This book is one weird Fairy Tale, from start to finish.

Lisey (which we learn right away rhymes with Ce Ce), is a widow. Her husband, Scott, was a super popular writer of scary and strange fiction books, who had millions of fans, many of whom were insane. Remind you of any real life writers? At the beginning of the book, Lisey is just starting to go through her husband’s things, deciding what to keep, what to send away, and who to send these important things to. Its been two years since her husband died, and Lisey is being bothered by fans, colleges, and anyone else who feels they are deserving of Scott’s papers, awards, etc. There is also a madman who couldn’t care less about Scott’s things. He just wants to cause Lisey pain.

There are at least three timelines running through this story. One is the present, where Lisey is at now. One of her sisters has gone crazy, and Lisey and the rest of the sisters are picking up the pieces of that. At the same time Lisey is dealing with and running from the madman who is after her. Another timeline is Lisey remembering moments she spent with Scott, both good ones and bad ones. At first, its difficult to keep track of how all these memories fit into the story. There is a specific memory involving a shovel that becomes very important. I don’t think I am giving anything away there. The dust jacket of the book has a cut out in the shape of a shovel, after all! There is a third story line that tells some absolutely horrifying things that Scott went through as a young child.

Weaving through all of these timelines is a connection to…. well, I guess it is another world. Scott can go there, but he’s not the only one. This world has wonderful things, and monsters, and some things that start out wonderful but become dangerous at night. It’s a fairy tale like world, that draws people in. I found a lot of it to be something a young child might imagine. Lisey must remember what she knows about this other world to not only save herself, but, to find her story.

I am a big Stephen King fan, but, I am not exactly in love with this particular story. It just didn’t do it for me. I don’t know exactly why that is. Perhaps it was because I could make out the path the story was leading the reader down a little before it got there. Maybe it was because I ended up wanting to know more about this other world when I got to the end of the book. I had all sorts of questions in mind, that won’t get answered. I think I also wanted to find some link between this book and some of his other books, since I know King has a tendency to connect characters and settings from his other work. If there is a link, I simply didn’t see it. King has a tendency to use made up language in his books sometimes, and I have come to expect that. In this book, however, he goes a bit overboard. I understand that most long term couples tend to have a few words of their “own”. Words that mean something different for them, or words that are completely made up. So much of that gets used in this book that I found it distracting! The use of the word “Smuck” instead of the similar sounding swear word was particularly vexing to me.

Then again, this particular Stephen King book was on the Barnes & Noble Bestseller list for a few weeks. So, what do I know?

Ready for a ghost story? Not the cheesy kind that you make up to amuse your scout troop around a campfire. No, this book is scary! It will keep you up nights, wondering about the ghost in the story.

Jude is a famous (but aging) rock star. He has a personal assistant to take care of things for him. He has a troubled girlfriend, who is about half his age. He has an big interest in strange and creepy things, which he has made a collection of.

One day, Jude’s personal assistant finds a site on the internet that is auctioning off an actual, real, honest-to-goodness ghost. (Before you go there, no, the website is not ebay! Over and over again, the reader is reminded that it was some other site. Just to be safe, I assume). The ghost is said to be someone’s father, who is still hanging around the house after his death, and unintentionally freaking out his granddaughter, who can see him. Won’t someone invite this ghost to visit them instead, and give the kid some peace?

Jude decides to go ahead and buy the ghost, before the bidding can end. He doesn’t quite believe that he’s bought a real ghost, but, he also doesn’t entirely disbelieve the idea. The ghost arrives in a black, heart shaped box, along with the black suit that belonged to the dead man. Things get really freaky after that!

Jude starts to actually see the ghost of this dead man sitting on a chair in his hallway. It is clear that this ghost can see Jude too, (and his publicist, and his girlfriend), and he wants to hurt them all. When things get too freaky, Jude tries to contact the woman who sold him the ghost in the first place. Maybe he can just send him back? It doesn’t turn out to be anywhere near that easy.

At first, the reader might think that Jude is just having some remarkably bad luck. But then, things about Jude’s past relationships are revealed, and it seems like maybe he deserves at least a part of what he is getting. Then the story twists again, gives you some more details about what really happened, and turning everything the reader might have thought up to that point completely on its head. I found myself changing my mind about just who the “bad guy” of the story really was several times.

The story is frightening, and bloody, and full of both vengeance and love. It moves along at a fast pace, and would make a great movie. Reading this reminded me of some of the earlier works of Stephen King. I am very impressed, and want to see more from Joe Hill.

The only thing I didn’t like was the title. I still have that song by Nirvana going through my head!

The copy I read was an advanced copy. Look for the book to be available in February of this year.