Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

[book:Fairy Tale|60177373]

The Tampa Bay Times in their review of Stephen King's latest novel, Holly, says King's storytelling skills are not dimming one bit. I could have told them that after reading Fairy Tale (FT). 

I’ve haven’t been a regular reader of King's novels, horror is not my genre. That said, I am now a fan of King’s work and open to reading his stories that are not hard core horror as in the case of my reading Billy Summers and now Fairy Tale, neither of which I would consider squarely in the horror genre, the kind that keeps you up all night and haunt you long after you have finished the book. Neither Billy Summers (see my review of that book on GoodReads) nor FT, in my opinion, fit that category. 

FT is a dark fantasy, told by the main character, seventeen year-old Charlie Reade. Charlie, experienced gut wrenching sadness and loss at the age of seven when his mother was struck and killed while crossing the town bridge bringing home dinner and witnessed his father spiral out of control with alcoholism after the loss of his wife. With an absent dad, emotionally and mentally, Charlie had to grow up fast. He made a deal with the higher power that if his dad kicked alcohol and stayed sober (a constant fear of Charlie’s that won’t) he would be forever indebted, basically making a deal that he would do good. 

Well the Universe listens and so one day while riding his bike he hears a dog whimpering and discovers his elderly neighbor Howard Bowditch sprawled out on his front porch, having fallen while trying to do some house repairs. Charlie calls 911, which literally saves Bowditch’s life (Charlie would disagree with that statement). Feeling indebted to this higher power, Charlie takes care of Radar (Rades), Bowditch's aging and ill German Shepard while Bowditch is in the hospital and he also volunteers to take care of Bowditch after his release from the hospital, no easy task for a 17-year-old, or anyone for that matter. You see, Bowditch is not who he seems to be. He is mysterious, secretive, cantankerous, a loner that happens to have a bucket of gold pellets and a 45-caliber pistol. Do I have your attention yet? Are you intrigued? Well there is more. 

Charlie helps nurse Bowditch back to health and Bowditch grows to trust Charlie giving him the full run of the house and the care of Rades, who Charlie begins to love as his own. But the gold pellets and the gun is not all there is. Bowditch has a shed in the backyard where strange sounds emanate and Charlie is told never to go there. Not until Bowditch dies several months later (you’ll have to read the book to find out what caused his death) does Charlie venture to enter the shed and this is only after listening to a tape recording that Bowditch has left him describing the “well of the worlds”, a stairway in the shed that will take you there, who he really is, and a magical sundial that can reverse aging. Can this really be true? Is there a sundial that can reverse aging, will it save Rades who is getting sicker and sicker? Is this a land of good, evil, or a combination? Is it all a fairy tale created by some old curmudgeon to fool a gullible kid? But then again, there is that bucket of gold pellets and those sounds from the shed, aren’t there???  

This is a solid episodic page-turner, with characters that you will not soon forget. You will fall in love with Rades (don’t mess with the dog) and with Charlie. King is brilliant in telling this story through the eyes of Charlie. You feel and experience the recklessness of youth, the sadness, the love, the confusion, the fear, determination, and the strength through the eyes of this not quite yet adult, but also not a kid. Is this King surfacing some of his own young adult experiences, just in a fairy tale sense???  

King’s storytelling skills definitely are not dimming one bit and if you want a good fairy tale, pick up this book.