Book Review submitted by: Stephen J. Hage, SteveH9697@aol.com
Just After Sunset is a collection of short stories of the kind only Stephen can write.
His signature skill in his novels and his short stories is the ability to press the buttons that open up the dark places in readers’ minds; places that deal first with fear and then with things like death, revenge, hate, intolerance, gore, horror, desire, uncertainty and the way reality can sometimes become incredibly thin.
The first Stephen King novel I read was The Stand. I made the mistake of starting it on a car trip to Carmel with my wife and some friends for a long weekend. Within the first 4-5 pages I was unalterably hooked. My wife and friends complained bitterly that all I did for most of the trip was read that damn book. And so it continued until I finished it. I remember sitting up many nights at 1:00am, struggling to keep my eyes open and telling myself…just one more page; knowing full well my normal wake-up time was 5:30am. Since then I’ve been an unabashed fan.
King is the quintessential master of the horror genre and in Just After Sunset he delivers superb examples of his highly refined story telling skill with every story.
The story I found most disturbing is entitled N. It’s about someone discovering a place where reality becomes very thin; thin enough to allow dreadfully bad things to emerge from the chaos that’s normally hidden by the thin veneer of what we all consider “every-day reality.”
King is to genre writing what Muhammad Ali was to boxing. His skill transfers easily from the novel to the short story. And, anyone who has tried their hand at creative writing will tell you that the two formats are as different as steel and strawberry jam. But, for Stephen King in either format, he floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.
If you like being scared out of your skin by a good story I strongly recommend Just After Sunset. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
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