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Summary: can tah, CAN TAK..........small god, big god
Review: I began this book thinking it was a crazy-cop psycho-killer, gore-fest, murder-hungry book. I was soooo WRONG. It is much more than that, it is a religious story about the powers of evil and GOD. God is cruel, but John 4/8: God is love. The main charactrs are loveable, hateable, worthy human beings who pull together in a hurry to survive. Come visit the lonliest highway on earth, the small mining town of Desperation, nevada, come visit the condemed theatre that becomes a battle ground for good and evil, then visit the China Pit filled with human Bones. Desperation isn't just atown, it is a state of mind. TAK!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor showing for King in Desperation
Review: Definately not his best work. If your a fan of Stephen King you may enjoy his very untraditional charcters in this book. Definately a change (but not a positive one) for Stephen King. If you've never read King don't pick this book, instead try "The Stand." Desperation read as a desperate attempt by King to simply complete a new book.
Rating: 
Summary: At times chilling, at times predictable...
Review: This was my second King novel, and the contrast between the two is astronomical. My first was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and I found the storyline so compelling that I read the novel in one sitting, unable to put it down. However, I found Desperation much more difficult to become engrossed in. One of the reasons is evident from first picking the book up--it's very long. Another reason is that the storyline becomes rather disjointed. First, the length. I will gladly make a substantial time commitment to a book, but I expect a lot in return. In this case, I'm not convinced it was worth it. I think much of the blame rests with the lengthy conclusion. When an ending is predictable, perhaps an author should either throw in a new twist or get it over with soon. Instead, King prolonged the inevitable, and I found the final chapters frustrating--it caused the effect that most readers hate, when you're reading as fast you can because you want it to end as compared to reading as fast you can because you are so excited/scared/etc. The disjointed storyline was, at times, quite intriguing. I enjoyed how the plot jumped from one set of characters to the next, slowly bringing all of the players together in one setting. At other times, though, the plot's jumping only served to decrease the building horror King attempts to foster. When reading, I often forgot the peril of one group as I tried to pick up where another group left off. Furthermore, the lack of a clearly defined "bad guy" had mixed results. While I applaud the ambiguity to an extent, the lack of one person to fear and dread, and in its place, an abstract entity, weakened the battle between good and evil. Finally, parts of the novel were very compelling, chilling and intriguing. I enjoyed the exploration of the young heroe's Christianity--this angle offered a unique view of a common theme. I also admired the consistency of the characterizations, lending a degree of believability to a horrifying scene. While I can't compare this writing to other King novels, I can see many similiarities between the plot of Desperation and the plot of King movies and television mini-series I have viewed. I don't mean this as a criticism, though. It worked most of the time in the past, and in many instances, it works in this story, too. But in the end, a lack of fine tuning causes the story to drag, and it's difficult to be horrified when you are, instead, bored.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book, Far Better Than The Regulators
Review: This book was much better than I expected. King managed to create great characters and a great plot. This book also managed to achieve something very rare: a couple of parts actually sent chills down my spine. There were a few instances of humor, and plenty of horror. As you might imagine with a book this size, though, it was a bit over written,though not until the last 250 pages. Other than needing to be a bit shorter, my only other problem with this book was the exessive Godly/Heavenly/Christian angle of this book, though that is a personal bias. Other than that, it was a great read.
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Summary: Stephen is KING
Review: My Husband and I listened to the audio version of Desperation, on our trip up the California coast this past weekend. Let me tell you that everytime we passed a CHP we did a double take and did a slight shudder. Not only did King terrify us,but,he made us think about our place on earth . The characters were well written. We were most impressed with Kathy Bates. She was able to use her voice effectivly for each of the characters. Read this book...Hear this book
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Summary: You have the right to remain silent, I am going to kill you!
Review: I thought this was a great book. The entire story takes place in about 12 hours and the book has plenty of spiders, vultures, snakes, coyotes, scorpoins, rats and whatever else might make your skin crawl. (My personal least favorite is rats!) The relationship the boy has with God is an interesting twist and makes the book a true good vs. evil battle. The way the cop mixes the talk of the dead(Tak!) right in with being polite (Gosh, no mamn, I wouldn't hurt you!) is great.
Rating: 
Summary: King's getting desperate
Review: Let's see...an isolated small town under siege, a small group of survivors who have their own psychological hang ups, where have we seen this before? From many unfortunately far more superior Stephen King stories, I'm afraid. The biggest problem with "Desperation" is that the evil protagonist is not one of King's more memorable. Is it possible he has tapped out his fertile imagination? This book has the "Desperation" of a once hot shot pitcher who has lost a few miles-an-hour off of his fastball and is just trying to hang on.
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Summary: THE BEST!
Review: I am a huge Stephen King fan. I have read almost all of his books but this one is the best he has ever written in my opinion. After reading for a bit, I couldn't put it down and read it in 4 days.
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Summary: Great and Entertaining Read!
Review: I read this book in just a couple of days. I couldn't stop reading it. And I am one of those people who get bored quick on some stories. But not this one. This book although not the scariest of King's work is very suspensful. It will keep you turning the page just to see what happens next. I don't think King could write a bad book if he tried! This is something that could come only from King's "twisted" mind! This is a defenition of pure American Literature.
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Summary: Desperation Rating
Review: Desperation By: Stephen King The book Desperation by Stephen King takes place in Nevada, in a car on the highway. The mood includes sorrow, happiness, and fright. The main characters in this story are David Carver and family , Mary and Peter Johnson, Johnny Marinville and Collie Entragian. David is a very spiteful man who is frightened and afraid of what could happen to his family. Peter Johnson is a professor who is worried about his eccentric wife. Mary is very pretty and she cares a lot about her sister and will do anything to help her out. Johnny is a very materialistic guy. He also invented a "gonzo image" for himself astride his 700 pound Harley. Collie is a cop in Nevada and is very strange. He has a very bold face and is built well. He is about 7'0 tall and he is very intimidating to most people. Some of the plots are that the highway that the Johnson's are on will lead to know where and Collie the cop will follow them and kind of be a stalker to the Johnson's on there trip. The major problem with this is that the characters can not get out of the desert of desperation. They get pulled over by the cop who takes them away locks them in a cell and leaves them and others to death will they be able to get out before they die; only time will tell. I think that this is one of the best books that Stephen King ever wrote. I think that he was able to put the suspense into this book. I would say that students if they relate to this book would think that it was more like the movie "Rush Hour" I think that people who read this book will like how the author puts in twists when you would least suspect it. I think that if you want a suspenseful book with thrills at every flip of the page then Stephen Kings book Desperation would be the book for you!
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