Reviewing Two Mediocre Thriller/Horror Books I Read Recently

I used to read a lot of Stephen King when I was much younger, and I loved his earlier horror fiction (Carrie, Misery, and Pet Cemetery are some of my favorites). I then gave up as the books got longer and more complicated (Dreamcatcher and then the Gunslinger series).

But for some reason, Cell called out to me, and there I was once again, avidly turning the pages of a Stephen King book. Cell starts strong. One fine day, a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cellphone network turns whoever uses a cellphone into a zombie-like killer. Within minutes, chaos rules, and the few remaining people who don’t have a cellphone need to get together to decide how to survive and live in a post-apocalyptic world populated with murdering zombies. The main protagonist is a comic book artist desperate to reach his young son before he answers his telephone and turns into a zombie. With ample references to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and War of the Worlds, I can’t say this is the most original of Stephen King’s novels. But, it was engrossing and quick and entertaining. The only downside to this book is the lackluster ending – another hallmark of King’s books. They all start strong, meander somewhere in between, and then get stuck trying to find some resolution to the plot.

That’s why I called this book a mediocre read. Stephen King has definitely written better and more original stuff. He is a much better writer than this book.

The second book I read recently (a thriller) is Long Lost by Harlan Coben. I read The Innocent this March and was pretty impressed. Unfortunately, the high impression I had of Harlan Coben all pretty much got dashed after reading Long Lost. Not that it’s a bad book or anything, but it’s regular run-of-the-mill thriller stuff, with nothing new or noteworthy about it.

It’s one in a series of books featuring Myron Bolitar – a private investigator cum sports agent. What a weird combination, but I heard this series was good. Unfortunately for me, Long Lost was just not good enough for me.

In fact, it is so unmemorable that the only note I made while reading is that I hated a crass Mee joke that kept running throughout the book. The joke is this…the hero’s friend has a casual sexual relationship with a Chinese girl called Mee. So, this friend jokes ALL THE TIME along the lines of “Mee so horny”, “I need some Mee time”. Is anyone laughing out loud? No? Skip this one, then.

Altogether mind-numbing stuff 😞.