By Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner; 1st edition
Pub. Date: November 11, 2014
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I sometimes get the feeling that Stephen King, in his relatively old
age, is looking for the Big Picture. Gone are the the days where the
scare was everything, if that time even existed for King. In many ways,
King is looking for relevancy in his newer works more than he may have
had before. I really got that feeling with
11/22/63, a reflective opus that looks at where we have been, what we lost, and the futility of finding it again. His new work,
Revival
has a similar feel to it. The novel centers around Jamie Morton as he
grows up, makes mistakes, and revives a perilous relationship with his
church's pastor. Charles Daniel Jacobs is a charismatic minister but
when his wife and child dies in a car accident, he delivers a
devastating sermon that results in his removal as pastor and from the
town. Jacobs has an obsession with electricity, particularly something
he calls "secret electricity". Jamie grows up, becomes a musician and
struggles with his own demons in the shadow of lost family and drug
addiction. He meets up with Jacobs later in life and the ex-reverend is
now heading a revival type healing tour with people who claims to have
been healed. Jacobs also heals Jamie but he can't get over a single
thought. "I've lost something".
King's new novel fits firmly in
the mid-ground of his writings. He has a mission and he stays with it as
it develops slowly. A little too slowly for this reader. There are very
few shocking ad scary moments until you get to the end. But the ending
makes up for all that lull. This may be one of the best endings in any
King novel. Yet I didn't think the rest of the book was worthy of it.
Jamie felt a little too formula; good kid strays, comes back, explores
the mystery of his ex-mentor, etc. I didn't get a good round view of his
character. Jacobs fares a little bit better but rarely going beyond the
mad scientist stereotype. Yet like all good King works, it manages to
gel together at the end. It's good but not great. I didn't get the sense
of urgency that I felt in
11/22/63 nor the dread of death and the unknown that I felt in
Pet Sematary
which explores some of these themes in a more terrifying way. Overall,
it is an above average novel by an author whose work I expect to go over
the bar by miles. I do recommend
Revival but there are many books by King I would recommend first.
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