Content Creator Mk II

 So, I've been feeling the itch to get back to writing. A heckin' busy schedule and a slow as all get out netbook had been hindering me for some time.  While the schedule is still somewhat absurd, I am finding windows here and there.  This has been helped by the fact that the aforementioned netbook died, forcing me to upgrade.  I have also been making an effort to pull back at work, so as not to burn myself out mentally and physically.  

Now, this won't be like the last time around.  The jobs stay put.  This is going to be more of a "Buzz Beer" situation as opposed to trying to go the "self employed content creator" route again.  So, for all intents and purposes, I will be working three jobs as far as I'm concerned.

While content will be more consistent on both sites going forward, the plan is to ultimately move into fiction. I talked about it back when the Patreon was up and, while the means are different, the end goal does remain the same.  I do still like the idea of monthly novellas.  Short stories and full-on novels are also possibilities, but the novella seems like it would strike the right balance for me.

So, how does this little endeavor finance itself?  Well, from where I sit, there are four main sources of revenue.

1. E-Poll

Not a huge money maker, but every little bit counts.

2. Swagbucks

You know, it's funny, as much as I feature the referral link, I haven't really used the site that much. It didn't really get along with my old computer.  Now that my tech is more up to speed, I need to put this site to use to increase cash flow and boost my metrics even further.  I doubt it'll be big money, but again, every bit counts.

3. Reviewstream

This one is probably the best, as it is actually tied to writing.  Not only that, but I can throw the content on to either site. There is a pretty high payout threshold, so it'll take a while to get funds, but when they do come, the needle will move.  On the plus side, I don't need to come up with some outlandish number in terms of articles per day to ensure my bills get paid.  All that is already taken care of.  I can just work at a reasonable pace and still allow myself to put some focus on bigger projects

4. Dividends

This will really be the backbone of the operation.  It may not seem like it now, but as time goes on.  It's going to play a bigger and bigger role.

Wait, you're using side hustles to fund a side hustle?

Yes.  It's like seed money or startup capital.  

The Patreon...stays down.  It had its chance.  Truth be told, I think I put together a good system, but it didn't go anywhere after several years, so there's no sense in wasting time and energy with it.  I'm on a better path anyway.  Not only is this delivering much better results, but it suits me better.

I am toying with the idea of taking certain aspects of the campaign and applying them to the dividends, namely the quasi-basic income guarantee pledge (where at $1,200/month at least 10% goes to other creators to help build their income floor) and the charity milestone (where at least another 10% goes to charity).  Back when the Patreon was up, I had the latter milestone set at $4,000/month, but I am considering lowering it to $3,000.  Overhead isn't the concern that it was then and getting there sooner would be better.  We're still a ways away from that, but it is something to look forward to in the years to come.  Better yet, at that point, I'll be able to put E-Poll and Swagbucks points towards charities to bolster things even further.

One tricky thing, though, is that dividend payouts aren't even from month to month.  So, would I have to cross the threshold for all three quarter months before the perks get initiated or would I apply it to each quarter month as it hit?  The latter seems like the better way to go, but it is something that will have to be ironed out.  Again, I've got time on that one.

Could this phase out the current second job? Theoretically, it's a nice idea, but I don't want to get ahead of myself like I did the last time around.  I'm taking great care not to make the mistakes I made in the first go around.

I'm excited for this.  It'll be some time before you see anything substantial.  I still have brainstorming, drafting, and quite a bit of rust to shake off; but I think getting back into this will be good.  I think the setup is a lot better than the one I was trying to run on previously.  It's going to be interesting to see how things play out this time around.  I'm looking forward to it, though.  

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2019 Q1 Report

No joke, the first quarter of 2019 is over and done with.  It's pure madness.  As many other bloggers do, I thought I'd take the chance to look and see how I'm progressing through the goals that I set back at the beginning of the year.



General Content


While I was fired up at the beginning of the year, I did find myself falling back into old habits.  It may be anticlimactic, but I take comfort in the fact that I'm hardly the first person to fall victim to this.

Still, I did manage to knock both "The X-Files" and the first season of "Castle Rock" off the to do list.  The latter was just under the wire, but done is done; and I'm done...until season 2 hits.


Reading


I knocked two books off the list.  The first was "Elevation" and the second was "America the Edible" by Adam Richman.  I'm behind schedule, but my reading is up from last year; so that's a plus.  I'm also currently working my way through "Path of the Assassin" by Brad Thor so I am starting to get back into the groove, as it were.

I also read "The Infinity Gauntlet" knocking one item off of my graphic novel goal as well.



Savings and Dividend Challenges


The first quarter's finances were focused on the acquisition of a car.  As the down payment is often hefty, I wasn't able to make much in the way of stock purchases or transfers.

My forward income is about where it was at the start of the year.  I'm also a bit behind on the savings challenges.    Well, a bit behind on the online account.  My primary savings account took a hefty hit, so I have to re-do portions of last year's challenge and get back up to speed on this year's. 


Car

Speaking of, I did achieve this goal! I'll go into more detail in tomorrow's post, but it's nice to get that out of the way.  I do have some new bills each month, but with the down payment out of the way, I was able to re-set my weekly transfers to my brokerage and online checking accounts, so we should be getting back on track in the months to come.



Side Hustle


Thus far, I've made $12 in side hustle.  Given how Apptrailers and Epoll work, this is about where I expected it to be at this point.  As noted in the docket, Reviewstream is going to by the make or break factor in achieving this goal.  Until I can shift my attention to that, the number won't be that impressive.



Swagbucks


I have put some points into charities, but I definitely need to do more.  I didn't have a specific goal on this one, so whether I'm ahead or behind schedule is hard to determine.  I just know that more needs to be done.


Retirement


The head start is done.  With my birthday having passed by earlier in March, the five year race to have three times my salary saved has begun.  I'm 2% of the way there so we'll see how things go.  Five years is a long time, but it is still kind of sad to no longer be in "head start" territory anymore.



Goal Revision

I had set a 3 year goal of creating dividend income that surpassed Spoony's Patreon income.  At the time, it was about $500 a month, but now it's down to $461.  That brings my forward income goal from $6000 to $5,532.  Granted, 6K is a rounder number, so I might still try to unofficially shoot for that, but as of now, the goal will drop to the latter number as that is really the crux of the goal.


Conclusion

It may not have been the year opener that I was hoping for, but I did manage to put some dents in the list.  Knocking one of the big ones off was certainly nice, but I am looking forward to focusing my attention to the smaller scale goals.















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2019 Docket and Goals

Happy New Year everyone!  It's that time where we try to lay down a plan for what's to come in the next 365 days.  As noted before, a lot of what was supposed to be done in 2018 wasn't.  As such, a good chunk of this year's docket is just carry over, but we'll go through it anyway just for the sake of record.


