Scan barcode
A review by trudilibrarian
Mile 81 by Stephen King
4.0
Avoid reading plot summary here on goodreads if possible. Too spoilery!! The less you know what to expect, so much the better.
Many readers have been underwhelmed by this one: too short to be a novella, too long to be considered a short story, King fans have been left feeling he'd written a tepid, and ultimately forgettable, little piece. The reception has been split though, because many other fans enjoyed it immensely. I am lucky enough to fall into the latter category. This story really gripped me and I won't be forgetting it any time soon. I could be wrong of course, but I don't think so.
Certainly, before even picking it up I was predisposed to love it. It's King after all, and it's been a while since I've been able to indulge in my addiction. You could also say this story acted as one of the prime motivators for me to finally get myself an eReader, seeing as how I wouldn't get to read it otherwise. I'm sure it will be released in print at some point, but I didn't want to wait! And I am loving my touch Kobo. It is the bomb :)
Because a car features prominently in the story, comparisons have been made to [b:Christine|10629|Christine|Stephen King|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Q6ASNSD6L._SL75_.jpg|1150571] and even [b:From a Buick 8|22076|From a Buick 8|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1304686732s/22076.jpg|2818729]. I wasn't really reminded of either of these though. If it felt familiar it was because it got me thinking about
The story instantly engrossed me as did the cast of characters who all find themselves arriving, for one reason or another, at the deserted Mile 81 rest stop. King makes it look all so easy – the abandoned building is the perfect setting for a malevolent force to set its web and draw in all the victims it can. Almost immediately, we know there is something sinister afoot (it is King after all), but it isn’t immediately obvious from what direction the threat is going to come from. It’s hard to steel yourself when you don’t have that vital piece of information. The subsequent dread this creates is palpable. Then, when you finally know where the danger is coming from, the dread doesn’t cease, but escalates exponentially; by this time we have characters to care about and it becomes that desperate feeling of “watch out! Oh no! Don’t do that!”
Do I think this is the best thing King has written? Of course not. But I do think it’s memorable. It was also a whole BAG of fun. It tickled my heebie-jeebies bone and left me wanting more. Whenever I’ve been away from King for a while and I finally get to read something new, it is the best feeling in the world (like slipping into my beat up old Levis or that ancient pink sweater with holes I can’t seem to throw out even though my boyfriend has threatened to burn it). It’s comfort. It’s coming home. It’s sitting down with an old friend. I felt all of those things reading this little gem, and I hope if you do pick it up, you’ll feel some of that too.
October Country 2011 #6
Many readers have been underwhelmed by this one: too short to be a novella, too long to be considered a short story, King fans have been left feeling he'd written a tepid, and ultimately forgettable, little piece. The reception has been split though, because many other fans enjoyed it immensely. I am lucky enough to fall into the latter category. This story really gripped me and I won't be forgetting it any time soon. I could be wrong of course, but I don't think so.
Certainly, before even picking it up I was predisposed to love it. It's King after all, and it's been a while since I've been able to indulge in my addiction. You could also say this story acted as one of the prime motivators for me to finally get myself an eReader, seeing as how I wouldn't get to read it otherwise. I'm sure it will be released in print at some point, but I didn't want to wait! And I am loving my touch Kobo. It is the bomb :)
Because a car features prominently in the story, comparisons have been made to [b:Christine|10629|Christine|Stephen King|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Q6ASNSD6L._SL75_.jpg|1150571] and even [b:From a Buick 8|22076|From a Buick 8|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1304686732s/22076.jpg|2818729]. I wasn't really reminded of either of these though. If it felt familiar it was because it got me thinking about
Spoiler
King's short story “The Raft” (from [b:Skeleton Crew|13440|Skeleton Crew|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1271861632s/13440.jpg|1814]). I just absolutely love that story, it creeped me out and I never forgot it, not only because it’s just so simple and effective, but because I find myself re-reading it every few years. Like the mysterious oil slick in that story, the car in Mile 81 just appears out of nowhere to “feed” as it were, and then move on. Where it comes from, how or why it got there, doesn’t matter so much as the potential victims and their imminent survival or violent death.The story instantly engrossed me as did the cast of characters who all find themselves arriving, for one reason or another, at the deserted Mile 81 rest stop. King makes it look all so easy – the abandoned building is the perfect setting for a malevolent force to set its web and draw in all the victims it can. Almost immediately, we know there is something sinister afoot (it is King after all), but it isn’t immediately obvious from what direction the threat is going to come from. It’s hard to steel yourself when you don’t have that vital piece of information. The subsequent dread this creates is palpable. Then, when you finally know where the danger is coming from, the dread doesn’t cease, but escalates exponentially; by this time we have characters to care about and it becomes that desperate feeling of “watch out! Oh no! Don’t do that!”
Do I think this is the best thing King has written? Of course not. But I do think it’s memorable. It was also a whole BAG of fun. It tickled my heebie-jeebies bone and left me wanting more. Whenever I’ve been away from King for a while and I finally get to read something new, it is the best feeling in the world (like slipping into my beat up old Levis or that ancient pink sweater with holes I can’t seem to throw out even though my boyfriend has threatened to burn it). It’s comfort. It’s coming home. It’s sitting down with an old friend. I felt all of those things reading this little gem, and I hope if you do pick it up, you’ll feel some of that too.
October Country 2011 #6