Joyland, Stephen King’s second novel for the Hard Case Crime imprint, tells the tale of a young college student who takes a summer job at an amusement park in North Carolina, stumbling upon a murder mystery and a haunted ride in the process.  Mostly, though, this is a coming of age story, as the protagonist, Devin Jones, gets over his first heartbreak, finds a place where he truly fits in, at least for a while, and manages to solve the crime of who murdered the girl who haunts the Horror House.

The crime elements, along with the supernatural, take a back seat in this tale, which I gather is not quite the intent of the line.  But when a name like Stephen King offers to write a book for you, I guess you don’t let silly quibbles like that stand in the way.  I enjoyed this side of King’s work and might look to pick up his first novel for this line, the inspiration for the Syfy series Haven.