Bag of Bones
Stephen King

Forty year old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan, is unable to stop grieving even four years after the sudden death of his wife, Jo, and he can no longer bear to face the blank screen of his word processor.
Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, Mike finally returns to Sara Laughs, the Noonan's isolated summer home.
He finds his beloved Yankee town familiar on its surface, but much changed underneath - held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, who twists the very fabric of the community to his purpose: to take his three year old granddaughter away from her widowed young mother. As Mike is drawn into their struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the sight of ghostly visitations, ever escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here - and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

First and foremost allow me to say that if you have any interest in this novel, do NOT see the made for television two part movie. It's nothing like the book and is an amazing disappointment. The novel, on the other hand, is extremely enthralling and has two excellent story lines.

The first is the relationship between Noonan, Mattie Devore, and her daughter. Not only does he have feelings for them, but he also makes a stand against the sinister Max Devore and hires a pricey New York family law attorney to make sure that Mattie keeps her daughter.

The second is the haunting that is happening in his house and the ties that the dead have to Max Devore and the other locals - and even to the sudden death of his wife.

The book is engaging, well written, and the characters are very well developed. It's a larger novel (529 pages for the hardcover), but is an easy read. The story flows so well that you really don't notice how long the book is and it ends well before you really want it to. Not because the loose ends aren't tied up (they are) but because you want to continue on and see what happens to the characters.

The ending that explains the haunting in Noonan's house and the mysterious death of many children is a surprise and one that is quite impressive.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially King fans. Read the book, pretend the movie doesn't exist.

My rating: Four out of five snails.