Rating: 
Summary: King at his best!
Review: I read DESPERATION when it first came out. I felt it was one of King's best. He invented a storyline which kept the reader entranced throughout the book. I must say that I did like this one a bit better than "THE REGULATORS" but readers must realize that they should read this one first for optimal pleasure. This book is a bit slow at times but mostly keeps a good pace throughout. I recommend reading RIDING THE BULLET off of this site!
Rating: 
Summary: Spine chilling story telling at its best!
Review: I have recently finished reading Desperation and I have to say, this book scared the daylights out of me. Trust me, I don't scare easy! Stephen King once wrote, "..a writer is someone who has taught their mind to misbehave.." Makes you wonder... Imagine travelling down one of the lonliest roads in America and then encountering 'The Cop From Hell'. This should give you a basic idea of where this story is coming from, but only just. This book tells the story of a group of people from very different backgrounds, thrown together by circumstance and who have to rely on on each other, but in particular a young boy called David and an old "has been" writer called Johnny, to escape from a nightmare town known as Desperation. What's great about this story is that at it's heart, it is a classic tale of good against evil, and if you want to enjoy a good horror story, you have to believe in the power of both. Coming from a "And a little child shall lead them" vein, King shows us how this group of people first experience disbelief, frustration then fear which leads them to desperation (both physically and emotionally). But as soon as they start to "believe" (espeically about what David tells them), we see their desperation end and the way out of their situation made plain. I'll not say any more than that. King's description of what happens to a body when it has been used up by the evil force in this tale, is pretty gory, so be warned! If you like scary stories that are scary, then this one is for you. If you have delicate sensibilities or are easily offended, then you really shouldn't be reading horror stories anyway. But be warned, this tale might give you nightmares! (Cue maniacle laugh).
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but empty journey to nowhere
Review: King's ability to move a story along and keep it suspenseful are in full force in "Desperation." Fast moving though it is, however, the plot is not very satisfying. What starts off seeming to be a scary story about a cop-gone-mad in the middle of nowhere turns into a run-of-the-mill supernatural story. Well, not exactly run-of-the-mill. Much horror gets its power from familiarity. A non-supernatural thriller is not just scary because of the hook at the end of the chapter, but because it juxtaposes recognizable places, people, situations with terrifying possibilities that "could happen..." Supernatural thrillers usually do the same thing but take it up a notch by playing with familiar myths, or simply exaggerating the horror of the familiar. So, in "Salem's Lot" it turns out that vampires are real after all. In "Carrie," the girl who gets picked on in high school does what we all hoped to do in such situations (or all feared if putting somebody else in the situation). "Desperation's" source of evil is totally new. No connection to biblical arcana, no link to Native American mythology, no see-it-everyday-scarecrow-come-to-life. The evil thing is a new force. And not a particularly powerful one, if you think about it. The thing, whose under-developed name, "Tak," has an interesting relationship with small crumbling trinkets and creepy animals, but its not especially powerful, not especially meaningful, and not sufficiently recognizable to awaken our deeply held fears. Meanwhile, "God's" role in the book manages to alienate the reader from the one familiar supernatural being in the book. Is King making fun of theology? Is this theology? Are we supposed to guess that "God" isn't God? What we're left with is a book that mimics an aspect of its own story -- an interesting and scary journey to nowhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent, entertaining but not his best
Review: Latter era King often lets me down..(think Gerald's Game, Wizard of Glass-we waited years for THIS? ) but on the other hand we have Bag of Bones, an excellent read. Desperation is a good read, but.... I felt let down when the book ended. He could have done so much more...The end was relentlessly cornball, yuck. Also, why does EVERY CHARACTER SK writes have to either a writer or a teacher? Variety please. I think maybe King's prolific self is his own worst enemy. A good editor could turn good into great if they dared to edit the King. Reread the Stand or It or Insomnia instead.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, clever, clever trick.
Review: Okay, I read this book. Now, to fully appreciate this book, you also have to read The Regulators, which King wrote under his Bachman alias. The two books go together, and they make each separate book even stronger. Desperation is a creepy story that has a strong plot. I won't go into it, because it'd ruin the story... but the continuity and subtle references to other stories by King make this a must-read for a King fan alone. The book's got eerie overtones of Lovecraft, and, hey, it's one of the better books he's written in the past few years.
Rating:
Summary: Kings Best, IMHO
Review: I've been a Stephen King fan for, like, FOREVER and have virtually read 'em all. This is the absolute top, so far, OMHO. I had to keep shutting the book to digest the horror and calm down before continuing. Amazing twists and turns. It just doesn't get better (or scarier).
Rating:
Summary: More like 4 1/2 STARS! Excellent
Review: I have only read a few of Stephen King's books, but Desperation is the best book I have read yet. The characters are well written, and I simply loved the character of Collie Entragian. The humor and cynicism (sp?) in the book was a surprise. I definitely recommend this book. I hope the movie does the book justice. I don't want to give too much away, but for those who have already read Desperation, my only complaint is that a certain character ended up all alone in the end. Other than that, reading Desperation was an incredible ride. My only fear is that the next Stephen King book I read will not be as good as Desperation.
Rating:
Summary: Vintage King
Review: I have always been a King supporter, having read just about every book the man has written. His most recent works, however have left me a little cold. I decided to pick up "Desperation" thinking that it might be more like his "old style" of writing. Boy Oh Boy, was I right. This story ranks right up there with some of his best. His characters are well developed, and the plot keeps you wanting to stay up into the late hours reading. Great read, I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: God is cruel!
Review: Whoa! This is the masterpiece, combined with 'The Regulators'. This book is just monumental, along with 'The Stand', 'It' and 'Needful Things'. They are currently producing the movie and I can't just wait until the DVD goes for the market. Imagine Stephen King on vacation, going to the West Coast. Driving through a deserted vilage in Nevada, his brain immediately produces the mayhem that resulted in extermination of virtually all inhabitants of the mine-town. The narration is "plastic" - King put a lot of effort to enable readers to visualize the desert environment and dust of sun-blasted Nevada. Personally, I would prefer to be in North Greenland, than in Nevada. Nevertheless, even such a polar-bear as me found it convincing. I only wish that King had put the extended and juicy story of the mayhem. The novel is about God and His cruelty. Another example of phisolophical stigma that is present in King's recent writings. Why do innocent ones have to suffer? Why those, who seemingly less deserve to survive, eventually end up well and those who have never hurt a fly and had always been good-natured folks - have to die without warning or purpose? God is cruel. So are we. Haven't we been created in his image?
Rating:
Summary: First of all
Review: don't read the editorial reviews above. They give away far too much about this book! Desperation is a great story. It tells of several different groups of people: a writer, a widowed wife (you'll find out why), a touring family, and three others-all of whom wind up in the town of Desperation: a seemingly deserted town that herolds a deadly secret: it isn't deserted. The group of survivors, rounded together in the police building by a crazy cop that can't seem to stop bleeding, must now try to escape with their lives before the enraged police officer can track them down and gut them (well, that's basically what he has done to everyone else in the town). I won't say too much more, except to give it time. By the beggining of part 3, everything falls into place, and a rollercoaster of horror and suspense starts that you won't want to stop. Desperation isn't recommended for young people since not only is the profanity abundent, but the sexual (and homosexual) references are very clear and imperative. Steer clear if you can't handle descriptive "body parts".
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