"Revival", by Stephen King

Stephen King has not lost his sense of the macabre and once again we find in “The Revival” all the infectious glee that is well-known to be his signature trade mark and the reason all his books have been best sellers worldwide. Mr. King returns to the horror genre in a tale that walks a perilous fine line.

The book is narrated by the protagonist, Jamie Morton, a young boy growing up in the early 1960’s and in the creepy shadow of Charles Jacobs, a Methodist minister obsessed with electricity and suffering with loss of faith. The plot development skims across Jamie’s five decade long relationship with the pastor and over adventures in the music trade. This is a real tease, and not much happens for a good part before it becomes an extremely unnerving story. It takes a bit long before getting to the good stuff where we finally find some of the most passionate writing. Towards the last part we have creepy scenes and throughout a strong moral current with draconian effects. This disturbing although rich novel is about addiction, fanaticism and what may be in store on the other side of life…..spooky…..Mr. King has always been good at the buildup to horror and to trick us by mostly dangling a taste of what’s coming next. For music lovers Mr. King does it again and has not forgotten to mention some favourites.

Although horror is not one of my favourite genres I still enjoy Mr. King’s creation. His novels are quite entertaining and have not disappointed me to date.