It's a Hardback Life

I’ve been writing excessively long reviews of Stephen King books lately, and I think I’m getting a bit repetitive. So, I’ll try to keep this (relatively) short and to-the-point.

I like this book. My first encounter with it was when I was about 15, which is about the time I read most of Stephen King’s work. I remember this being one of my absolute favorites at the time, but I think that place has been usurped by Pet Sematary and The Shining. This is definitely a horror story, relying heavily on sinister imagery and gore, but it’s told with the pacing and style of a mystery-thriller.

Thad Beaumont is a critically acclaimed but financially unsuccessful writer when he creates the nom de plume George Stark. As Stark, Thad writes several bestsellers centered on a sociopathic character, Alexis Machine. After a few years of increasing security and a growing family, Thad decides it’s time for Stark to die. After participating in a staged funeral for a People magazine spread, Thad is ready to get back to his “real” writing, and his wife is relieved that the violent Stark is no longer a part of her life, even if he was only a pseudonym. Unfortunately, neither Tad nor Liz is aware of a very unusual occurrence in Thad’s past and how the bizarre circumstances surrounding a childhood operation will erupt horribly into their present.

The “evil twin” is a trope common to both horror stories and daytime soap operas. Usually it’s too convenient to be totally believable, but King approaches this well-worn idea with a twist of his own. You see, Stark has somehow brought himself into the world of the living, and he will do anything to stay there, including murder. While much of the plot hinges on the defeat of Stark, the real conflict is not just in the “how,” but whether or not Thad can destroy something (or someone) that is in some ways a part of himself (and that he may secretly admire in the unexplored parts of his psyche).

Like much of King’s early work, there is quite a bit of autobiography lurking below the surface. Just before the creation of this book, King had announced the “death” of his earlier authorial incarnation, Richard Bachman. It’s funny in a way, not just because it obviously influenced The Dark Half, but because King’s real life story almost works in reverse to the fictional one. King is the more successful of the two, and he wins.

Like I said, I like this book; at 15 it would have been a 5-star read, though I’ve subtracted a star because it didn’t seem to engross me quite so much this time around. But it is well-paced and the characters are decently developed, even if the premise has a few gaps that are glossed over by generalized supernatural forces. The gore is spread thick and gooey in this one, so some of the imagery was unsettling, but it’s a horror story so I suppose it’s to be expected. If you like Stephen King, you will probably like this book, and if you don’t like King or just find him moderately entertaining, you might want to skip it.

(Side note: this is the book that introduces Sheriff Alan Pangborn, who takes center stage in Needful Things.)