“Jamie Conklin sees dead people. Not for very
long—they fade away after a week or so—but during that time he can talk to
them, ask them questions, and compel them to answer truthfully. His uncanny
gift at first seems utterly unrelated to his mother Tia’s work as a literary
agent, but the links become disturbingly clear when her star client, Regis
Thomas, dies shortly after starting work on the newest entry in his bestselling
Roanoke Saga, and Tia and her lover, NYPD Detective Liz Dutton, drive Jamie out
to Cobblestone Cottage to encourage the late author to dictate an outline of
his latest page-turner so that Tia, who’s fallen on hard times, can write it in
his name instead of returning his advance and her cut. Now that she’s seen what
Jamie can do, Liz takes it on herself to arrange an interview in which Jamie
will ask Kenneth Therriault, a serial bomber who’s just killed himself, where
he’s stowed his latest explosive device before it can explode posthumously. His
post-mortem encounter with Therriault exacts a high price on Jamie, who now
finds himself more haunted than ever, though he never gives up on the everyday
experiences in which King roots all his nightmares.”
Once again, King delves into the world of
magical kids with Later. But, as always, he’s able to bring a lot of depth and
horror to this well-know road he’s traveled for nearly fifty years. But I think
this works a lot because the lives these kids live are so ordinary, so everyday, that you
can’t help but see these some of things truly happening to them. Here we get 22 year-old Jamie
recounting his life that starts at six and the runs to about year 15. King
loves kids as protagonists, I think, because it generates sympathy for someone
who has no real control over their life and must depend on their parent(s).
Plus, I think, when we were all kids, we wanted some darkness, some supernatural
aspect to part of our everyday life. Of course, all of King’s supernaturally
blessed (?) kids are a bit more adult than most (see Luke Ellis from
King’s The Institute). And, again, everything is so ordinary.
Jamie is likable and as much
as he narrates and claims he’s not like the kid in The Sixth Sense, you can’t
help but think he is. Still, unlike the M. Night Shyamalan’s film, where the
kids sees real ghost, Jamie just sees dead people who are seemly disinterested
in the living.
There is crime here, but not
in the traditional sense this publishing company produces. There is no femme
fatales (as the cover tries to imply) or extraordinary villains here, just your
average bad guy (and gals) who do horrible things in pursuant of their goals.
But I enjoyed this book, even if it’s not his best. It's still a treat.
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