| A new Stephen King book is always an event and Everything's Eventual--a collection of short stories that will be already familiar to King's die-hard fans--is a nicely timed appetiser for his next novel From a Buick 8. Collected here are the stories published in the New Yorker and King's highly successful e-book Riding the Bullet and for those of you who haven't already seen them, it will be no surprise to learn that King explores a multitude of emotions and themes, from pure horror to simple everyday life. It's a very mixed bag but each and every one hits the mark as vignettes of a master storyteller who is equally at home with a short story as with 700-page blockbuster. Particular standouts include the previous audio-only tales "LT's Theory of Pets" and "1408". Twists and turns abound and there are plenty of characters to love and loathe in equal measure. But King is at his best when writing about the nature of the human spirit and its enduring capacity for both good and evil--there is plenty here that explores both. --Jonathan Weir |
