Book Review: Joyland

Joyland
by Stephen King


Synopsis: The story of twenty-one year old Devin Jones, a New Hampshire college student working his summer at the Joyland Amusement Park in North Carolina. Spending the summer apart from his first serious girlfriend, Devin experiences the angst of watching his relationship crumble away while at the same time discovering a new happiness within himself while working at Joyland. He becomes a part of that secret organization known the country-over as carnies, learning the language of the carnival barker… and learning the dark secrets that the carnivals can hide. Like murder.

A bit of a departure for Stephen King I think the casual fans would say, but those of us who read a lot of his work know that he actually has quite a bit of work like this. This is not a horror novel. It probably falls somewhere between a crime thriller and a coming-of-age tale. It seemed to remind me most closely of Hearts in Atlantis in tone probably.

There are a few elements of horror story and there is a murder mystery threaded through the plot, but it's more a tale life, death, love and growing up. It takes an occasional dark turns and there are a few supernatural elements here-and-there, but what makes it King is his memorable and engrossing characters he creates. Always so human, always interesting and just fun to read. It's a bit sentimental overall and easy-to-relate to.

Overall it's just a nicely crafted tale from a master storyteller. Well worth a read. And I just love the old pulp fiction looking cover.

8/10