Stephen King


Back log

Hearts in Atlantis
Castle Rock Season 1
Sleeping Beauties
Strange Weather
The Outsider
On Writing
Secret Windows
The Plant
Dreamcatcher
Black House
Cell (movie)
Mr. Mercedes series
The Dark Tower movie


New additions

Castle Rock Season 2
It part 2
Elevation




Brad Thor

Backlog

Path of the Assassin
State of the Union
Blowback
Takedown


Netflix

Back Log

The Punisher Season 1
Daredevil Season 3
Jessica Jones Season 2

New Additions

Luke Cage Season 2
Iron Fist Season 2
The Punisher Season 2



Legends of Tomorrow


Back Log

Season 3


New additions

Season 4- Once again, I'll have to wait for this to hit Netflix in order to watch it, but the plan is to binge it when it does happen.  It may not be current, but I'm going to make a point of getting through it quickly this time around.



Anime

Back Log

Attack on Titan season 3
Rurouni Kenshin (?)


Archive restoration (?)

Reviewstream

Back Log

Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition rule books
JLA trade paperbacks


The dividend income reports will continue and I will also continue to post the latest episodes of "Let's Get it Right".



Oh, and I, of course, aim to finally finish "The X-Files".


Goals


Savings challenge

I neglected to mention it in the 2018 review, though I did bring it up on Twitter, but this year I completed two savings challenges.  The 52 week "dollar a week" challenge and the "penny a day" challenge.  These were two that I had started back in the day when I was still trying the whole "self employed content creator" thing.  With my new station, I was finally able to put those to an end.

This year I plan on keeping the momentum going by taking on the extension of the first challenge.  It turns out that some people push the weekly challenge to two years.  Rather than stopping at 52, they just keep going, putting aside $53, then $54, then $55 and so on.  For all intents and purposes, I'm doing this challenge twice, as the plan is to move the slated amounts to my primary savings account, as well as the online savings account.


Bring dividend forward income to $400

Right now, my forward income sits at about $70.  I wanted to find a number that was feasible, but still somewhat challenging.  With purchases and DRIP, I think that this meets that criteria.  If I break it before, that's awesome, but right now, that's where I'm setting the goal post.


Max out IRA contribution

When I first opened the IRA, I mentioned that the odds of me doing this were slim.  Truth be told, that's still the case.  This is more of a mental thing.  I figure, if I set my sight on that, it will push me to get as close as I possibly can. Even if I don't hit the goal, I think having this mindset will still be beneficial in the long run.



$300 in Side Hustle

This is something that I haven't really talked about, but I want to add it to the itinerary anyway.  Right now, my main side hustles are Apptrailers, Epoll, and Reviewstream (there's also the Patreon, ad revenue, and the Amazon affiliate links, but they haven't really brought in income so they're side hustles in name only....SHINO.)  Epoll will bring about $60 at best.  App trailers is nice, but if I'm going to pull this off, Reviewstream will have to be a factor.  This should be a motivator for me to write more and make sure I cross that threshold.  Again, I think that this is a goal that's feasible, but will still present something of a challenge.


Car


As of now, I am without vehicle.  It's something I am aiming to remedy.  I've given serious consideration to getting a bike, which is odd as I've only ridden once since elementary school.  It's cheaper, better for the planet, and everything is fairly close by here.  It makes a lot more sense now than it did when I was living in Maryland or Kansas, but I figure I'd still need to get a car at some point.  I'm not looking forward to adding two more monthly expenses to my cash outflow, but if I can knock the car payment out quickly enough, it might not be that bad.


Walk the Year Charity Miles Challenge

I'm a big fan of the Charity Miles app.  I plug it frequently and was even going on daily 4 mile walks for a while.  I haven't been doing a good job as of late and I'm hoping that this will get me back on the horse.

Fun fact, we're one day in and, because I didn't walk today, I'm already behind schedule.  Auspicious.


Read 26 books

I noted before that I got no reading done.  I really want to amend for that this year.  I know that 52 books is the average, but I figure that starting small will work out better.  There's another reason I only have this many books coming into play, the next goal.


Read 26 graphic novels/trade paperbacks

I've been trying to get back into comics lately.  Rather than go back to the individual issues, I want to shift my collection to trades so that I can show them off on a bookshelf.  Rather than argue about whether these count as books, I'm putting them in their own separate category so that I can get the best of both worlds.


Swagbucks

I had heard that this was a great side hustle, but it hasn't really panned out for me.  The site brings my computer to a crawl (my laptop is a little on the old side,) which means I only log in when I have to.  As that hasn't worked, I want to try to put it to use in order to up my philanthropic game.  You can donate points to different causes and organizations.  Since I have the account anyway, I figure this will at least put the account to better use than it has up until now.  As the point cost isn't as high as the other rewards, I'll be able to "cash in" more frequently.



3 year goal

Oh, we're going beyond just the year.  I want to try to think in the long term, and as such I've got some goals that go beyond.

For this one, I want to bring my forward income to $6,000 a year.  This will bring my dividend income to Spoony's Patreon income level. It's important that I hit this goal as soon as feasibly possible.   I have my reasons.

It sounds lofty, but I'd like to think that I can pull this one off.





5 year goals


House

I've only ever been a renter, but the idea of being a homeowner has really grown on me.  That down payment scares the crap out of me, but I figure with enough prep time, I can take it.


3x Salary Saved for Retirement

Back in January, MarketWatch posted an article stating that, by the age of 35, you should have twice your annual income tucked away for retirement. Millenials....did not take kindly to this information.  While it was mathematically impossible for me to hit this goal after discovering it, I did resolve to hit the next marker, which is having 3 times your annual income tucked away by 40.

Funny thing is, I'm quite confident that I can pull this off.  Technically, I am still behind, but I have been viewing these past few months as a "head start".  I'm maxing out the 401k and pumping money into the IRA, both of which will generate increasing amounts of income as time goes on.  Add to that the fact that my birthday is in March and that gives me three more months before the 5 year challenge technically even starts.

Now, you might be asking where the stock portfolio fits.  It does and doesn't come into play as far as my retirement is concerned.  The dividends are designed to help finance and carry me through my golden years, but I'm not counting the portfolio into the overall total.  I could use market value, but that's way too fickle a beast.  As such, I'm viewing it as its own thing that is only tangential to the overall goal.


I'll admit that this is a lot, but I'm confident and fired up.  2019 is going to be huge.  2018 had its perks, but this is where I push myself to my limit, and then break past it.

