For some time now I’ve been waiting to read the sequel to “The Talisman” titled “Black House” by Stephen King and Peter Straub. And now that I finally have and tonight have completed it.
It has been over twenty years since Jack Sawyer has traveled to the Territories where he would save the twinner of his mother from certain and prevent a cataclysm to his own world. Now he is a retired LA homicide detective who now resides in a small town in Wisconsin with no memory of the adventures he had in the Territories. But after having been compelled to leave the force when an event threatens to bring those memories right back to the surface.
A series of disturbing murders has struck the region. Murders that are similar to ones committed decades earlier. The local police chief, a friend of Jack’s, is begging for him to help to catch this killer.
But is this trail of bloodshed is the work of a very disturbed individual, or is some kind of mysterious and malignant force loose in the town? And what is causing Jack’s waking dreams, if that’s what they are, of robins eggs and feathers? And as these strange and cryptic messages become more difficult to ignore, Jack is finding himself drawn back to the Territories, and on to the very treacherous secrets of his own hidden past.
In “Black House” the horror element is taken up a notch here. And also add some mystery, just for good measure. But the element of fantasy is still pretty much there notwithstanding. The last post I made about “The Talisman”, a fellow redditor pointed it out that it was a tie in to King’s Dark Tower series and “Black House” confirms it completely. I have the entire series on my wish list right and hope to get at least one or two books. Or maybe get those one or two while out in town if given the chance!
by i-the-muso-1968