Later – Stephen King

Later, Stephen King’s third effort for the Hard Case Crime imprint, tells the tale of a young man who has the ability to see and interact with the dead, at least for a few days after their passing.  Unfortunately for him, when he is forced to use his “talents” to help his mother save her struggling business, he exposes himself to her girlfriend, an unstable cop with IA on her tail.  As he grows up, she twice kidnaps him, looking to use him to her advantage, first to stop a serial bomber who had just committed suicide and, finally, to set herself up with a huge drug score after killing her dealer.

The horror elements that one usually associates with Stephen King mostly take a back seat here, although there is a mysterious ghost/demon that shows up from time to time, as King once again uses this imprint to tell a different kind of story.  I’ve enjoyed this side of King’s work in the past and will look forward to more of it in the future.