One of the best of the late King stories... Although, like many King stories, the story kind of dies after an explosive climax and rolls to a stop. Highly recommended!
First J.K. Rowling book I have read. An excellent writer and a great edition to the genre of hardboiled noir.
A breezy story that rolls to a convenient, contented stop following an underwhelming climax. The anxiety that pervades a story like Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (which is this novel's more confident, self-assured older brother) runs out fairly quickly. I'll recommend it, but please be aware that this is a far from perfect work.
I'll bump up to 5 stars after reading the third installment of the Southern Reach series. An excellent "series" at this point, it's really a novella paired with a novel in two parts.
Enjoyable read and well-paced despite its unwieldy length. Unfortunately, it tends to revel in the sentimentality so prevalent in the subgenre of historical fiction... but I think that's chiefly a personal complaint. Recommended more for fans of Caleb Carr than for fans of Dennis Lehane.
King at a low point is much better than most horror writers. Would likely be a "horror classic" if written by McCammon or Simmons, but one of King's missteps.