Stephen King Bibliography: 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon'

Judging by the book's general plot hook, a young girl gets lost in the woods, I was expecting something akin to a fairy tale.  That's not really the direction the book takes, however.  Though, a pop up book version of the story is available.  I am kind of interested to check that out at some point in all honesty.

While there are no otherworldly monstrosities to be seen, this book is survival horror in an almost literal sense.  Interestingly, the sense of horror works from several different angles.  You could see
this from the kid's perspective, being lost and cut off from everyone you know with no means of getting re-acclimated.  Or, you could view it from the parent's perspective, the fear of losing your kid and having them go through the nightmare that the young girl goes through here.

Our protagonist is Trisha.  She's a nine year old, who wanders off the beaten path both to go to the bathroom and to get a break from her fighting family during a road trip.

You wouldn't think that this would be that big a deal.  She wouldn't have had to go that far to achieve either of these objectives, but it's enough to throw off her internal compass and she appears unable to regain her bearings.

From here, the book really puts the kid through the ringer.  You can't help but feel bad for her.  Though, to her credit, she fares better than most kids (either her age or some even older) would fare.  She has some basic survival skills: being able to identify which berries to eat and which to avoid and she also makes a point to follow a stream knowing that it would eventually lead to something bigger.  The latter doesn't really work out, but it was still an impressive showing.

Oddly, one of my favorite parts of the book is when she stops to listen to baseball games.  After the gauntlet she went through, it was nice to see some normalcy returned to her life.  I also figured that it
would be a prime time for outside parties to find her, as she remains still for a large chunk of time.  Spoiler alert, that doesn't happen.

The first time she does this, the book spends a lot of time almost recapping a game.  It does pad out the word count a bit, but for those who enjoy baseball, you might find it to be a fun read.

The book's biggest problem, in my opinion, was the way it was structured. Some of the chapters are very long and there are no breaks.  If you can carve out a large chunk of time to read, that's fine, but if you don't, it'll be a hard book to pick up as you don't want to commit.

I was also thrown by the few sections where the narrative jumps to show what Trisha's family is doing.  These parts are fine in and of themselves, one could argue that the book could have used more of this, especially in the early portions.  The problem is that the book doesn't break to indicate a setting jump, so one minute you're with Trisha and then you're miles away with little to no segue.  I can understand the book wanting to focus on Trisha and her trials and tribulations, but if you are going to jump to another location, a sub-chapter would have been a great way to indicate that.

I noted before that the story has no supernatural elements, however, the book does try to have its cake and eat it too.  It does try to set up a sort of pantheon and there is a thing lurking in the woods.  Sadly, while the prose does well to build it all up, it falls flat as we know it's nothing.

Honestly, I can even understand it given that the protagonist is a scared kid whose imagination is running wild, but at the climax, the book tries to pull something out of thin air by suggesting that what was a black bear might not have been.  Again, from Trisha's perspective, I totally get it.  She's freaking out and was already hallucinating.  The book also makes it clear that by this point, she's running on empty, but having a nearby hunter come to the same conclusion?  No, that didn't work for me.  Maybe it was to appease readers who demand dark forces be involved, but it didn't fit with what we had seen previously and it wasn't really necessary.  The book is plenty unnerving even without some paranormal entity lurking around.

I was surprised that this was never adapted into a film.  The way the story is structured, it doesn't seem like it would be too difficult and the right filmmaker could easily bring it to life.  It turns out that Romero himself was set to direct an adaptation that never came to be.  While we'll never see that, a future adaptation helmed by someone else could still be possible.  I honestly think it would work.  Adapting King's work has proven tricky in the past, but this one seems like something that they can handle.

Until then, I'd recommend giving this book a read.  It's not a King title that immediately jumps out like some of his other works, but it's a solid entry in the library.

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'Inferno' by Dan Brown Novel Review

Dan Brown is a polarizing author.  He sells consistently, but his writing is also heavily criticized by both professional critics and casual readers.

For my part, I enjoyed "Angels and Demons", his first book.  While his follow up, "The Da Vinci Code" is his most well known work (largely due to the controversial nature of the plot,) I found it to be the weaker of the two.  Controversy aside, it does seem like Brown was recycling a lot of elements from the first book and just trying to do it again.  I haven't had the chance to read the third book in the Robert Langdon series, "The Lost Symbol", but I did recently check out "Inferno".

At first glance, it seems like this book has quite a lot going for it.  The plot is more straight forward and doesn't rely so much on controversy.  Rather than call into question the validity of major world religions, this book has Langdon racing against the clock to stop the release of a deadly virus.  It's your more typical thriller fodder, but that's hardly a bad thing.

Oddly enough, the most intense parts of the book didn't center on the narrow escapes, the race against the clock, or even the potential loss of life.  To me, the most chilling aspect of the book was when it focused on the "why" as opposed to the "what".

The mastermind behind the whole ordeal is convinced that humanity is going to wipe itself out due to overpopulation.  It sounds paradoxical, but they explain how Earth's resources are dwindling and the planet can't sustain this amount of life for very much longer.

It's very heavy stuff and it adds an interesting element to the proceedings as, even if the good guys win, there's still a much bigger threat looming.  Sadly, the moral ambiguity is only touched on in certain points.  The book puts far more focus on history and scenery description.  Considering this is a Dan Brown book, I think it's safe to say that that is what the readers want.  There's enough of the apocalyptic rhetoric to add weight to the read, but considering I found it to be the strongest aspect of the book, it's not surprising that I would have liked to see more of it.

I actually wondered how Brown was going to pull off a resolution. It seemed like a no win scenario.  Either a lot of people die or everybody dies.  It's a pickle.  I don't want to spoil it, but Brown does manage to address all the concerning issues about as well as one could hope.  It's a tad anticlimactic, but I really don't know how else you could have wrapped things up, given the circumstances involved.

For those who haven't read the previous books, don't worry, this is a complete stand alone.  I remember "The Da Vinci Code" made a brief reference to its predecessor in the opening chapters before moving on to its own thing, but this doesn't even have that.  It makes for a nice pick up point for new readers, though as part of a continuing story, you may find it wanting.

Speaking of, one has to wonder why Langdon isn't either confused or annoyed that he keeps getting into these situations.  This isn't a problem if you're looking at this as a book on its own, but in an ongoing series that follows the same protagonist, it does seem strange that Langdon is constantly put in what is essentially the same scenario again and again.

To Brown's credit, he does make an effort to subvert a lot of his usual tropes.  There are some twists in the latter half that allow the book to veer away from the "formula" as it were.  I've seen other reviews still pan the book as predictable, but I do want to at least commend the effort.

