Audiobook Review: Later by Stephen King

Later

by Stephen King (Compact Disc King)

 

I’ll be the first to admit, there was a point at which I “burned out” on Stephen King, and one King story started to feel like any other King story…so I stopped reading everything he put out. But, at the same time, I’ll also equally admit that pretty much every King story I’ve tried in the past 10 years has still impressed me, and Later definitely falls into that category.

 

King has released three novels through publisher Hard Case Crime, which specializes in “pulp” fiction, epitomized by the “tough guy” novels of the 1950s and 1960s, but brought up to modern sensibilities. The first two were The Colorado Kid and Joyland. Later is the third, and my favorite of those three. I enjoyed Later as a book-on-cd, narrated by actor Seth Numrich.

 

In Later, the central protagonist is Jamie Conklin, who’s telling the story in retrospect as someone in their early twenties. We first see him as an 8-year old and again in his early teens. Jamie is the son of a single mom, and (as often is the case in King novels) has a paranormal ability. He can see dead people, for the first 3 or 4 days after they’ve passed away, usually hanging around the places that were significant to them in their lives, before they fade out and are gone for good. He can also speak to them — and any question he asks them they have to answer truthfully. His mother is aware of this unusual ability but prefers not to think about it. Until an emergency situation happens, and she needs to make use of his particular skill to ensure their financial stability. That action has repercussions from that day onward, both good and bad.

 

The characters are sharply defined in this one, from Jamie and his mom, to her female ex-lover, a corrupt cop who knows Jamie’s secret, to an elderly professor friend, to all the somewhat muted “ghosts” that Jamie converses with. Perhaps the most memorable character is this story’s “big bad” — a paranormal threat that Jamie, as a pre-teen, must figure out a way to face down. Numrich is a superb narrator for this title, bringing Jamie to glorious life and allowing us into his mental processes, while also still making us realize that for most of the story, Jamie’s just a kid.

 

Highly recommended, particularly in the audiobook format. Honestly, this just makes me want to sample even more of King’s recent works.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Doctor Sleep, King’s sequel to his classic, The Shining, read in audiobook format by actor Will Patton.]

[ official Later page on the official Stephen King web site ]

 

See Tracy T.’s review of the audiobook of The Colorado Kid by Stephen King in the April 2016 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
See Tracy T.’s review of Joyland by Stephen King in the February 2015 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!
See Scott C.’s review of the audiobook of Doctor Sleep by Stephen King, in the March 2014 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

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