Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive straight into my latest review.
Supposedly, after completing Black House, King and Straub always had the intention of writing a third and final instalment in the series. Of course, both men were always so busy with their respective solo work. And then, Straub sadly passed away in 2022, and I’m sure fans would be forgiven for thinking they’d never see a third and final book in this trilogy. But it turns out that Straub had one final trick up his sleeve.
In late 2023, King revealed that Straub had sent him a long letter before his death. In that letter, there were Straub’s notes for a third book, plus King also had ideas of his own. Short of physically having Straub in this mortal realm, King had everything he needed to write a third book. This book is credited to both authors. King claims he was channeling Straub throughout. If I were King, I’d have said that I was in constant contact with Straub via a Ouija board while writing this book. We don’t know for a fact that he wasn’t.
Shortly after the events of Black House, Jack Sawyer was shot in the heart. He retreats to Mid-World, where he is able to completely heal. However, his condition is fatal in our world, meaning he can’t spend too long there. As a result, he now lives in Mid-World. When we meet Jack at the start of this book, he is now 57 and widowed, having been married to Sophie, whom we met at the end of Black House, and at one point was Queen of Mid-World.
Jack runs errands for Edward Youngblood, a local crook in Mid-World. Youngblood craves things that aren’t available in Mid-World, mostly Coca-Cola and classic novels. Jack flips to our world, buys the things Youngblood wants, and brings them back for a fee. It’s on one of these excursions to our world where Jack learns that a teenage couple is on a killing spree in modern-day Nebraska. Their crimes seem eerily similar to those committed by Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate. Jack realises they might be echoes connected to Mid-World. And if he doesn’t find a way to stop them, it could cause the destruction of both worlds.
Going in, I didn’t know what to expect. There were elements I might’ve expected, but I didn’t expect the subplot that revolved around Charles Starkweather. While I don’t claim to be a true crime fanatic, there are certain infamous individuals who I’ve become aware of and have taken a morbid interest in. Starkweather is one of those individuals. Starkweather was also a character who piqued the interest of Bruce Springsteen. If you’ve seen the movie Deliver Me From Nowhere, then you will also know how the Starkweather case inspired Springsteen’s Nebraska album. While that was an unlikely connection between that album and this book, I think King and Springsteen both tap into that human curiosity. We feel this hunger to know why someone like Starkweather did the things that he did. What drove him? It’s that hunger to know that leads people to consume documentaries and true crime podcasts in large numbers.
But the Starkweather connection isn’t the main thing about this book. I don’t know how many King books we have left, but this one felt like it could be a Greatest Hits. As well as being a love letter to Peter Straub, I think it’s also a message of appreciation to the long-term King fans. Especially the ones who enjoyed the Dark Tower series.
As a supplement to this, I recently enjoyed an interview that King gave to Straub’s daughter Emma. King spoke in depth about first meeting Straub and the writing of all three books. He also announced that he would be releasing a Holly Gibney book next year. As and when that does get released, you know where to come to find my review.
My Goodreads Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
In conclusion, I’d like to add that I’m glad I read these books back-to-back-to-back. I underestimated them, I must say. There were times that all three felt like a slog, but I’ll say that the positives outweighed the negatives, and my research over recent weeks shows how beloved these books and characters are. And that’s what you aim for. If I become even half the success that Stephen King is, I know I’ll die a happy man. And I hope that when I reach his age, I’m looking back with a smile on a career that I’m proud of and the knowledge that my books and characters are also beloved around the world.
