Amadan na Briona

Lisey's Story is half horror story, half semi-autobiographical ode to King's wife. Lisey's deceased husband, a former best-selling novelist named Scott Landon, is certainly not Stephen King, but those familiar with King can see a lot of him in Landon.

Two years after Landon's death, Lisey finds herself being stalked by a deranged lunatic, and to save herself, she must call upon help from her crazy older sister, her dead husband, the dark secrets buried with him, and her own will. The story has all the elements of a typical King novel: violence, a batshit crazy bad guy, deep character studies, literary references, and otherworldly horrors intruding into the most mundane settings. Pleasingly, Lisey "straps it on" as she says and deals with her enemy with resolve and courage, but the finale is just the reward at the end of the story, which is really about Lisey and her husband and their love which survives death.

Lisey's Story is one of the more recent King novels, and it doesn't have the feel of his classic monster tales. I liked it, being neither my favorite nor my least favorite King novel by far, but this is one for those who enjoy King's writing; he doesn't really do anything we haven't seen before in this book. Of course, at this point it's pretty hard for King to do anything we haven't seen before. It won't disappoint his fans and it's a good read even for those who aren't huge King fans, especially if you prefer a book that's a bit lighter on spooks and gore. 3.5 stars.