Title: The Tommyknockers
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror/Fiction
Published: 1987
Rating: 3.5/5
Summary:
On a routine walk through the woods, Bobbi Anderson trips on something that changes her life and the entire town of Haven, Maine. Buried history. Deteriorating townspeople. Energy sources. Inventions. Hive mind. Sometime things need to stay buried.
Review:
Alien stories are nothing new to me in the movie spectrum, but I surprisingly haven’t read many alien-based novels. That made this a fun read for me, but it was also one of the longest reads. It wasn’t as bad as reading The Stand, but my reading pace was similar because of all the details. Personally I love King’s attention to detail, but in this case some of it was too much. When it started breaking down almost every townsperson and how they were affected, it became kind of a chore to read. Like I didn’t need to know about the mailman and his wife and other similar (in my opinion) unimportant characters. I have read that King was in the throes of his drug (cocaine) addiction while writing this so that kind of explains the excessiveness of it.
I loved Bobbi and Gard, though. It’s a realistic and understandable relationship that they have. One thing that King excels at is imperfect and relatable characters. One character I hated was Bobbi’s sister. She was unnecessarily hateful in every word and action, and while I’m sure there are people that vile I hate experiencing it even in fiction. It’s hard for me to read (side note: she’s only in the story for a few pages).
I was actually pretty satisfied with the ending. Gard’s character is resilient despite his alcohol addiction and emotional and physical trauma.
Ultimately, yes, I would recommend this novel if you don’t mind King’s penchant for details. The alien aspect of it is original in my opinion.
