(Spoilers)Stephen King's Later is perhaps one of the worst books I have ever read in my life

Submitted by PsychoBalloons t3_ydlzy7 in books

I'm not a big fan of Stephen King's work. Up until this point, I have only read his book * Cell *, parts of the book *The Shining*, saw *The Shining* movie(didn't really like it), and now I have read *Later*. *Later* is a recently released novel of his that is apart of his Hard Case series of books. Though, there are some elements of horror spread throughout(But more on that later).

The book follows Jamie Conklin, a boy who has the power to see dead people and can extract the truth from them. He lives with his mother who runs a business publishing books while his Uncle Harry lives in various care facilities having contracted early-onset Alzheimer's. Jamie ends up having to use his powers to solve a case involving someone who plans on killing a lot of people from beyond the grave. However, solving the case causes a lot more trouble for Jamie than he originally anticipated(But more on that later).

While it may sound interesting, the book is anything but. Most of the time, the story is about Jamie as a pre-teen dealing with his life situations with the dead-body-viewing taking up a small portion of the book. The main conflict that the book presents, the case regarding the killer, gets resolved within two of the books 50+ chapters. The characters in this book are also not that interesting aside from Mr. Burkett who I wished we got to see more of(But more on that later).

A few other weird things I uncovered reading this book: the main killer's ghost apparently gets supernatural powers for no exact reason, the character Liz Dutton suddenly turns evil without much buildup, there's at least one or two spelling errors, and perhaps the weirdest thing in the entire novel happens in the last few pages where we are revealed who Jamie's father actually is. The ending regarding who Jamie's father is is so...awful. I felt that Stephen King could have done literally ANYTHING else but what he did regarding Jamie's dad(But more on that later).

Overall, I did not like this book whatsoever. The last few chapters did hold my attention pretty well, but the overall story I feel is pretty weak. Come to think of it, I may just not like Stephen King's work. I still have not read any of his most famous works like *Carrie* or *It*, but if they are anything like *Later*, then I may just end up not wanting to read them(But more on that later).

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HumanOrion t1_itvyzwv wrote

Slow down. If you're thinking about basing your entire opinion on Stephen King on Cell and Later, you're making a big mistake.

Rather than suggesting you dive into one of his huge (and amazing) works like It or The Stand, I'm going to make the recommendation you ease into it. Maybe move on to the Different Seasons collection of novellas to see if you have the potential to be a King fan.

If you read those four stories and still don't appreciate King, I think it's then safe to conclude that he's not for you.

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bmtri t1_itw51ws wrote

I thought Later was okay, but WOW are you picking the wrong books to represent an author's work (and reading "parts" of The Shining?). Try The Gunslinger, The Stand, or Salem's Lot.

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deadly_titanfart t1_itxqhvy wrote

The Gunslinger might be a hard sell for someone who is not well versed in King. It is important for the DT series as a whole but it is notorious for being hard to read at least for new DT or King readers. The Stand is amazing and Salem's lot if just as good. My personal recommendation would be to start with a short story collection, with Night Shift being my pick.

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bmtri t1_itxtojy wrote

Yes, Night Shift is one of the best short story collections I've ever read, in addition to Shock by Richard Matheson.

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deadly_titanfart t1_ity0dy2 wrote

I have not read Shock, but if you hold it that highly I will definitely check it out.

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Nightgasm t1_itt0df9 wrote

I've read the vast majority of his stuff and this is definitely on the lower end for me.

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Artuistic_Caramel t1_itt2lm9 wrote

Have to disagree, I thought it was a pretty good read

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Thr0waway0864213579 t1_itvb0p1 wrote

Ya I also enjoyed it. I love King’s writing in the sense that it’s very immersive. This was my first read of his, and I read 11/22/63 and The Mist after. He’s pretty awful at knowing how to end a book. But everything before the ending is typically really enjoyable for me.

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MarilynManson2003 t1_itszx8a wrote

It’s my second least favourite SK book so far, but I still thought it was a really fun book. I managed to read it in one sitting because it was such a page-turner.

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theclue11 t1_itt1r9v wrote

I wouldn't call later atrocious but it's definitely very weak for King. You should read Joyland instead it's another one of his short crime novels but has much stronger characters and story.

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BeasleysKneeslis t1_itt5eax wrote

If that's one of the worst books you have ever read you are lucky. I read Dead Silence this year.

It's definitely towards the bottom of King's works.

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the_purple_goat t1_ittnx5p wrote

Honestly I've been largely disappointed with everything he wrote after Green Mile. The book 11/22/63 was pretty damn good, but that's the only standout book for me in the 2000s.

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scarletseasmoke t1_itu003y wrote

May I point out... That's probably when he ran out of drug fueled ideas.

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Elyx117 t1_ittp339 wrote

i haven't read this but as a King fan, i won't be surprised. A writer who's been in the business this long will have more than a few bad touches. in broad terms, King's best works were mostly from the first half of his career. Since the turn of the century there have been more misses than hits. still an awesome writer tho imo.

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ExuberantProdigy22 t1_itt3ms5 wrote

I have not read that one. I will only say that ''The Outsider'' will be pretty hard to beat in term of his worst work.

Ok, not entirely. The first half was very intense...but the second half is some of the most forced, most embarassing, most poorly written mess he has ever come up with.

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Elyx117 t1_ittp9l3 wrote

yea it has the same problem with many King novels - weak ending!

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KnittinAndBitchin t1_ituzq0a wrote

You can always tell the exact moment King goes "I'm bored of writing this book" and decides to just end it so he can go write something else.

I like Stephen King and have read almost everything he's written. But I go in knowing that the ending is probably going to be absolutely terrible.

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laicolasse t1_ittaiok wrote

Never liked his writing and I'm not afraid to say it.

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GilltyAzhell t1_ittjys8 wrote

I'm reading Fairy Tale right now and its pretty solid.

His work is hit and miss. He's had a lot of ups and downs in his life. It shows in his work. His cocaine days vs his sober days. Dark tower was good but it took him too long to wrap it up. His mind was un a way different place by the time he finished it. He's supposedly got a lifetime's worth of unfinished stories.

His kids are pretty good writers too

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deadly_titanfart t1_itxq5fa wrote

It kept me interested in for the most part, read it in about a day. I though it was a solid 3/5, I don't know if I would have given it any higher. I was expecting more of a final showdown near the end, and the last 10 pages are so fucking wild and off the wall.

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mamayellen69 t1_itvdqzz wrote

I am a huge Stephen King fan and I agree with you. It’s not his worst book, it’s probably anybody’s worst book.

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