The serial concludes with the longest entry, packing in another fifty pages worth of story. The work had more than a few loose ends to tie up, so it certainly works to the book's benefit.
Never the less, with a little over 100 pages, everything has to move quickly. After the build up in the last volume about getting Coffey back in the cell, they do have a fairly easy time of it. Even the aftermath of Percy's ordeal is resolved somewhat abruptly, though that was mostly Coffey's doing.
It seems he had an ulterior motive in keeping in the "sickness" that he usually coughs up. The idea that he was doing it to die on his own terms was an interesting one, but that doesn't prove to be the case. What actually happens is actually surprisingly cunning on Coffey's part. It doesn't hit Light Yagami levels, but considering the guy can't tie his own shoe laces, it showed a surprising amount of forethought.
We do discover who actually raped and murdered the two girls way back at the beginning of the story. The reveal that it was "Wild Bill" is arguably a bit too plot convenient, but the story explains it well enough. It also gives Coffey the chance to punish two bad men in one foul swoop as we see that his powers go even beyond what we had seen previously.
Back on April Fool's Day, I wrote an article positing that Stephen King was going to pull an "Avengers" and have a bunch of his "metahuman" protagonists (such as Carrie, Charlie, John Smith, as well as a few others) team up to take on some big bad. I don't remember if Coffey was in the list. I think he was, but it's possible that I might have forgotten him, in all honesty. Suffice it to say, should such a team up come about, he should certainly be recruited. Having a healer is certainly an asset to any group of heroes.
On a more relevant note, this section actually improves on one of the fault's of its predecessor. That edition tried to make race a factor and given the circumstances, the accusation felt nebulous at best. Here, we have a much more concrete and definitive instance where Coffey's race plays a factor. Given what Edgecomb has found out, one would think that the case would be reopened or appealed. Alas, no luck as the higher ups have no problem letting him go down for a crime he didn't commit. They're kind of dicks like that.
Suffice it to say, the decision doesn't sit well with the guards. Coffey's passing is appropriately poignant and makes for one of the emotional highlights, not just of this section, but of the work as a whole.
The section also brings what King calls the "front story" detailing the elderly Paul's life to the forefront. Not only do we get resolution on the subplot regarding his romance and his conflict with one of the orderlies, but this section also shows us why the story even bothered with it to begin with. We get to see the long term effects of Coffey's choices as well as get some information that might not otherwise have been able to be conveyed had the book been structured more linearly.
Overall, this was a rather strong read. The first section was the weakest link, but from there it really picks up. In the afterword, King says that he likely won't try doing another serial. It's a shame as I thought it worked rather well. I wouldn't mind seeing another work done in this fashion. Who knows? Maybe other writers will take a crack at it.
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