Dark Tower, Crimson King, Suicide Stairs.

RICHARD KING, STEPHEN CHIZMAR — GWENDY’S BUTTON BOX — CEMETERY DANCE — 2017

OLDER REVIEWS REVISITED

From the United States

A Man in Black who can be trusted

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 2, 2017

Stephen King has rarely written novels with other authors, just a very few indeed. This novella is one of them. The action is in the past and covers the period from 1974 to 1984. Yet the first element I have to tell is the fact that this distant period is not in any way really present in the story as it is the case in all the books written by Stephen King that deal with a distant past. He is normally very careful to set the details so correctly that everything is perfect. Here only the references to music, a Walkman, a drive-in, and films are correct, but Gwendy is working in the drive-in at the refreshments counter and the price of the popcorn is not provided, and that is not typical of Stephen King.

The second remark is that the main character is a girl who one day encounters the man in black, and the latter is a common acquaintance in many books by Stephen King, especially when dealing with Castle Rock…