Stephen King and Peter Straub - Black House

Pros: Extra-fiendish monsters
Cons: Deaths of some favorite characters

Somewhat of a sequel to the early Talisman, this collaboration between spook jock, Stephen King, and atmospheric horror hound, Peter Straub, has got the sort of physical heft to it that puts smiles on the faces of insomniac bookworms...

Pros: King/Straub reach emotions they may have missed before in you.
Cons: Ponderous descriptive passages may make you feel stuck in muck.

I have just closed Stephen King/Peter Straub's latest work Black House-A Novel. Many have called King the master of horror in the past, with the publication of this one, I will shorten the title to that of the master.

Past readings of King...

Pros: Interesting characters, plenty of gore, some disturbing images, good story
Cons: Tacked-on ending, very dark compared to the Talisman

In 1984, Stephen King and Peter Straub teamed up to deliver The Talisman, a book about Jack Sawyer, a 12 year-old boy who is forced to journey into a parallel, but connected, world in order to save his mother from the evil plans of his Uncle ...

Pros: An Engaging Page-Turner
Cons: The Alternate Universe Theme is Under-Used

What could possibly be harder that putting together a full-length novel with another author? How’s about writing the sequel to that novel, again with the same author? Once again, Stephen King and Peter Straub got together to do that voodoo that...

Pros: great innovative narrative voice, strong descriptive imagery
Cons: rehashed character types and plot devices, making it predictable

Authors Stephen King and Peter Straub have reunited to write this sequel to their first collaboration, the fantasy adventure novel The Talisman. Be forewarned: This is not The Talisman part II. The only connections to the first book are Jack Sawyer ...

Pros: Some excellent passages
Cons: Just about everything else

Brief rundown, I am a big fan of both Stephen King and Peter Straub. Have read Talisman numerous times and it still makes me cry.
Saw reviews on Black House, promised better than Talisman.
Great joy abounds our house.

The storyline...

Pros: If your a Stephen King fan...
Cons: It is a complete letdown in comparison to the first novel, "The Talisman"

Once I discovered that Stephen King and Peter Straub were teaming up together again to write a sequel to their first Novel together, 'The Talisman', I was absolutely thrilled to death. I loved 'The Talisman', it being one of my favorite novels of all...

Pros: Imaginative story line, detailed descriptions
Cons: Talking crows, senile pedophile, slow moving plot

I am a huge Stephen King fan, but this book is not one of my favorites. I lost interest in the story several times and had a terrible time trying to finish it.

Black House is apparently a sequel of sorts to another Stephen King novel, The...

Pros: It is one more book by Stephen King (half book, OK).
Cons: It does not look like Stephen King’s.

Before I write this review, I want to say I have decided to talk about the plots of the books in my reviews (this is my third one), given the insistence showed by some of the readers. However, I keep on thinking a review should be a review and not an...

Pros: Dark and captivating til the end
Cons: Wanted a part 3!

In this continuation of The Talisman master wordsmiths Stephen King and Peter Straub once again combine their efforts in the dark fiction genre.
While marketed as a sequel I found the book well capable of standing on its own for anyone who might...

Pros: Great character development
Cons: graphic descriptions - not suitable for children

The simple country town of Tamarak, Wisconsin has taken a turn for the worse as a cannibalistic child killer, called "The Fisherman" by local reporter Wendell Green, wreaks havoc upon the innocent townsfolk. Only Jack Sawyer, a retired homicide detective ...

Pros: Good storyline, character development
Cons: If you don't read any Stephen King books you might get confused

Many years ago Stephen King had teamed up with Straub to write a novel called The Talisman. A story of a boy named Jack Sawyer who had to cross into another world, called the Territories, to save his mother's life. Now King and Straub have teamed up...

Pros: A chance to relive Stephen King's glory day's...
Cons: A slow starter that pales in comparison to the original.

For month's I anticipated the arrival of Black House, being a Stephen King fan and collector it was an opportunity to relive the magical and fantastic world created in The Talisman. In recent years I have been disappointed in almost every book Stephen...

Pros: Page turning return visit to a favorite King/Straub character
Cons: Graphically Gory in several spots

An ardent reader, I count Stephen King books as a guilty pleasure. One of my King favorites is The Talisman, a collaborative effort by King and fellow horror writer Peter Straub. Black House is a bit of a sequel, continuing the story of Jack Sawyer, a...

Pros: Stephen King's parts are OK
Cons: Peter Straub's are not

- Easy to tell which author wrote which parts of this sequel to "The Talisman"! Contains a moderately suspenseful plot line, but the characters are not as developed as I expected from King and so are not as engaging. It is difficult to develop any...