Reviews - Needful Things | The StoryGraph

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Short Version: Needful things is another great entry in the Stephen King universe. Even though the second act drug along far longer than I wanted it to, the Third Act made for one of the craziest, most satisfying conclusions to a King novel I can remember.

Long Version: Needful Things had a great premise and showed off King's usual knack for writing interesting, compelling characters. Alan and Polly are both treasures, and easy to root for, even if some of the many, many, MANY, other towns-folk come across as flat or uninteresting. "Mr. Gaunt" is a terrifying villain, not only because of the events which he sets into motion, but because of the familiarity with which he's written. You've conversed with this sales person before. You've heard these pitches and, in all likelihood, you've bought something in the past from a man just like this. It all strikes spectacularly close to home.

But, in my opinion, the book spends too much time dwelling on these things. The characters motivations were driven home over and over again until I was exhausted with them. Mr. Gaunt spins the same trick countless times, and we're subjected to different characters' sins and fantasies for hundreds and hundreds of pages before any of the dominoes even start to fall. Getting to the climax became a burden for me around page 400.

But I'm glad I didn't stop. Once the dominoes DID start to fall, the result was spectacular. An unholy grudge match being waged across an entire town with blood and guts and brutality peppered across every other page was magnificent. Alan and Polly's temptations and redemptions were brilliantly executed and, in the end, thoroughly satisfying to behold.

I wish Mr. King had trimmed out a few of the subplots, but all in all, Needful Things earns its place as one of the top tier stories in the King canon.