Later
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4.2 • 1.9K Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Part detective tale, part thriller…touching and genuine.” —The New York Times
#1 bestselling author Stephen King returns with a brand-new novel about the secrets we keep buried and the cost of unearthing them.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
SOMETIMES GROWING UP
MEANS FACING YOUR DEMONS
The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine – as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.
LATER is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King’s classic novel It, LATER is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Sometimes getting scared witless can be laugh-out-loud fun. Stephen King has often leavened his horror with flashes of humor, but this slim, fast-paced story may be his most lighthearted book to date. Not that it won’t still give you nightmares. Later tells the first-person story of Jamie Conklin, a young adult recalling his childhood. Many kids have imaginary friends, but as a kindergartener Jamie talked to ghosts of the recently deceased, who would answer all his questions honestly. His abilities are eventually exploited by both his well-meaning mom and her shady girlfriend, a corrupt NYPD cop. And that’s when Jamie ends up getting chased by murderous drug kingpins and soul-destroying demons. Written in a hardboiled pulp-fiction style, Later makes it clear that Stephen King is having tons of fun. Don’t be surprised if you end up alternating between gasps and giggles.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
MWA Grand Master King (The Outsider) demonstrates that no good deed goes unpunished in this gruesome yet mesmerizing paranormal coming-of-age story. For as long as he can remember, 13-year-old Jamie Conklin has been able to see dead people, and images of bloody homicide victims and grotesquely disfigured casualties of traffic accidents haunt him. His gift is sometimes a blessing, as when his protective mother, Tia, an industrious literary agent whose company is on the verge of bankruptcy, exploits his talent for monetary gain, cementing her bestselling client's legacy in the process. More often, though, it's a curse, slyly capitalized on by Tia's girlfriend, NYPD Det. Liz Dutton, who pressures Jamie to aid her in bringing an end to a notorious mass bomber's 18-year reign of terror. Inevitably, perhaps, Jamie's virtuous deeds expose him to heinous things no boy should see and bring wrath and vengeance and cruelty upon him. Gory and unnerving, this twisty chiller has sufficient sins and revelations to keep readers pursuing the action to its breathless conclusion. King fans are in for a treat.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic
Great storytelling!
The worse King book ever!!
I’ve read all of the Stephen King novels, and many of them twice. This book seems like it was written by somebody else! I found three typos in the story goes nowhere. It is boring and horrible do not read it.
King’s Storytelling at its Finest
Look, there are a lot of subpar ratings out there for this piece, and in some ways I can understand. Let me use a comparison to some of my favorite comedy. I love a stand up who can make you laugh for fifty five minutes and then leave you with the last five as morality, inner retrospective and philosophical commentary and then end with a good joke. This is what King does in ‘Later’. He gives you a great suspense story based in the spiritual realm and will give you a reason to keep reading through 95% of the story. The retrospective at the end serves as the button, the recap, the application to the story itself. Those who complain about the story are taking it at face value. This is a must read if you’re a King fan, but you must allow yourself to feel, learn, and most important: self identify,