Friday 5 August 2016

Mile 81 by Stephen King - Review

Amanda Kennedy


Mile 81 by
Reviewed by on

Following my recent review of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, I decided to dip my toe into more of King's recent works and discovered Mile 81, a short story offered by Amazon as a "Kindle Single". Time is for me, temporarily sparse. I have so many commitments sucking up my time that I figured it would be best to stick with something short and sweet for a while, and this brief story seemed to fit the bill exactly.

So far as I'm aware, Mile 81 is only available for digital download (though of course, I'd love to own a hard copy, even in paperback form).

The story revolves around a boarded up rest stop on a highway in Maine, where a young buy named Pete Simmons takes refuge when his older brother abandons him to play with friends. Having discovered - all too young - the effects of vodka on an immature body, he falls asleep inside an abandoned building, while a mud-covered truck with no visible driver comes off the highway and onto the ramp beside the rest stop...

Mile 81 started off so well: excellent characterisation, a gradual building up of suspense and the peril of children (who for me, were the most believable characters).Unfortunately though, the ending fell a little flat. Where I'd hoped (or indeed, expected) the climax to be a satisfying, gory and suspenseful conclusion, it seemed to have been squashed short. Had this been a paperback, I might be inclined to consider this edited to meet the requirements of a short format of lesser pages...

I did enjoy the concept of the story, but sincerely would have preferred a more drawn out ending. Mu apologies, Mr. King, I'm sorry to say this novella doesn't match up to your more complete works
.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
stars.

Amanda Kennedy / Book Blogger, Writer & Editor

Amanda is a lifelong learner and book lover who lives in the North of England with her family and several cats. She writes book reviews, literary news and bookish articles here on All My Pretty Books.

To learn more about Amanda's own work, visit her personal website.

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