Reviews for Revival

by Stephen King

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Starred Review. King's latest (after Doctor Sleep) is narrated by Jamie Morton, who is six years old when he meets Rev. Charles Jacobs. New to Harlow, ME, Jacobs, along with his pretty young wife and toddler, quickly become the local attraction. Jamie and his family discover that Jacobs has a love of electricity and is quite ingenious with his inventions. Soon, though, tragedy strikes the reverend, and the losses he endures cause him to give a sermon that gets him fired from the ministry and banished from town. Years later, Jamie, now in his 30s and addicted to heroin, meets Jacobs again. Noticing how Jacobs has changed, Jamie worries about the man's constant tinkering with what Jacobs calls "secret electricity." Jacobs begins to heal people using his knowledge of electricity, but Jamie finds that there are terrible side effects. VERDICT King (The Stand) fans will rejoice that the horror master is back in fine form. While there are fewer characters than in many of his other tomes, each character is well drawn and worth following. The ending is exquisitely horrific and will leave the reader hoping this is only a work of fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 5/19/14.]-Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Saying that this is one of King's most harrowing, most fatalistic works should only endear it to his base this is horror, after all; we're not here for the positive vibes. In the kind of loose, garrulous voice that has marked his last decade, King spins the yarn of Jamie Morton and Reverend Charles Jacobs, whose lives wretchedly intertwine for 50 years. Jamie is six when he meets the wholesome preacher whose hobby, electronics, makes him a hit with the Methodist youth. A tragic accident leads to Jacobs' loss of faith readers will also be scarred but only increases his devotion to electrical experimentation: one of God's doorways to the infinite. Jamie grows up to be a drug-addicted rhythm guitarist, but a reunion at Jacobs' electricity-based carnival act proves the curative potential of secret electricity . . . despite unsettling side effects. Frankenstein is a touchstone here, but more so is Lovecraft, as King edges ever closer to the madness of the unknowable and eventually, to his courageous credit, stares directly at it. Though narrative wheels spin in place on occasion, the book's engine is powered by high-octane dread, and few fuels run stronger. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This is old-school, capital-H horror the likes of Thinner, Pet Sematary, and The Shining. Readers will be up for the endurance test.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2014 Booklist


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In his second novel of 2014 (the other being Mr. Mercedes), veteran yarn spinner King continues to point out the unspeakably spooky weirdness that lies on the fringes of ordinary life. Think of two central meanings of the titlea religious awakening and bringing someone back to lifeand you'll have King's latest in a nuthouse. Beg pardon, nutshell, though of course it's madness that motivates all his most memorable characters. In this instance, a preacher arrives in a small New England townalways a small New England townwith an attractive wife and small child. Soon enough, bad things happen: "The woman had a dripping bundle clasped to her breast with one arm. One arm was all Patsy Jacobs could use, because the other had been torn off at the elbow." And soon enough, the good reverend, broken by life, is off to other things, while our protagonist drinks deep of the choppy waters of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. "My belief had ended," Jamie Morton says, simplythat is, until Rev. Jacobs turns up in his life again, after having spent time at the horrifying North Carolina amusement park that is Joyland (for which see King's 2013 novel of the same name) and mastered not just the carney's trade, but also the mysterious workings of "secret electricity." Well, as Victor Frankenstein learned, electricity can sometimes get away from a fellow, and though young Jamie pleads with the bereaved pastor to get himself back on the good foot ("The newspapers would call you Josef Mengele." "Does anyone call a neurosurgeon Josef Mengele just because he loses some of his patients?"), once it sets to crackling, the secret electricity can't be put back into the bottle. Faith healing run amok: It's a theme that's exercised King since Carrie, and though this latest is less outright scary and more talky than that early touchstone, it compares well. No one does psychological terror better than King. Another spine-tingling pleasure for his fans. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

When the new preacher, Rev. Charles Jacobs, comes to a small Maine town, six-year-old Jaimie Morton is the first to meet him. Their relationship will span decades and define much of Jaimie's life. King's juvenile characters and family relationships are always well defined, and the early chapters set during Jaime's childhood are especially compelling. The later parts incorporate King's love of music and revisit his recurring themes of obsession, mortality, and life after death. A chilling conclusion finishes off another fine tale, narrated in an effective performance by David Morse. VERDICT King fans will be delighted, and, despite supernatural elements, those who think of King as just a horror writer will be pleasantly surprised. ["King fans will rejoice that the horror master is back in fine form," read the starred review of the Scribner hc, LJ 10/15/14.]-Janet Martin, Southern Pines P.L., NC © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This spellbinding supernatural thriller from MWA Grand Master King chronicles one man's efforts to, as narrator Jamie Morton phrases it, "tap into the secrets of the universe." Charles Jacobs, a Methodist minister in rural Harlow, Maine, loses his faith when his wife and child die in a hideous car accident, but not his obsessive interest in electricity. Over the next 50 years, Jamie-a devoted congregant of Jacobs's when young, but a wary skeptic as he matures-crosses paths with his friend as the constantly experimenting Jacobs graduates from carnival huckster, to faith healer, and finally to mad scientist convinced that he can harness a "secret electricity" to get a glimpse of "some unknown existence beyond our lives." King (Mr. Mercedes) is a master at invoking the supernatural through the powerful emotions of his characters, and his depiction of Jacobs as a man unhinged by grief but driven by insatiable scientific curiosity is as believable as it is frightening. The novel's ending-one of King's best-stuns like lightning. Agent: Chuck Verrill, Darhansoff & Verrill Literary Agents. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

King's new thriller begins in Maine the summer of 1962, when its narrator, Jamie Morton, at age six, meets a charismatic young minister named Charles Jacobs, who soon becomes something of a mentor. Years later, as Jamie pursues a career as an itinerant rock musician, he crosses paths with Jacobs, who is now working his way from carnival huckster to wealthy faith healer and has developed an obsession with the curative powers of electricity. Jacobs, aged, ill, and more than a little crazed, convinces a skeptical but curious Jaime to assist him in his ultimate experiment with a "secret" form of electricity that he believes will allow him to "tap into the secrets of the universe." Screen actor Morse (The Green Mile) has a natural, down-to-earth delivery. His middle-aged Jamie narrates with a soft, knowing yet wistful voice as he recalls the happier days of smalltown life, his first paid job as a musician, his first romance. We hear his hope that Jacobs's "secret electricity" will heal his addiction to heroin, and the fear and uncertainty prompted by the experiment's nightmarish effects. Morse's Jacobs, who initially sounds bright and witty and filled with charm, becomes a man distracted and unemotional. By the novel's end, age and infirmity have slurred his speech. A Scribner hardcover. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.