Sadly, not so much effort was put into the "puzzles".  This is another Brown staple and I found them wanting.  I rolled my eyes at the "big reveal" that Langdon wasn't muttering "very sorry" but "Vasari".  It's not quite a pun, but I think readers are going to groan, regardless.

A lot of the aforementioned narrow escapes are also a bit forced.  It's a tough trick to pull off repeatedly, but it still seems like they could have been better executed.

The book's pacing is solid.  If you're reading (or listening to) this on a car or plane ride, it'll hold your interest for a good while.  The chapters are short, which allows the reader to stop easily, but if the circumstances are right, you'll want to keep reading to see how things play out.

Overall, if you're not a Dan Brown fan, this isn't going to change your mind.  If you are, I think this delivers what you've come to expect.  For those in the middle, know the book has problems, but it has its upsides as well.  I don't feel like my time was wasted like I did with "Hannibal Rising" or "3001".   I'd say it's worth checking out from a local library.

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'End of Watch' by Stephen King novel review

This book was a victim of bad timing.  I got around to it just as it seemed like 15,000 other things came about.  It forced me to constantly put it on the back burner.

It's a shame, because when I did pick it up, I enjoyed it.  I went in skeptical about this one too.  The third part of any trilogy is usually cited as being the weakest (though I think "Return of the Jedi" deserves more credit than it gets.)  On top of that, I wasn't too keen on Brady once again taking the role of lead antagonist.  He was OK in the first book, but even "Finders Keepers" gave us a stronger villain.  It just seemed like a step backwards.

Here, though, he gets a much better showing.  His oft talked about cunning is put on better display and his modus operandi is much more unsettling.  It's true, trying to coax people into suicide was something he did back in the first book. It makes the book consistent with what we had seen before, but now that he has the ability to get into people's heads (courtesy of experimental drugs and some outdated electronic gadgets) and directly manipulate them into doing it, he comes off as much creepier.  You see why the book was originally called "The Suicide Prince".  Not only does it fit his M.O. but characters actually do refer to him by that title more than once.

His status gives him a nice alibi as he is, for all intents and purposes, comatose and in a hospital room under constant surveillance.  The heroes still figure it out pretty easily, but it still makes for a more subtle villain.

He also has a more concrete objective this time around.  Sure, revenge for what happened to him in the first book is simple, but it works.  It gives him more drive than he had before.

From a meta-perspective, having him return made for a nice bookend to the whole franchise.  The events of "Finders Keepers" are alluded to, but have no real bearing on the plot, barring Brady's new abilities.  As such, this is more of a true sequel to "Mr. Mercedes" than its predecessor.  In any event, it does tie up the loose ends and brings the overall story to a conclusion.  "Satisfying" might not be the right word given what happens, but this does fit and it does do the job of effectively closing the book on the series.

Much like "Finders Keepers", the plot is kicked off due to an incident related to one of the victims of Brady's initial attack at that job expo.  It was a small detail, but I thought it was a nice touch.

Where the second book relegated Hodges and crew to secondary character status, this brings them back to the forefront.  Even with the diminished role before, you're still connected enough to these characters at this point that the emotional moments still resonate.  It's kind of important given what some of the characters go through.  I think the book is strong enough where it could work as a stand alone, there were lengthy gaps between my reading of each book, but reading it as the intended conclusion to the trilogy gives it more of a punch.

I could have done without the whole "Dr. Z" "Z-Boy" schtick.  It's used to indicate that Brady has taken over two specific characters (his doctor and a janitor respectively,) but it seems like the prose could have just said that.  Having the narration refer to characters as such comes off clunky, as does having other characters refer to them in that manner.  Even when identities are revealed, people still refer to them by these pointless nicknames, it's a little bizarre.

All in all, though, this was a solid yarn.  It's well paced and appropriately tense.  It also has some emotional weight behind it and manages to wrap up a series about as well as one could hope.  I'd recommend giving it a read.

               













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Stephen King Bibliography: 'Bag of Bones'

I remember being skeptical the first time I dove into this book.  I don't know if it was the general plot hook or the talk about how "literary" it was, but the feeling was palpable..  In either case, it really isn't warranted as this does come down as one of the stronger works in King's library.

While it makes no bones (ha!) about the fact that it isn't a "horror" novel in the vein of "It" or "The Shining", there is still enough of an otherworldly presence that readers looking for scares will still get their fix.  While the goings on are usual "ghost" fare, the scenes are still quite creepy in their own right.  Even though the book may not have been aiming to be chilling first and foremost, it pulled it off when it wanted to.

Really, though, the true strength of the book comes from the characters themselves and King's prose, which really shines here.  There are parts where the narration tries to come off as more philosophical than it needed to be, but by and large, the book is just as engaging as many of King's other books.

You'd think that Mike Noonan would be just another standard King writer protagonist, but given how the narrative plays out, you connect with him and feel for him as he goes through his various ordeals.  His growing bond with Mattie and her daughter, Kyra, is legitimately cute and the scenes they share make for many of the book's highlights.  It also allows the book to give us a glimpse into the professional novelist lifestyle.  If you're a writer, you'll likely get a good deal of enjoyment out of those scenes as well.

The supporting cast also stands out as all being fleshed out and likable.  Not only does it make them feel real, but it makes you want to root for them and you legitimately feel bad when things go awry.  Mentioning Mattie and Kyra seems redundant, but even characters like Mike's lawyer, his brother-in-law, and even his deceased wife get strong showings.  The latter is especially impressive as that's mostly done through allusions to past events.  While she dies very early in the book, her actions still have a significant impact on the narrative.  That's not easy to do.

Sadly, the same can't be said for the villains.  The malevolent spirits pull their weight, but Max Devore, Mattie's father in law, ends up being underwhelming.  He comes off as appropriately spiteful and mean spirited when he does appear, but that's only a couple of times.  It's very peculiar, as you'd think that he's the main antagonist.  His status as billionaire titan is also undercut by the fact that Mike is pretty rich himself.  It works well for when Max is facing off against Mattie, but there's a sense that the playing field is essentially leveled when Mike decides to step in.

Even the hinted eldritch abomination that appears in the climax doesn't wow.  I mean, sure, the hint of a bigger bad is unnerving, but it seems like it was unnecessary.  The multitude of ghosts at play were more than enough.  The epilogue further undercuts by turning it into a stand-in for the grim reaper, which is a tad anti-climactic, all things considered.

The book's pacing is also uneven.  There are a lot of factors at play here and it can seem like they are dealt with rather abruptly.  This is especially noticeable in the final act as we have to deal with the spirit, do the big reveal about why it's doing what it's doing, and tie it back into the custody battle all in a very rapid fashion.  You'd think with 700 pages that this wouldn't come up, but there you go.

