Review – Later by Stephen King

Posted May 11, 2021 by Carole in Reviews / 8 Comments

Review – Later by Stephen KingLater by Stephen King
Narrator: Seth Numrich
ISBN: 9781789096507
Published by Hard Case Crime on March 2, 2021
Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural, Supernatural, Thrillers
Length: 6 hours 32 minutes
Pages: 268
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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four-stars

“Part detective tale, part thriller…touching and genuine.” —The New York Times #1 bestselling author Stephen King returns with a brand-new novel about the secrets we keep buried and the cost of unearthing them.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

SOMETIMES GROWING UP MEANS FACING YOUR DEMONS

The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine – as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.

LATER is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King’s classic novel It, LATER is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.

I really enjoyed this book! I bought the special edition hardcover edition but wasn’t sure when I would have the time to sit down and read the book so I decided to grab a copy of the audiobook from my local library and go that route and I think that might have been a good choice for this story. This was a relatively short read, especially for something written by King, but I thought that it told a really big story.

Jamie is a special little boy. This story opens with him at a very young age illustrating his unique ability. You see, Jamie can see dead people. He sees them just as they were at their time of death but their voices grow quieter as time passes. This isn’t something that his mother wants to talk about or admit is actually happening, until she needs Jamie to use his skill to help her out of a bind.

This story was incredibly entertaining. It may not have been the most original premise (Yes, I have watched that Bruce Willis movie) but I thought that it had enough of a unique twist to keep it fresh. I liked that the story kept me guessing with plenty of twists that kept me listening just a bit longer. I thought that Jamie was a great character and appreciated his point of view throughout the story. My only complaint would be the ending of the story. To me, it kind of came out of left field and just didn’t really fit with the rest of the story.

This was the first time that I have had the opportunity to listen to Seth Numrich’s narration and I must say that I was impressed. He did a fantastic job of bringing this story to life and captured Jamie’s character perfectly. I think that he added a lot of excitement to the story and I believe that his narration added to my overall enjoyment.

I would recommend this book to others. It was a fun shorter listen that I found to be rather hard to put down. I definitely plan to read more of Stephen King’s work in the future.

8 responses to “Review – Later by Stephen King

  1. I LOVE Stephen King. I’ve thrown myself into IT years ago, took 3 months to read it.
    I’ve also read the MR. Mercedes series which was fun. I love that you read the audio book of this one, I’ll put it on my to-listen list! Thanks 🙂

  2. Ohhh ok. I need to read this one then. I think I have it on hold at my library, but our libraries are closed right now due to a third lockdown. Sigh.

  3. I have to buy books for Book Club this month and I was contemplating putting this one on the pile. But I think I might also go the Audio route after reading your review. I “discovered” Stephen King quite late in my life and have so much catch up to do! But I want to read this one for sure.

    Lovely review Carole!

  4. I have read a novella by King and I enjoyed it but his plots don’t usually appeal to me (and that massive page count!) but I like the sound of this and I love that cover!