Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
Nice little story, especially if you like baseball. The second short story "Morality" seems fairly simple, but has deeper issues at work. It could be the better of the two stories.
Not bad. Not really my cup of tea but good writing.
Blockade Billy was an okay read that I completed in one sitting. Thus, it is short and not hard to get through. Some of the dialogue is pretty baseball-centric, so if one doesn't understand the game, or is unfamiliar, this might be off-putting. My other criticism is that this is actually a short story and leaves a lot to be desired in terms of back story and plot. Calling it sparse would be an understatement. Nevertheless, die-hard King fans will enjoy Blockade Billy.
Blockade Billy was also the first Stephen King ebook that I read, and that in itself was an enjoyable experience. The textual presentation and layout was very nice, complete with black-and-white illustrations that pepper the book.
Blockade Billy was also the first Stephen King ebook that I read, and that in itself was an enjoyable experience. The textual presentation and layout was very nice, complete with black-and-white illustrations that pepper the book.
Pretty creepy and entertaining story, but I feel like you need to be a baseball fan to really appreciate it.
I am an avid King reader. I enjoy his tales that are out of his usual genre. This novella nearly was one of those gore-less stories but there was bloodshed by the end. Told from the point of view of an aged baseball manager to King himself, Blockade Billy is a baseball story of an eccentric kid called up to the majors and the strange mishaps that occur during his tenure. The ending wraps up with the reader learning of Billy's not too distance past and the story behind his bizarre behavior. I enjoyed this short story, but have to chalk it up to one of his typical horror tales.
I don't know anything about baseball, so I didn't fully underdstand 3/4 of the novel. But I liked the twist at the end: I was waiting for something to happen, but I didn't expect that.
King is a master at story telling. This book couldn't have been farther storywise from the type of stories I like. It was like a play by play reciting of a baseball season, but somehow the characterization and language wove in a plot that I couldn't put down.
Novella set around few weeks in 1957 as an unknown rookie joins the New Jersey Titans baseball team. He tears up the league but there's some mysterious elements to "Blockade Billy" that no one can explain. This is a fun, short book if you are a baseball fan--King is a longtime rabid fan of the sport and he gets most of the notes right. The only other book by King I've read was Carrie so can't say I'm a huge fan...but being a lover of all things baseball it was fun reading about a fictional player (merged with real ones) and it dosed with the dark, macabre elements King is known for.
This was just Ok. Old school baseball and a mystery should be right in my wheelhouse, but it was just OK.
I tried to read this on paper and couldn't do it. I'm just not a fan of sports fiction. I gave the audio a try and found it a wonderful story. The narrator was perfect and really did get my blood going. I highly recommend the audio version of the book.