So, that in mind, I couldn't really get into Lisey's Story. I was so distracted by constantly shifting tense, often in the same sentence, and weird sentence constructions, and endless mixes of flashbacks that he already told us the ending of right before he started the flashback, which sort of took away the suspense, that I gave up. I think I made it about a hundred pages in or so. By then my interest was still not hooked, and I returned the book to the library with no plans to buy my own copy.

I am disappointed and feel let down by him, though this is only the most blatant example of a progression of disappointments the past few years.

Still, I guess I'm hoping that someone else might be able to give a convincing argument in favor of the wonderfulness of his latest novel, and get me to try again . I don't know. I just don't like being let down by an author so dear to my heart.

The book was indeed somewhat different than typical King fare, and not my favorite by him--but there's a lot of room between my favorites of his and a bad book. It starts out like a literary work (i.e., slow and subtle) but gets more King-like beyond (well beyond) the first hundred pages. At the risk of providing a spoiler, the discoveries she's making, and memories she's uncovering, are needed to help with a very King-like scenario in the last third.

For me it showed that despite the sometimes over-the-top style he diplays in the main body of his works, the guy really is a skilled writer. Another one that impressed me that way was a piece from one of his short story collections that detailed the state championship run of one of his son's little league baseball teams.