Fans of classic Stephen King are in for a treat with his latest, which blends the eerie sensibilities of his greatest stories with a more modern, police procedural style. The book opens with the discovery of a shocking crime that had been perpetrated against a child, and the subsequent arrest of the suspect, a well-liked figure in a small Texas town whose DNA and fingerprints are all over the crime scene. He claims innocence however, and even has an airtight alibi. The investigation begins to turn up surprising answers, that require the investigating officers to rethink the way they look at the world. Despite having strong horror elements, this is most assuredly more of a suspense novel than a horror one. It is hard not to keep turning the pages in anticipation of what will come next, but you aren’t likely to have trouble getting to sleep when you put it down. As usual, King proves very adept at bringing characters to life that you find yourself really getting invested in, even if he winds up putting incongruously outdated slang terms into their mouths. This is a very engaging story that makes for great beach reading, even if it does feel like the villain would have been better suited by a scarier take on the tale. ★★★★ – Sean Farrell

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★★★★★ = Excellent | ★★★★ = Very Good | ★★★ = Good | ★★ = Fair | ★ = Poor