The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Stephen King

The brochure promised a "moderate to difficult" six mile hike on the Maine - New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, where nine year old Trisha McFarland was to spent Saturday with her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. When she wanders off to escape their constant bickering, then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut through the woods, Trisha strays deeper into a wilderness full of peril and terror. Especially when night falls.
Trisha has only her wits for navigation, only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fear. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcasts of Boston Red Sox games and the gritty performances of her hero, number 36, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her - her key to surviving an enemy known only by the slaughtered animals and mangled trees in its wake.

This book is now not only one of my favorite King books, but also one of my favorite books. It is pretty much a perfect novel. A thrilling plot, a shadowy menace that may or may not be real, a well fleshed out main character, and an inability to put this book down makes it one of King's masterpieces.

While this isn't as well known as some of King's other works, it holds up to the famous ones and can stand on its own as an enthralling novel.

For the vast majority of the book there is only one character, Trisha, who is lost in the woods and trying to find her way out. During her wanderings she realizes that something is following her, and that something is the God of the Lost. It has claimed her as its own and she knows without doubt that at some point, it will come for her and devour her. There are times when the reader will not know whether this creature is a figment of her imagination, a hallucination, or real - but at the end King will reveal who or what (if anything) has been following Trisha all along.

I was very surprised that a novel that focuses around a single character being on their own in the woods was as good as it was. I was deeply engrossed in the novel and wish I could have read the entire thing in one sitting. On the bright side, it's not a long novel (219 pages hardbound) and it is also a very quick read.

I highly recommend this novel both for the King fan and for anyone who wants an edge of your seat thriller.

My rating: Five out of five snails.