The Stand, The Talisman, and It, I have to drop it down to four. I thought the story was a little weak-I'm not sure I ever really "got" what Tak is, beyond a bad demon of some sort. And the link to The Regulators (a truly bad book) is mystifying. To me, though, the spiritual theme made it fascinating. As always, Stephen King puts good forces against evil, always with a little free will thrown in for good measure...free will that *almost* but not quite ruins the day, and ends up serving some greater purpose in itself. David Carver's transformation from a blind faith based on something he believes to a heart-wrenching realization that what he's been saying all along-that God is cruel-is actually and personally true is touching and really hits home. And Johnny, very similar to Larry Underwood in many ways (good ole Larry, my favorite King character ever). The reluctant hero, transformed from the self-serving lush. For some reason he's just incredibly endearing.
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