'The world had teeth and it could bite you
with them anytime it wanted. Trisha McFarland discovered this when she was nine
years old. Lost in the woods. Trying not to be terrified, trying not to let
herself think that sometimes when people got lost in the woods they got
seriously hurt. Sometimes they died.'
The world may have teeth, but this novel
sure ain't. It's a short story pulled out so long that you begin to wonder when
that rotten tooth will finally go. The heroine, Trisha McFarland, is extremely
irritating. No, make that Stephen King's writing. So determined is he to rough
and tumble Trish that she ends up seriously injured before the first 30 pages
are up. Agony after agony is prolonged in this torturous prose. I suppose it's
difficult for a European audience to appreciate this book, since we're not used
to wilderness on an American scale. Neither are we used to baseball. I was very
surprised to learn that the Red Sox play games nearly every night (I suppose
it's closer to cricket than soccer in this way). Even more astonishing is that
Tom Gordon is a real baseball player (according to the book). I bet his socks
are even redder now. Due to King's predilection for writing about writers, I
had expected something more on the lines of King's recent trip to England, i.e.
famous novelist faces his worst nightmare by being hit in the googlies at
Lord's.
It's clear quite soon that this isn't meant
to be taken as a horror novel, but even so, I was surprised how flat a novel by
such a highly paid writer could be. Perhaps a little more mustard could beef up
the next bap.
Kevin Mahoney