You'll also notice that the chapters in this book can get quite lengthy.  It proves to be a double edged sword.  On the one hand, it helps make the book more immersive.  If you can find a nice block of time to sit down, get comfortable, and dive in; it works really well.  However, it can prove frustrating when day to day life events interrupt you and you don't have those convenient stopping points.

Minor flaws aside, this does still stand as a strong entry in the library and I do recommend giving it a read, if you haven't already.  If you have, what the heck, read it again.

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'The Fireman' by Joe Hill novel review

As far as books go, Joe Hill has had a pretty solid track record.  He came out of the gate strong with "Heart Shaped Box", "Horns" was a solid follow up, and the third time proved to be the charm as "NOS4A2" seemed to hit on all fronts and bring Hill's author cred to new heights.

Thus, I was looking forward to his latest tome, a tale of a post apocalyptic world ravaged by a strange spore that causes spontaneous combustion.  Sadly, this one fell flat for me.   It seemed like all of the pieces were there, but it never really came together the way the other books did.

While the book clocks in at over 700 pages, the plot doesn't really have a lot of momentum.  It never centers on any one aspect long enough for that.  As such, we have a myriad of mini sub-plots that ultimately fall flat.  The book would set up some mysterious aspect, and then, when the true nature is revealed, you just kind of shrug and move on with it. It never felt like there was much of a "whoa" factor.

There are moments here and there.  The section of the book detailing Harper being ostracized from the community of infected for breaking one of their decrees is harrowing and comes to a head with an attempted execution that is appropriately intense.  It's the part of the book where you feel most connected, as you sympathize with the protagonist and develop something of a loathing for those who are antagonizing her.  

Amid that, there's a supply stealing thief, a community member being attacked, a ghost, a possible new society of infected, a vengeful ex-husband (ugh, we'll get to him in a second), revelations about the nature of the spore, and a power hungry leader who rules with an iron fist.  It's a lot, even for a door stopper.

Some of these don't even go anywhere.  The book spends a lot of time detailing the potential threat of "the bright".  We see it, but it never resolves itself in any real fashion.  At no point do the characters address how they're supposed to change moving forward to avoid a repeat of what happened, they just sort of go and that's it.

The characters themselves are...OK at best.  Harper's fine, but the rest of the cast are hit or miss.  Even the titular fireman doesn't really shine the way you'd hope he would.  Aside from Harper, I think that Father Storey is probably the only standout, mostly due to how benevolent and avuncular he is.

The rest suffer from inconsistent writing.  Allie, a young girl who lives at the camp, can be malicious and spiteful one chapter and than be depicted as one of the more compassionate members of the camp.  She's even directly involved in a rather brutal assault on Harper at one point (under the influence of the bright) and the whole thing gets brushed aside.  She apologizes, but you'd think that there would be more repercussions than there were.

Jacob, Harper's husband is probably the biggest victim of this.  When the book opens, he's a pretty stand up husband.  He clearly cares for her and the two have some rather tender scenes together.  It isn't quite as dynamic as the romance in "NOS4A2", but it was alright.  Once Harper gets infected (and he thinks that he's been infected,) he pulls a 180 and becomes something out of a stereotypical Lifetime movie.

It's a pretty jarring shift, but you could try and explain it as a result of fear; even when he tries to make good on a murder/suicide pact that the two had for this scenario.  It only goes downhill, though, as the book tries to pull a half-hearted retcon to make it seem like this latter characterization was how he always was and the entire relationship was a sham. It wasn't done well.  It also results in a lot of eye-roll and groan inducing comments and "insight".  It makes for a weak, two dimensional character, and an incredibly lackluster villain.

Due to the aforementioned lackluster characterization, Harper's subsequent romance with the fireman also falls flat.  The two didn't really have much in the way of chemistry, despite the book's insistence that they were OTP.

This book makes multiple references to "The Stand".  Surprisingly, none for "Firestarter".  They're amusing.   I think my favorite was a character alluding to the appearance of "the hand of God".  This book provides a stronger context and explanation for why it's appearing, which is nice, but it was still a cute nod.  Having characters talk about forgetting the face of their fathers was also a nice nod.

Oddly enough, Hill doesn't reference his own works all that much.  I guess after "NOS4A2" did it, he didn't want to fall into habit.  Christmasland gets a mention, though the context is entirely different than the one we saw in Hill's previous entry.

It's a pity that this one didn't work, but in the long run, it could work out for the better.  I remember hearing Will Smith express relief that "Wild Wild West" bombed the way it did.  It keeps the ego in check and relieves some of the pressure of heightened expectations, like how sports teams will occasionally express happiness to lose once or twice over the course of the season.

Hill's next release will be a collection of novellas set to release later this year.  We'll see how those entries fare when that comes out.

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Stephen King bibliography: 'The Regulators'

This was an interesting writing experiment.  Take the same cast of characters, put them in a similar scenario, and then write the story under two different personas.  As I briefly mentioned when discussing "Desperation", this is a "mirror" novel that parallels its "twin".

Don't worry, this isn't the exact same book with slightly different wording.  The plot does differ significantly in many respects.  We do see the "return" of some characters from "Desperation", but in true "parallel world" fashion, they aren't exactly the same as the ones seen in the other book.

You might think that this parallel connection would make for an ideal back to back read with its counterpart.  Honestly, I'd suggest putting some space between reading the two books.  Sure, the nods and parallels are easier to catch, as it's still fresh in your mind, but the aforementioned differences are initially rather discombobulating.

The mirror aspects don't stop there, though.  In an oddly meta-sense, the books mirror each other in terms of strengths and weaknesses.  This book "addresses" many of the criticisms I had regarding "Desperation".  It is scaled back, both in terms of length and scope.  Tak is also much more clearly defined, having a clearer objective, modus operandi, and notable personality.  Some horror fans might argue that evils like this need to be kept vague so that the reader's imagination can do the work, but I think the more concrete approach worked to the villain's benefit here.

Yet, ultimately, I found this to be the weaker read.  It doesn't have the same "unputdownable" quality that "Desperation" had.  I chalk this up to the writing style.  It's not as smooth, which results in a messier read.

The way the book is structured also leaves quite a bit to be desired.  Characters are rarely where you left them, meaning that you have to do a round of mental catch up at the opening of every chapter.  Other times, you'll think that a character would be in one location, but than they're somewhere else.  It makes it hard to follow.  It works in some scenes, such as chaotic shootings; but other times, it just comes off as jumbled.

The characters themselves also get a weaker showing here.  The "returning" characters largely run on what the reader knows from the first book.  I did like seeing the more heroic Entragian in action.  We didn't really get to see him before he got possessed by Tak in the other book, so that was probably the standout reprisal.

