Later - Stephen King

Later is a great example of the average King novel: compelling premise, great characterization, easy-to-read prose, fizzles out in the middle, feels like a bit of a slog to finish, ends up feeling underwhelming.

I warmed to King’s teenage protagonist, Jamie, quickly, and was intrigued by Later’s The-Sixth-Sense-but-make-it-literary premise. What a great idea for an author to die and for a struggling single mother editor would rope-in her son, who happens to be able to speak to dead people who can only respond with the truth, to help her finish their novel to reverse their downward trending fortunes.

The laissez-faire way Jamie responds to his mother’s burgeoning relationship with policewoman Liz is well-written, as is his reaction to the breakdown of that relationship. My dissatisfaction with Later really lies in the fact that the premise of the novel I was sold was simply a narrative device to serve a crime plot I didn’t care so much about–I won’t go into too much detail as I don’t want to spoil the plot for those of you who will read it.

If King were to have written a version of Later which happened to be the story I feel like I was sold on the jacket, I might have finished the novel with a much greater opinion of it. The Secrets of Roanoke could be an award-winning spin-off series that I’d happily read.

The last King I read prior to Later was The Institute, which I also felt didn’t live up to its strong premise or compelling beginning. King seems to be a man of great ideas but he lacks the ability - these days, at least - to keep the momentum going. Don’t get me wrong, I was gripped for over a thousand pages when reading IT for the first time, so I know he can do it. Perhaps it’s a matter of his publisher never turning down an idea, as they know it will likely sell more than the average brilliant debut.

I will always pick up a new King novel as I’ve fond memories of reading him, and I credit him with leading me to enjoy reading as a teenager, but I do so nowadays never knowing what end of the quality spectrum a book may land in. Who am I to criticise King anyway? If I were as successful as him, and as prolific a writer at seventy-three years of age, I’d damn well put out what pleased me. As he should.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

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