Oof, this one is a goodun! 

In a book like this, where the characters are in a state of pretty much constant terror, I’d anticipate moments where the author can’t keep hold of the tension and it falls flat, or moments that get way too intense and go the other way, becoming almost comical. But this novel is a fantastic example of how to do it right – I felt a creeping terror throughout the book, interspersed with sorrow, existentialism, love, and hate at the perfect moments. Such a great balance. 

And HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH a good, dare I say great, ending!! If this had ended poorly, I would have been so upset, so I’m immensely grateful that this one has a really great ending by anyone’s standards, let alone King’s. 

The following are three things that stood out to me like a sore thumb whilst reading, but didn’t detract anywhere near enough to give this less than a 5-star rating: 

- Why the FUCK did King use ‘minge’ for midges??? Even if they don’t use the word in the US like we do in the UK, surely someone would have clocked it before publishing? Completely dragged me out of the story every time it happened, but thankfully it was only used towards the beginning. 

- It was a bit weird how insistent Tim was that Wendy had ‘never been cut out’ for on the ground police work, yet every time we see her doing on the ground police work, she has no issues? What was that about? 

- It’s blindingly obvious to most people alive today that Luke could easily have made a copy of the flash drive. It was truly maddening that Stackhouse, let alone anyone else in the book, mentioned that possibility just once. I’ve noticed this happen in books before, and I think authors just pretend that copying doesn’t exist?  

But as I said, overall, a fab book. My faith has been restored after a disastrous Fairytale read.