As to the new characters, most of them fall flat.  It was a strange move, adding several more characters in a book that doesn't have the space that the other book did.  It could have worked, but it doesn't here.  Never mind how well the characters will hold up in the long run, you'd be hard pressed to remember some of these characters as you're making your way through the book.

Seth, the young boy now taken over by Tak, and his aunt Audrey are probably the two strongest characters in this book overall.  Unlike Entragian in "Desperation", we see the inner conflict between the host and possessor.  Seth's general goodness gives him a degree of sympathy and connection that Entragian didn't have.  Audrey is also put in a tight spot and is put through the ringer, garnering her more than a fair share of sympathy.  Odd as it may sound, you probably could have scaled this book down even further and just focused on the family's dealings with the now possessed kid.  Though, in fairness, that probably would have just been "The Exorcist".

Honorable mention also goes to "Rooty".  The events in this book rely on fictional franchises, as such, parts of the book are script excerpts.  You could argue that it's padding and I still maintain that scripts aren't meant to be read in this fashion, but I get why it's there.  One such franchise, "Motokops" (which bears some similarities to "Power Rangers" and was alluded to in "Desperation") features a robot sidekick named Rooty, who communicates in beeps.  It becomes something of a running gag that whenever Rooty pipes up, all the characters yell at him to shut up.  Having grown up with shows that featured annoying comic relief sidekicks, I found it both amusing and cathartic.

I have a feeling many readers are also going to groan when the heroes' plan to defeat Tak starts off.  The revelation regarding what keeps Tak out of Seth's body comes out of nowhere, doesn't make any sense, and is rather face palm inducing.  Thankfully, the book does subvert it somewhat, but I still think it's safe to say that that plot point was...a load of crap...eh?  You're only going to get that if you read the book, but it had to be done.

I wouldn't say that the book is so bad that you have to avoid it altogether.  It has its moments, but it isn't an entry that you have to rush out and read immediately either.

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Stephen King bibliography: 'Desperation'

After the "Night Angel" trilogy omnibus, I was hesitant to dive into another door stopper of a book.  As such, I was surprised at how quickly I tore through this one.  I don't know if it was a result of being back in a familiar setting or the fact that it was work related that gave me extra incentive to pick this tome up, but despite clocking in at almost 700 pages, I found this to be a very fast read.

That being said, I don't know if this needed to be as thick as it was.  I know, there's an eldritch abomination and God plays a role, so the length implies a sense of "epic!" But this probably could have been scaled back a bit.  It isn't like "Insomnia" where there was one specific and obvious albatross that you could cut from the plot, but it seems like some nickel and dime cuts could have condensed this one significantly.

Still, the plot does move along quite well.  It never dragged and I wouldn't go so far as to say that the book is bloated, but it doesn't seem like it needed as much space as it had.

Really, the best part of the book is the early portion when it was a group of characters dealing with an unstable cop.  It's one of the reasons why I would be OK with the book scaling back a bit.  Now, part of this is due to Entragian, he's both a fun and unsettling villain.  There's a sort of bi-polar element to him, where he'd go from cheerful and friendly to violent and enraged on the turn of a dime.

His initial encounter with John Marinville strongly suggests that the friendly disposition is an act, and given his actions, it makes perfect sense; but I think it's scarier if you read it as completely genuine.  

Not knowing what he was going to do added a good deal of suspense to his portions of the book.  Of course, the reading also helps when you have the mental image of Ron Perlman in your head for the character and read all of his lines in Perlman's distinctive voice.

Once Tak, the aforementioned eldritch abomination, jumps bodies and finds different hosts, the villain loses a lot of its luster.  It serves its purpose of being a great evil that has to be stopped before it's too late, but it's probably going to get buried among King's more memorable antagonists.  I suppose that's fitting in its own way.

The protagonist characters are solid.  The book struck the right balance in terms of number of characters to follow.  There's about a dozen, so there's room to move around, but it doesn't get to the point where you start losing track of who is who.  Much like Tak, I don't know how well they'll stand the test of time over the long term, but you definitely root for them and want to see them make it as you're making your way through the book.  They "did their job" on that front.

As always, I got a kick out of the nods to King's earlier works.  The Tommyknockers get mentioned, but alas they are talking about the original nursery rhyme imps and not the aliens.  Admittedly, that makes sense, as no one outside of Haven knew what happened on that front, but still.  The reference was still a nice touch in either case.  "Pet Sematary" gets a more subtle nod when the narration suggests that dead is better.  John also alludes to twinning at one point.  This last one is especially amusing given the "mirror" aspect this book has to the subsequent book, "The Regulators".  I'll probably talk more about that in the second review.  Having just read the first of the set, all I can really say is the fact that there is a link.

The book invokes a lot of common King tropes.  If you're a fan, you'll either like this or think that it was just being phoned in.  I do think that the book loses something when you've read a lot of King's other books, but I'd still recommend giving it a read.  It's thick, but you can still finish it in a week with no real trouble.

           





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Stephen King bibliography: 'The Green Mile' part 6: 'Coffey on the Mile'

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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Stephen King bibliography: 'The Green Mile' part 5: 'Night Journey'

Thus, we reach the penultimate volume in this collection.  In it, the group embarks on a high risk mission.  While their lives may not be in danger, their careers are.  It may seem like small potatoes, but when you have families to support, said potatoes suddenly don't seem so tiny.

While the guards have the best of intentions in allowing Coffey to use his powers to heal a terminally ill woman, it's still a tall order justifying allowing a convicted felon (a child rapist and murderer no less) to roam free, even for a little while.  Fortunately, it's discovered that he is, in fact, innocent.

You probably saw it coming, but the reveal plays out well enough.  It's very reminiscent of the resolution to a Sherlock Holmes story, where a tiny, easily overlooked detail begins a chain reaction that unravels the once apparently open and shut case.  Even the story itself seems to hang a lampshade on this, as a character compares Edgecomb to the detective, though he brushes it off.

Strangely enough, I thought that this story did handled that better than the actual Sherlock Holmes story that King wrote.  The detail itself worked much more effectively.  It was less noticeable, but still carried enough weight to justify the eventual overhaul in people's assessment of the situation.

The idea that racism played a role is also brought into the equation.  While it's true that 1932 was hardly an enlightened age in that regard, the way the story plays out you still find yourself calling BS.  If Coffey were white and found under those circumstances, I'm fairly certain that he would still be found guilty.  I highly doubt that the authorities would look into something like shoelaces to prove innocence.  Given the heinous nature of the crime, they'd still be eager to lock someone up.  With that much circumstantial evidence and lacking the modern technology that could disprove the narrative, it's easy to see an acquittal as nothing more than a pipe dream.

