January 25, 2021
MWA Grand Master King (The Outsider) demonstrates that no good deed goes unpunished in this gruesome yet mesmerizing paranormal coming-of-age story. For as long as he can remember, 13-year-old Jamie Conklin has been able to see dead people, and images of bloody homicide victims and grotesquely disfigured casualties of traffic accidents haunt him. His gift is sometimes a blessing, as when his protective mother, Tia, an industrious literary agent whose company is on the verge of bankruptcy, exploits his talent for monetary gain, cementing her bestselling client’s legacy in the process. More often, though, it’s a curse, slyly capitalized on by Tia’s girlfriend, NYPD Det. Liz Dutton, who pressures Jamie to aid her in bringing an end to a notorious mass bomber’s 18-year reign of terror. Inevitably, perhaps, Jamie’s virtuous deeds expose him to heinous things no boy should see and bring wrath and vengeance and cruelty upon him. Gory and unnerving, this twisty chiller has sufficient sins and revelations to keep readers pursuing the action to its breathless conclusion. King fans are in for a treat. Agent: Chuck Verrill, Darhansoff & Verrill.

January 15, 2021
Horrormeister King follows a boy's journey from childhood to adolescence among the dead--and their even creepier living counterparts. Jamie Conklin sees dead people. Not for very long--they fade away after a week or so--but during that time he can talk to them, ask them questions, and compel them to answer truthfully. His uncanny gift at first seems utterly unrelated to his mother Tia's work as a literary agent, but the links become disturbingly clear when her star client, Regis Thomas, dies shortly after starting work on the newest entry in his bestselling Roanoke Saga, and Tia and her lover, NYPD Detective Liz Dutton, drive Jamie out to Cobblestone Cottage to encourage the late author to dictate an outline of his latest page-turner so that Tia, who's fallen on hard times, can write it in his name instead of returning his advance and her cut. Now that she's seen what Jamie can do, Liz takes it on herself to arrange an interview in which Jamie will ask Kenneth Therriault, a serial bomber who's just killed himself, where he's stowed his latest explosive device before it can explode posthumously. His post-mortem encounter with Therriault exacts a high price on Jamie, who now finds himself more haunted than ever, though he never gives up on the everyday experiences in which King roots all his nightmares. Crave chills and thrills but don't have time for a King epic? This will do the job before bedtime. Not that you'll sleep.

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Starred review from February 15, 2021
Teenager Jamie Conklin warns the reader at the outset that "this is a horror story." He's right--we learn in the opening chapter that Jamie can see dead people, sometimes with innards on display--but King's beguiling short novel is really more of a genre-bender, combining the horror with a sensitive coming-of-age tale and an old-school crime thriller. There's also a nifty publishing subplot involving Jamie's literary-agent mother, Tia, whose struggling business (she lost her savings when a Ponzi scheme imploded) depends on the continued output of a best-selling author of historical romances. Jamie would prefer to keep his eyes closed to dead people, but when his mother and her lover, police detective Liz, both in serious jams, are forced to admit the teenager is telling the truth about his special ability, Jamie is inveigled into doing some paranormal sleuthing. Cue more innards. But there are also relationship issues between Tia and Liz, leading to an even bigger jam (with demons) for Jamie. In his signature style, King keeps the narrative cantering along, mixing lots of pop culture into the flow and building Jamie into a witty and thoroughly empathetic lead (recalling the teens in King's It and his novella "The Body" (on which the movie Stand by Me was based). This may be the most ingratiating mix of sweet and sour since Daniel Kraus' genre-bender Blood Sugar (2019).

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