Is the black house a good book?

Black House is a great novel. I think you'll enjoy it more if you're read The Dark Tower novel otherwise some of the links and references between the books will be lost on you.

thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com - REVIEW: BLACK HOUSE BY STEPHEN KING & PETER STRAUB

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GENERAL INFORMATION

TITLE: BLACK HOUSE

AUTHOR: STEPHEN KING & PETER STRAUB

PAGES: 624

PUBLISHER: HARPER COLLINS

YEAR: 2001

GENRE: FANTASY FICTION

BLURB FROM THE BACK COVER

French Landing, Wisconsin. A comfortable, solid middle-American town inhabited by comfortable, solid middle-Americans… and a serial killer. Three children have been lost – taken by a monster with a taste for child’s flesh nicknamed ‘The Fisherman’ after a legendary murderer. It’s all way beyond the experience of the local police, whose only hope lies with ex-detective Jack Sawyer, the man who cracked their last case for them. But, plagued by visions of another world, Jack has retired to this rural retreat precisely to avoid such horrors – and, having recognized the touch of madness on this case, he’s keeping well away. Soon, he’ll have no choice. Young Tyler Marshall, left behind one afternoon by his bullying friends, pedals past the local old folks’ home and is accosted by a crow. ‘Gorg,’ it caws, and ‘Ty.’ What ten-year-old could resist a bird that speaks his name? Not Ty, that’s for sure. And as he follows the mysterious crow, he’s grabbed by the neck and dragged into a hedge.

The Fisherman has made another catch…

REVIEW

Black House is considered to be the sequel to The Talisman. I’d be reluctant to describe it as such. The story-line is loosely connected to The Talisman in that it contains recurring characters (Jack Sawyer and Parker/Parkus) and features a few trips to the Territories. However, it can be taken as a stand-alone novel. You don’t need to have read The Talisman to be able to enjoy Black House. Black House uses an unusual and distinctive narrative point-of-view. The story is written from the viewpoint of a crow (a sinister creature the serial killer calls Gorg that helps to lure children) so everything’s written as if you’re flying above the action and swoop into to take a closer look (i.e. moving towards the sun, we glide away from the river…). This odd point-of-view made the first 100-150 pages hard to get through. However, once you get past this first hurdle Black House really takes off and you don’t notice the weird point-of-view as much. In fact, after about 200 pages I didn’t even register it. I struggled to get through the first 150 pages because of the weird point-of-view. It took me a couple of days to slog through. Once I passed that hurdle I read the rest of Black House in one sitting and had a great time with it.

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Black House has clear links to King’s Dark Tower series. Roland and his quest are mentioned. The Dark Tower is mentioned. Parker/Parkus makes it clear the Territories are another part of Roland’s world like Mid-World, End-World and the Borderlands. Breakers are mentioned. The Beams are mentioned. The Crimson King and his plans to destroy the Beams are mentioned. The Little Sisters of Eluria from King’s story of the same name also feature. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest this proves The Talisman is definitely has links to The Dark Tower series since it’s also set in The Territories. I think Black House is our world’s version of the prison where the Breakers are held in The Dark Tower series. I loved these links. After you get past the first chunk of the novel and adapt to the odd point-of-view, Black House is a great novel. It has all the ingredients of a good thriller – missing children, serial killer at large, tension in the community because the local police have failed to catch the killer and vigilante mobs determined to lynch a suspect who might be innocent. This is all blended in with links to other worlds, The Dark Tower and demonic possession. I loved Black House. Black House is well written and engaging. I got completely absorbed in it and read over 400 pages in about three hours.

OTHER STUFF

THE OPENING LINE:

RIGHT HERE AND NOW, as an old friend used to say, we are in the fluid present, where clear-sightedness never guarantees perfect vision…

HIGHLIGHTS

I loved the links to King’s Dark Tower series.

The Fisherman is not the villain you expect him to be. He’s the opposite in fact and the last person you expect to be a child killer. King and Straub make it clear this character is a bit creepy from the start but I had no idea he was the villain. I like it when I don’t see revelations coming.

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My favourite scene is when Jack uses a bunch of lilacs from the Territories to prevent the grieving mother of one of the dead children from leading a mob of vigilantes intent on lynching an innocent man who’s been set up to take the fall for The Fisherman. This reminded me of the scene in Song of Susannah when Susannah/Mia and Pere Callahan use the scrimshaw turtle to hypnotise others.

LOWLIGHTS

The odd point-of-view in Black House was a weak point. It spoiled my enjoyment of the first 150 pages of the novel. If I wasn’t such a huge fan of King this might have been enough to put me off reading the whole novel. I don’t think this weird point-of-view served any purpose.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Black House is a great novel. I think you’ll enjoy it more if you’re read The Dark Tower novel otherwise some of the links and references between the books will be lost on you. This is only my second read-through of Black House. I’d read it again without a doubt.

RATING:

thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com - REVIEW: BLACK HOUSE BY STEPHEN KING & PETER STRAUB

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