Edgecomb's assertion that the real perpetrator is white is also facepalm inducing as he has literally no evidence to support this.  Ruling out Coffey is one thing, but barring that, the criminal could be anyone of any ethnicity.

In any event, the crew embarks on their endeavor.  With only so much page time, I figured that things might go too easily, but they face enough obstacles that it's believable but doesn't bog the story down.

Chief among the obstacles is Percy, who they have to force into a straight jacket and lock in a closet.  It's odd how you almost find yourself feeling bad for the guy given what he's done in previous sections.

I do wonder why they didn't just drug him the way they did Wharton, the other inmate.  Not only would it help avoid any repercussions from Percy (which seem inevitable at this point,) but they could use that against him later on, saying that he fell asleep on the job or something to that effect to damage his professional reputation.

This section probably comes closest to falling under the "horror" category.  Not only does Coffey's ordeal in healing the warden's wife play similar to something you'd see in "The Exorcist", but he also makes mention of lingering presences in the execution room.

Nothing is really made of it, and rightly so.  Having the story turn into a haunted house tale at this point seems ridiculous.  Still, given Coffey's spiritual affinity, his words do carry more weight and lend some credence to the notion.  On top of that, the idea that those who died there are still present and aware is unnerving on several levels, especially in light of what happened to Delacroix.  For such a small moment, it does a really good job of sending a quick chill up your spine.

It is a little strange how Coffey is, only now, moving to center stage.  He was almost an after-thought for most of the work and now he's a central component.  I'm guessing it was to help maintain the idea that he did it, but it's odd.

It does allow him to finally shine, though.  Saving the day was nice and all, but really, it's his pleasant disposition and cooperative attitude that really sells the innate goodness of the character.  Almost everybody seems to take a liking to him as the story progresses and it's easy to see why.

This section doesn't end on a cliffhanger, per se, but things aren't exactly wrapped up either.  True, the guards are back at the prison, but they still have to get Coffey back in his cell.  One of the other guards is even about to voice the opinion that they did it, but Edgecomb, surprisingly genre savvy for this era, tells him to shut up and not to say anything until the cell door shuts.

I'm not sure what other obstacles they could face, but Edgecomb does imply that the night was far from over.  I figured that the conclusion would focus on Coffey himself and dealing with the moral ramifications of putting an innocent man to death, but with the final section being the longest of the bunch, it's possible that there's plenty of room for all of that.







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Stephen King bibliography: 'The Green Mile' part 4: 'The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix'

I'll say this much, this section certainly lives up to the title.  I wondered before why the blurb on the back of these editions tried to hype this as a ghastly tale of horror.  This gives us something of an answer.  While what happens to Delacroix isn't "scary", it is ghastly and rather horrifying in its gruesomeness.

The chapter that chronicles this debacle is the longest in the section, maybe even in the book as a whole.  As such, it has plenty of room to describe what happens when you screw up an execution by electrocution.  You can't blame the guards or the onlookers for being mortified at what they witnessed.  It's not a pretty ordeal.

Hard as it may be to believe, this showcases Percy's penchant for cruelty much more than stomping on Mr. Jingles did.

Speaking of, Mr. Jingles is revived courtesy of John Coffey.  Given his ability, you knew it was going to happen.  While it does undercut the potency of the last section's closing scene, I was happy to see the little guy back up and running, even if he does make a quick departure from the narrative soon after.

Not only does this scene play a pivotal role in setting up what Paul is going to attempt in the next section, but it also shows that there are limits on Coffey's power.  While it's unclear if it is the result of the extent of the mouse's injuries or a delay in the attempt (the text lends credence to the latter as Coffey himself tells them to hurry up before it's too late,) Mr. Jingles' recovery isn't complete.  The fact that he's still alive is miraculous enough, no doubt, but it is explicitly stated that he has a pronounced limp, showing that perfect success isn't guaranteed.

Once again, the early portion shows us Paul's life in the retirement home.  Considering that these booklets are only 80 or so pages, a part of me wants to argue that the 10 pages would be better spent telling the main story.  It doesn't seem like much, but given the limited space, every page matters.

Credit where it's due, this section justifies the pretense much better, drawing a thematic parallel between life in the home and the jail.  It can get a little on the nose, as an orderly reminds Paul of Percy, but there was still effort made on that front, which was appreciated.

We're coming up on the penultimate volume in this serial.  Said volume will show us the crew attempting to break Coffey out of prison so that he can save the life of a sick woman.  I do like the fact that the characters bring up the seemingly more sensible idea of just bringing her to him.  It still seems like the easier route, but at least it shows that the characters are thinking.

The first section was a little weak, but this has been a very smooth read so far.  I'm actually liking having it broken up into smaller pieces.  Sure, there's still about 150 pages left, but the way it's been going so far, it should be a fairly brisk read.




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Stephen King bibliography: 'The Green Mile' part 3: 'Coffey's Hands'

It's very strange seeing the blurb on the back of these paperbacks that try to paint this as a horror story.  I know, it's Stephen King, so people jump to that conclusion, but it just doesn't fit here.

Even in this section, where we get something of a genre shift courtesy of the reveal of John Coffey's supernatural powers, it doesn't play out like a spine tingling horror story.  Of course, it's not supposed to, but that just makes you wonder why they bothered with that kind of blurb in the first place.

On the contrary, Coffey's ability to heal others by laying on hands seems to have the opposite effect in universe.  Sure, what Coffey can do is bizarre and defies explanation, but at no point does Edgecomb recoil or feel haunted by seeing his infection instantly cured.  Instead, it actually makes him question the man's guilt.

You can't blame him.  From what they gather, Coffey had no prior offenses, his demeanor is unlike the other inmates, and now with this ability, it just raises questions about what happened.

It's not enough to prove Coffey's innocence, but now the situation doesn't seem so cut and dry.  One of Paul's friends does provide an interesting counter-point, telling him about their dog who was largely friendly, but bit their child, forcing them to put him down.  

It was nice to see Coffey take center stage.  Though, even here, he's discussed more than he is present.  Considering he's largely a silent character, it's hard to give him things to do, but he does play a more prominent role here than he has in the two other parts.

Sadly, this forces Mr. Jingles to the background.  It is unreasonable to expect a mouse to carry the whole novel, though.  There's enough going on and the characters are fleshed out enough to this point that he isn't as necessary as he was.  This is especially indicated by what happens to him at the end, but we'll get to that.

