NEW RELEASE
Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges), by Stephen King
It should surprise no one Stephen King’s latest novel is marketed as “suspenseful.” The so-called King of Horror continues the Bill Hodges Trilogy with Finders Keepers, released March 29.
An updated twist on Misery, in a way, King’s imagined character, author John Rothstein, is slaughtered by a disgruntled fan (Morris Bellamy), annoyed his favorite fictitious persona became a sell-out. Looting the house afterwards, he finds a new novel draft but isn’t able to capitalize on it before he’s hauled off to jail for a separate crime. Thirty-five years later, he has plans for that manuscript.
As is typical, King drives the novel with excellent pacing, compelling readers to fly through, flipping page after page to reach the climax, then slowing to absorb the seeping tension. He slots the novel together with a practiced hand, leading readers through the book by the hand without ever having to pull them along.
CITY OF LITERATURE
The Turner House, by Angela Flournoy
The Turner House is 2001 Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate Angela Flournoy’s first novel, but she’s been plenty busy. Since graduating and spending a year as an adjunct professor at Iowa, Flournoy has taught at Colombia and Southern New Hampshire University, been published by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and had her novel critically acclaimed. And she’s not even 35 yet.
The Turners’ house in Detroit has been through it all in the years its been home to more than a dozen children. When the mother, the leader of the family, can no longer live alone, her children have to decide what to do with the house. And they say you can’t go home again. Flournoy toes the line between sappy and painfully truthful, never falling into tired clichés.
Flournoy will give two readings on April 4, at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.in the Dey House.
REDISCOVERED
The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, by Edgar Allan Poe
There’s a simple reason that I loved Edgar Allan Poe in grade school before I’d learned to appreciate other poetry: He’s spectacular. Poe is known for his creepy, haunting writing, but he also spun heartbreakingly beautiful tales of love; “Annabel Lee” is, in my opinion, one of the greatest poems ever written.
Poe perfectly creates an environment with his work, eliciting precisely the right mood in readers. If he wants you scared, a shiver runs along your spine. If he wants you sad, tears well up in your eyes. It is impossible not to become entirely immersed in the world his delicate touch creates.
The beauty of a collection like this is how well it lends itself to a hectic schedule. Have 10 minutes until a class starts? Ponder a poem or two. Have a few hours to spare over the weekend? Dive into his short and not-so-short stories.
— by Justus Flair