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    Ebook304 pages4 hours

    Later

    By Stephen King

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    SOMETIMES GROWING UP MEANS FACING YOUR DEMONS

    The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine – as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.

    LATER is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King’s classic novel It,LATER is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTitan Books
    Release dateMar 2, 2021
    ISBN9781789096507
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for Later

    4/5

    349 ratings20 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Typical of King, the story is clever and engaging. Good, gripping mystery, along with characteristic Stephen King weirdness. Great narration by Seth Numrich.
    • 4/5
      Despite being in the Hard Case imprint, this is standard King (as the protagonist says several times, this is a horror story). He’s a kid who can see ghosts, and his literary agent mom wants him to keep it a secret. But after she recruits him to get a final story out of her most important client in order to save their financial futures, he’s vulnerable to exploitation by her cop lover. Brisk and King-y, with appearances of various King evils (hi, deadlights!).
    • 5/5
      Another clever twist on a ghost story. Told from the perspective of a young adult as he looks back on growing up. Various events when his ability to talk to the newly dead and get answers altars lives.
    • 4/5
      This is a story about a boy who can see dead people. Yes, King is recycling ideas here, and none too subtly either, but I really like the narrator's voice. It also interested me that King took a fresh look at an idea from an older book of his--I want say what, to avoid spoiling fans. All in all, this is a fast-moving, entertaining tale that I think really fits the Hard Case Crime series, and it tickled me that part of the plot revolves around a literary agency.
    • 2/5
      King starts out riffing on The Sixth Sense and never really goes anywhere original or interesting with his young boy who sees dead people. Along the way he indulges in a tired and repulsive trope -- bury your gays -- , a half-hearted twist, and an excessive amount of repetition. I was so goddamned tired of hearing about that goddamned green turkey by the goddamned last page! This is a goddamned horror story, goddamnit, not a goddamned Thanksgiving story!
    • 5/5
      Wow, what a ride! (I rarely give five 5 stars.) The one line I disagreed with was that literary agents don't have friends; I dunno, they're salespeople, and in my experience, those in sales make friends easily. Another reason for my rating is that it felt like the story took place in the late 20th century, even though King stated it was around 2010.Regardless, great novel! I started Saturday afternoon and finished Monday night. That's quick for me. Doubt I'll reread it like JOYLAND, but LATER will probably make a home in my subconsciousness for a long time.
    • 5/5
      Jamie Conklin is not your ordinary kid - he has a special talent to see and communicate with newly dead people. But one dead individual is a bit more than dead... classic Stephen King, with just the right amount of horror and angst.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this. The writing style was great and it mixed crime and horror into a nice little package that wasn't nearly as long as many other King novels. Jamie Conklin isn't just your average kid, he's got a special talent that no one would believe. His mother knows about it, but he's never needed to use it for anything - until his mom asks him for a favor and he starts to realize the implications of using his "talents." Growing up has never been more complicated or scary. I don't want to give too much away but this is basically a mix of The Wire and The Sixth Sense - but way cooler. A stellar new novel from Stephen King!
    • 4/5
      I gave this story 4 stars as I loved the characters. I haven't read much of King's newer stuff, but I have to say that he's not lost his talent of creating people. That said, I found the ending a bit of a let down after a brilliant first half of the story. The photos in Marsden's safe room seem to be thrown in for shock value. Similarly, I spotted the final 'twist' as it's hinted at once, but it was entirely unnecessary. It adds nothing to the ending and is tacked on for the sake of being shocking.
    • 5/5
      The King of horror has done it yet again. This is a mixture of all the good genres that he writes…thriller, ghost story, supernatural and coming-of-age. Jamie Conklin is a character that you will remember long after the last paragraph has been read and the cover is closed. He was forced to grow up in ways that will terrify as well as delight you. The story starts out at a slow pace, but don’t give up. King is just building Jamie’s world for us…and what a world it is! It will soon escalate into a tale filled with tension and suspense. This little gem is both as dark and as bleak as his Salem’s Lot or It. If you, like me, have been a Stephen King fan for ages you will soon know without a doubt that you are in the presence of the “Master” again.
    • 3/5
      “I think this is a horror story. Check it out.”I am a big Stephen King fan and a big fan of the Roanoke Colony legend. I also really like liked the movie “The Sixth Sense” from 1999. So this book was a good read for me! But if you're a stickler for such things, and must know, this story feels like "The Sixth Sense: Part 2". Big time. King even mentions that movie a couple of times within the book! Don't get me wrong, I liked it, and it has King's markings all over it, but it is about a kid who sees and communicates with dead people. Who has a single mom. And a bicyclist is one of the dead he sees. And a few of the dead help the kid solve crimes. And...Again, I liked it, even if it is what it is. And I really liked the crazy twist at the end. I'm just wondering if M. Night Shyamalan is owed any royalties for this...
    • 3/5
      Good little horror story, and I like that the main character who narrates it is a young kid. Also liked the little twist at the end. This isn't a bone-chilling, goosebump-raising story, but it moves along at a good clip and is entertaining.
    • 5/5
      Later by Stephen KingJamie has a gift, he sees dead people. Son of a single Mom, she tells him to keep this secret. When a Police officer wants him to help her with a case, things get a bit tough for young Jamie. He learns not everyone can be trusted and his "gift" maybe should be kept to himself.Classic Stephen King, with a supernatural element. Told in Jamie's voice from a child to young adulthood. I was hooked from the first page until the last. Overall I enjoyed Later and highly recommend to those who love Stephen King.
    • 4/5
      Stephen King's "Later" is not his best work, but it was a quick read that didn't have me counting how many pages are left.
    • 4/5
      King has written 3 of these Hard Case Crime books and I have now read all three. I have to say that "Joyland" is my favorite, but this is a close second. I hope he writes more as this whole series has been well conceived and well written. Jamie is a normal boy in all respects, except he can see and talk to the dead. But a bit of a twist - he discovers that if you ask a dead person a direct question they must tell the truth. The problem is that everyone has secrets to hide and forcing the dead to reveal them can be a two edged sword. For Jamie, he can use this gift to solve crimes, but it can also be leveraged by people who wish to commit crimes. And though he tries to keep it a secret, he soon finds that when the wrong people know what he can do, his life is not just comnplicated, but in danger. As usual with King, the characters are excellent, the plot well developed and he keeps the pages turning as he tells this story.
    • 4/5
      Typical of King, the story is clever and engaging. Good, gripping mystery, along with characteristic Stephen King weirdness. Great narration by Seth Numrich.
    • 4/5
      Pandemic read. The two books before this had been less than stellar for me-- either I couldn't find the thread of the story, or I found the writing boring, breathing no life into the characters or narrative. I feared it was my fault. But then I picked this up, interestingly enough not my usual genre, and wowzer. snagged me like a wide mouthed bass and reeled me in. The cover is especially great, the story, fantastic.
    • 5/5
      I read everything in one sitting; that’s how good it was. There were parts in the book that scared me shitless and I had to put it down for a while to make sure I had locked the doors and shut the windows. That’s how scared I was. Compelling storytelling and almost believable. Almost.
    • 5/5
      A captivating read! Right from when I first saw the cover I was hooked until the very end.
    • 2/5
      This is my first book of Stephen King, and I am disappointed. It is the same old "a child sees dead people" cliché without any meaningful plot twists. And here is the spoiler - the main villain is a white drug addict conservative dirty lesbian cop, who is swiftly killed by some unexplained supernatural force.