With only 80 or so pages, there isn't a lot of room for progression on other fronts.  I was actually surprised that the first chunk of this section focuses more on Edgecomb's life in the old folks' home.  It's OK.  It helps cement that we're reading his memoirs, but it seems like the space could have been used for something else.

I think part of it was to hold off on the resolution to the cliffhanger, where a crazed inmate had taken a guard hostage.  It's a frequently used narrative tactic, so I can't really begrudge that.

Speaking of, the resolution was kind of weak.  One of the other guards just comes up behind said inmate and whacks him with his nightstick.  With more page time, the stand off could have felt more tense, but alas, it ends rather abruptly.

While this section doesn't end with a "cliffhanger" in the traditional sense, it does end on something of a wham moment as Percy stomps on Mr. Jingles, killing him.

You'd think that this would fall flat.  Even if I hadn't seen the movie, I know that a healer is within arm's reach.  Then again, even that could have its limits.  Either way, it's a pretty gruesome affair.  The fact that the critter had been nothing but charming and adorable (though Edgecomb does note that the mouse's welcome was starting to wear thin even with him) just adds to the cringe factor.

This was another fairly strong outing.  It was eventful and things moved along smoothly.  I'm glad to hit the halfway point.  I expect that things will pick up and make the already fast reads that much faster.









                           






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Stephen King bibliography: 'The Green Mile' part 2: 'The Mouse on the Mile'

Much like "Daredevil", this was something that got pushed to the back burner for a long time as a result of the Examiner shut down.  It's a shame as it, more or less, negated the positive note that the last part ended on.  Whatever momentum that generated was more or less gone when I did finally start reading it again.

While there was a little of the old, "Wait, who are these people, again?" It really wasn't that hard to get back into it.  In fact, this did a much better job of keeping me invested than the part that preceded it.  It does a great job of fleshing out the cast and keeping things moving.

The prisoners themselves are interesting, but the book does remind you that they are guilty of horrid crimes.  It's for the best, really.  Someone like Delacroix is oddly charming, especially when he forms a bond with Mr. Jingles.  It would be easy to forget that these are violent criminals.  While the book doesn't paint the death penalty in a positive light, exactly, it would be a stretch to call these people victims in the traditional sense.  Giving them just enough humanity to connect, but still showing that they're deplorable is rather effective as it embraces the moral ambiguity of the issue.  Unlike "Insomnia", the politics don't get in the way of the story as it does a much better job of showing both sides.

As was the case with the last part, the mouse steals the show.  He pretty much does the same stuff, but it's still cute and his presence does bring the best out of the characters, Percy notwithstanding.

Considering the title, the mouse doesn't get as much time as you'd think he would.  I'd say he has the same presence that he did in part 1.  You could argue that he's just a mouse and that there isn't much else for him to do.  At the same time, you could counter by saying that a different title might have worked better.  The title does get dropped at one point, so there's that.

It was a little weird that they do "rehearsals" for the executions.  If there was a rookie on the staff, I could see it, but it seems like even Percy has been around for a while.  You'd think that there's no reason for it.  I suppose it helps keep them on the ball.  At the very least, it does set up some Chekhov's Guns, but that's knowledge gleaned from watching the movie and having a decent idea of what comes next.

It is, oddly, one of the part's highlights.  The newly introduced character with the dumb name Toot-toot really shines, adding some dark comedy to the proceedings.  Given the morbid plot premise, it's good that the work can still inject some levity into it.  It's especially impressive as King doesn't really do comedic banter, but it's working well in this case.

In true serial fashion, this one ends in a cliffhanger.  You'd think that I would have expected it, but it kind of caught me off guard.  I figured that each part would be self contained, but this works well as it keeps you engaged in the story and makes you eager to keep going.

I was also surprised by the size of each part.  Looking at them on the Kindle, they seem fairly sizable.   Looking at the paperback versions of each part, though, you see that the book really isn't that daunting when you break it down.  Each part is shorter than your average "Goosebumps" book.  Here, I thought this was a door stopper, but it really isn't.  That's a good thing, though, as it removes the psychological daunting that can occasionally come with reading a really thick book.

Overall, this part was a big improvement.  The story is gaining momentum and it's working to the book's favor.  It's a shame that Coffey more or less sits it out, but the next few parts should make up for that.  I'm looking forward to tackling the remaining sections.





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Stephen King bibliography: 'The Green Mile' part 1

Thus, we come to another one of Stephen King's door stoppers. On the plus side, he decided to serialize this and release it in six smaller parts, though you can now buy the whole work in one collection. As such, I can review it in a similar fashion. It will make for a faster read through, allow for more in depth analysis, and it will help curb lapses in memory. So, with that, let's start walking down the green mile.

Truth be told, this work doesn't get off to a very strong start. It isn't all that eventful and a lot of the characters are just relegated to being names. John Coffey and Percy Whitmore are the only two who make any sort of lasting impression. The latter is especially impressive as he really doesn't get a whole lot of page time. However, the character is frequently discussed, so you still get a feel for the guy.

Even the narrator feels a bit flat at points. As this is told through first person flashbacks, it's a long time before we even get his name. It's Paul Edgecomb, for those curious. Eventually, a character does name drop the narrator, but only gives the first name. Had it not been for a quick check on Wikipedia, I honestly wouldn't have been able to give you his last name. If it was mentioned, it was only once at the beginning, but clearly it didn't resonate enough to stick.

The plot centers around a newly arrived inmate at a prison in 1932, the aforementioned John Coffey. While Michael Clarke Duncan was rightly praised for his performance in the film, reading this proves that he perfectly captured the character and pretty much lifted him off the page. While Coffey is charged with a truly brutal crime, his demeanor doesn't seem like it fits. Even the guards (of whom Paul is one) are caught off....guard by his disposition.

Actually, one of this section's highlights was the flashback detailing Coffey's arrest. It was one of the more gripping parts of the book. It's one of the few parts where it seems like things are progressing and you feel like there are stakes involved.

Another highlight was the appearance of Mr. Jingles: a small, intelligent mouse that finds its way into the prison. It was something of a show-stealer in the film, but the book manages to make the small critter just as cute and charming.

On top of that, the mouse's appearance allows the guards to actually show some personality. One jokingly writes down the "visit" in the prison log book, while another protests that it would get them in trouble. The prior bit was rather amusing, but you get a much better sense of the comaraderie between the guards as they react to the rodent and watch it scurry about. That scene, which takes place near the end of the section, gives you a greater glimpse into all of their characters than pretty much everything that had preceded it.

As this was largely set up, it can get a bit dry as we're given a lot of background information. Luckily, the section ends on a high enough note that I am interested to read what's to come. Hopefully, the next section will be able to take the momentum that Mr. Jingles provided and allow for more character interaction and plot progression.

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