The Regulators by Stephen King

The Regulators by Stephen King
First Printing: 1996 by Dutton
Illustrations by Jaye Zimet
Map by Virginia Norey
Cover Artist: Unknown

I'm back after a week off for Christmas! I took the time away to finish the companion to Desperation by Stephen King. Like it's partner, The Regulators was not lacking in scare factor. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering who would live and who would die. Unlike Desperation, however, The Regulators had some major pitfalls that were laying right out in the open.

The Regulators is set in Wentworth, Ohio. On a sunny day in midsummer, the residents of Poplar street are out enjoying themselves. Kids run around outside, neighbors wash their cars, and writer Johnny Marinville is playing his guitar on the front stoop. It's a day as lovely as any other, until a space-age red van pulls onto the street. The neighborhood paperboy goes down in a hail of gunfire, and from then on Poplar street is a war-between the neighbors and a gang of futuristic vans driven by ghostly characters.

The foul god Tak is back, and this time he's in control of an autistic little boy named Seth. Tak realizes all of Seth's fantasies by bringing the characters from his favorite TV shows to life. These happen to be shoot 'em up cowboys from old westerns, and a gang of super heroes called the MotoKops. But Tak turns these characters into his own evil cohorts, and he sets them loose on Seth's family and neighbors. The Motokops tear down Poplar Street in their power wagons, taking the cowboys along for the ride. They mow down anyone in their path with shotguns, and the neighbors must band together to escape being killed by these fantasy fiends.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5
This book was not lacking in the horror department. It's violent attention to detail was disturbing, and the twisted childhood fantasies were frightening enough to give me one of those "I don't want to keep going, but I can't look away" feelings. However, I kept getting distracted by shaky sentences and grammatical errors. Here's a grand example:
"... David Carver with tendrils of blood running down his white, blubbery sides in tendrils." (page 82)
Yikes.
And if any of these character names look familiar, it's because Stephen King reused them for this book. It's not a true sequel, it's more of an alternate timeline. Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of that. I would have preferred a continuation of Desperation, or a prequel of some sort. All in all, this book felt like something slapped together at the last minute. I won't be returning to it anytime soon.

Favorite Quote:
"Dave took the shells and opened the box while his brother rolled the .45's cylinder and held the gun up to the light, checking to make sure the chambers were empty just as Johnny had done. We're careful because we understand the potential a gun has to maim and kill, Johnny thought, but it's more than that. On some level we know they're evil. Devilish. Even their biggest fans and partisans sense it." (page 240)

The Regulators is available in physical and digital copies from all major booksellers, including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

The Lowland

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
First Printing: 2013 by Knopf

After reading Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, I knew I had to read more of her work. Her way of revealing people through their actions made her stories ensnare you. I felt like I was looking through a window right into these peoples' lives. The Lowland instantly made my list of to-be-reads. My expectations were high, I was prepared for my mind to be blown. Unfortunately, my excitement quickly died and I grew disappointed as I struggled to even finish this book.

The story opens in Tollygunge, a region in Calcutta, India. Subhash and Udayan Mitra grow up together on a quiet street with their parents. Though Subhash is the oldest, Udayan is the outspoken leader of the two. He leads them on adventures and gets them into mischief. As a child he didn't mind it, but as the boys grow older and go off to college Subhash begins to feel a void between him and his brother. His brother's strength makes Subhash question his own. When Udayan joins the Naxalite Movement (a communist group founded on Mao's teachings) and violence spreads across India, Subhash transfers to a college in America. Subhash distances himself from India and his family, keeping his homeland's civil unrest out of his mind. Udayan dives headfirst into the communist movement. He attends all the meetings and is present at every protest. Subhash becomes angry with his brother, worrying that his outspokenness will endanger the family. When Udayan takes a wife, Subhash hopes things will finally settle down. But an urgent letter from home forces him to return to India immediately, and what he finds there changes his life forever.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5
I really wanted to like this book. With each chapter I hoped that the story would pick up the pace, that the characters would start to show some depth. A little over halfway through I had to resign myself to the facts: The story was dull and there was no saving it at this point. The Naxalite movement, a theme that was supposed to be a major contender in this book, was barely involved. I wish Lahiri would have delved more into that part of the book, showing what the movement was fighting for. The scant descriptions of its involvement in Indian history were dumbed down until they were a bore. In this particular book, I felt that Lahiri had lost her sense of showing you a person rather than telling you about them. The characters felt lifeless, and the book progressed slowly with very little action. Most of the explanation and action was crammed into the last 30 pages, like an afterthought.I have no doubt that Lahiri is a great and important writer, but she really dropped the ball on this one. I won't be reading this book again.

Favorite Quote:
"Though there marriage had not been a solution, it had taken her away from Tollygunge. He had brought her to America and then, like an animal briefly observed, briefly caged, released her. He had protected her, he had attempted to love her. Every time she had to open a new jar of jam, she resorted to the trick he'd taught her, of banging the edge of the lid three or four times with a spoon, to break the seal." (page 243)

The Lowland is available in physical and digital copies from all major booksellers, including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Stephen King's Desperation

Desperation by Stephen King
First Printing: 1996 by Viking
Interior Art: John Jude Palencar
Cover Art: Unknown

Just look at that glorious beard.

I'm back after taking a week off for Thanksgiving! If your holidays are anything like mine, sometimes books are the only escape. The only thing that could be more terrifying than a family gathering would be a thriller from the master of horror himself.

Desperation converges on a young couple, a family on vacation, and an uninspired writer. Each are travelling through Nevada on the lonely U. S. 50, and each are pulled over by a small-town cop. That cop is Collie Entragian, and something is deeply wrong with him. He arrests our travelers on the spot, killing some and jailing the others. The prisoners witness Entragian speaking in an ancient language that the animals not only understand, but obey.

 "He's not just a serial killer; he's the Bram Stoker version of Dr. Dolittle." says Johnny Marinville, the captured writer.

 The entire desert seems bent on keeping them captive, and their only hope comes from an unlikely source. David, the only child in the group, claims to be able to speak to God. David knows that his visions are true, but can he convince the others in time to save them?

About halfway through this book I started having nightmares about scorpions invading my house. In the dream, the only way to get rid of the scorpions was to read the entire book and then the secret to killing them would be revealed. Many times the dream would start with me waking, finding scorpions all over the place, and then peeking over the side of the bed to find this:

Good morning, sunshine!

Final Rating: 4 out of 5
In a nutshell, this story had me hooked enough that I was subconsciously wanting to read it all the time, even while asleep. I stayed up late finishing chapter after chapter, and I was peeking at it during family gatherings. It was terrifying enough to give me nightmares, and the story kept me hooked with its continuous motion. King could have improved upon it by not leaning on his go-to character models (i. e. the hack writer, the bad cop, etc), but the plot was more than enough to keep my interest. I can't wait to get started on its companion, The Regulators!

Favorite Quote:
"GOD FORGIVE ME, I HATE CRITICS!"- Johnny Marinville, page 529

Bonus inside-cover art by John Jude Palencar!

Desperation is available in physical and digital copies from all major booksellers, including Barnes and Noble and Amazon.