What starts out as a story of a hired assassin with a heart of gold turns into an improbable but I think successful meta exercise on writing.
This book is set in an entirely real (no spooky ghosts in this King book) contemporary America just before the pandemic begins. It outlines the situation and places the lead character in a position of writing a book to pass as a writer. This gives the author (Stephen King) a chance to write about an author who is in fact a killer. King skillfully sets up the situation so we can explore the power of writing, and get a taste of why he likes it so much.
It takes some writing skill to get us to care about (and start to really like) a hired killer. The way the story develops is a little too perfect – the right things happening at just the right moments – but I was willing to forgive based on being a fan of his other work. And I thought that the “book within a book” device was a little forced. I even cringed a little when the typeface changed – and had a feeling of dread near the end when the current events of the “real” story had the typeface as well. It is hard to explain without giving away anything here.
This novel was a quick read but I really enjoyed the time I spent with it. Next I am reading World War Z by Max Brooks.
