What would you give for your most prized posession? Something all the money in the world couldn't buy, even if you had the money, which you don't. Would you sell your soul? Most people would not. But what if you were tricked into it. Say you struck a bargain to pay for half and the other half you would simply do a small little favor. But it isn't just any favor, this favor will hurt someone. You know it will, but you still would do it, is that not the same thing as selling your soul? Leland Gaunt thinks so.

In Needful Things, the last book set in the town of Castle Rock, Stephen King poses this question. It seems that a new shopkeeper has come to sleepy little Castle Rock (a town which has about a million demons of its own). This shopkeeper, Mr. Leland Gaunt, opens a store called Needful Things. Needful Things is sort of an antique shop, that has something for everyone.

Of course everything is not as it seems. Nice Mr. Gaunt, isn't so nice after all. Leland Gaunt is the devil in disguise, out to trick everyone into selling their souls to him. Do the people do it? Of course; they're only human. Mr. Gaunt starts in motion events that will completely destroy the town of Castle Rock, people and structures. Will anyone be able to stop him? Can anyone defeat the devil, well maybe not defeat him, but one man will do his best. Sheriff Alan Pangborne. You may remember Pangborne from the Dark Half. Well he's back in this story but has a much bigger part. It's up to him to save the town from the Devil and from themselves.

Needful Things is a great story. It makes us think about ourselves. What would you do for your most prized possession? How far would you go to possess it; maybe farther than you think. This isn't my favorite Stephen King story, but it isn't my least favorite either. I think its a good story, one of his best, just not his very best. If you've read the other Castle Rock stories, than you'll want to read this one. I'm not sure of all the Castle Rock stories, but I know the Dead Zone is one and Dark Half and I know a couple of others, I just can't remember right now. This is a good verses evil story, but it's also deeper than that. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a great book. King excells at horror stories, and this is a good one.



Recommended: Yes