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This book has had mixed reviews from other reviewers but I wonder why some people knocked it so bad. The only reason I gave the book 4 stars is because the beginning was slow and the ending seemed slightly underdeveloped. The rest of the book was incredibly suspenseful. While you don't need to read The Talisman in order to understand Black House, I found it helpful. King and Straub make numerous references to Jack Sawyer's previous adventures and the characters who helped him along. Jack flips less often to the Territories in this book; most of the story takes place in French Landing, Wisconsin. Jack, a retired police detective, has come out of retirement to help solve the case of a serial killer, dubbed The Fisherman. The fisherman's crimes are greusome and he remains elusive to the French Landing police department. King and Straub tie in characters and events from King's Dark Tower Series as well. We are left wondering if Jack Sawyer will make an appearance in the next Dark Tower installment. Overall, this book was well worth reading. I definitely recommend Black House.

Having never previously read "The Talisman", I decided to hold off on writing a review of "Black House" until I had read its prequel. Having now done so, it would appear that the two books share little other than their main character and the existence of the alternate universe known as the Territories. As a fan of King's Dark Tower series I appreciated "Black House" for its references to characters and storylines from that series, but I felt that this element overshadowed "Black House"'s relevance to the events and themes of "The Talisman".

(In fact, the Talisman itself isn't even referenced in "Black House", probably to avoid confusion with the Dark Tower since both are supposed to be the "axle upon which all worlds turn". One wonders whether Talisman and Tower are one and the same)

Of particular annoyance is the use of the first-person-plural POV ("We look into the room and see Bob. Bob doesn't look so happy, does he? Let's move on to Jim.") which then arbitrarily switches back to regular third-person POV. It can seriously disrupt the flow and pacing of the narrative. Other quibbles include the somewhat rushed and disjoint conclusion and the time spent on unnecessary development of incidental or minor characters.

In summation: this book works fairly well as a standalone part of the "Dark Tower" continuity, and on that basis I recommend it to fans of that series, but it's an incomplete sequel to "The Talisman".

From an avid Stephen King fan, I have to say that this novel was extremely disappointing. And I think this was due, largely in part, to the Peter Straub influence.

To start with, the third person narative style, whereby the author is seemingly taking you by the hand and leading you through the book like some lost child is EXTREMELY tedious. Every time I felt the book lean in that direction, I could almost feel myself cringe. "Now lets go see whats happening here boys and girls." I am sorry, but if the Mr. Rogers analogy doesn't indicate what age group that style of writing is geared for, I am not certain what will.

Secondly, there was no real apprehension in this book. I never felt the type of genuine concern that is supposed to be instilled onto the reader when characters in the novel are in peril. The book seemed to just slowly trudge from one page to the next as our protaganist moved forward in his quest.

Finally, this book was clearly nothing more than sheer marketting. A way for King to generate additional revenue by bringing in the tie in to his Dark Tower series. (Which I am also reading by the way)

The ironic thing is that The Talisman (which Black House is the sequel to) was my all time favorite King novel. It was a taut, suspenseful and thoroughly enjoyable novel. Fortunately, Black House's drivel did not tarnish my minds image of it since other than the resurgance of the main character (who was a young boy in the first novel) is the only real linking point. That, and the concept of the alternate universe, "The Territories" which is now the underlying premise in the Dark Tower series.

For die hard King fans, I think you may want to leave this one on the shelf. I am not sure who to cast the blame on, King or Straub, but it is more than evident that the writing style is clearly NOT King.