Author: Richard Chizmar and Stephen King
Series: The Button Box #2
Genre: Magical Realism, Thriller
First Published: November 19, 2019
Book description: Something evil has swept into the small western Maine town of Castle Rock on the heels of the latest winter storm. Sheriff Norris Ridgewick and his team are desperately searching for two missing girls, but time is running out to bring them home alive.
In Washington D.C., thirty-seven-year-old Gwendy Peterson couldn't be more different from the self-conscious teenaged girl who once spent a summer running up Castle Rock's Suicide Stairs. That same summer, she was entrusted or some might say cursed with the extraordinary button box by Richard Farris, the mysterious stranger in the black suit. The seductive and powerful box offered Gwendy small gifts in exchange for its care and feeding until Farris eventually returned, promising Gwendy she'd never see the box again.
One day, though, the button box shows up without warning and without Richard Farris to explain why, or what she's supposed to do with it. The mysterious reappearance of the box, along with the troubling disappearances in Castle Rock, leads Gwendy home again...where she just might be able to help rescue the missing girls and stop a madman before he does something ghastly.
Thoughts:
This is a very fast read, the plot is slow and very little happens in the overall storyline of the series, it's enjoyable while you go though it but it felt like it was missing something. We already know Gwendy and feel a kinship for her, so there are no introductions needed, still, the book did provide the glimpses of what you need to understand the story in the form of small flashbacks to her childhood and the first time she came in contact with the Button box.
It picks up with Gwendy as an adult, we get to know she became a successful author but life had something else stored for her, doesn't it happen always? She was guided to politics and she's trying to make the best of it. The insecurities lie in the fact that she wants to actually help her people and knows that her decisions and those around her matter in the big picture and she's scared about messing things up and struggling to get those bigoted men to take her seriously.
We see a lot of misogyny and power-hungry examples, it makes it feel realistic. The plot is very captivating, we have a mystery man show up again to give her temptation and more unanswerable questions than answers.
Also worthy to mention, the dumb president depicted here, they sure don't pass the opportunity to include a bit of ridicule in the political context of the time. It's not difficult to imagine who the authors took inspiration to describe the chief in command of the country.
It starts off with a kick, the box aside things just constantly land on Gwendy's plate. Her photojournalist husband is working in a dangerous war-ridden middle east location, her mother is fighting a critical illness and someone might be killing girls in Castle Rock!
It does have the vibe of a King's book, the creepy reality with the pinch of the paranormal that if you squint can be passed as normal human atrocities.
But then true to King fashion, as the plot continued to stagger and not go anywhere the story fell flat. There was such a huge build up and then it just felt so underwhelming as things started to wrap up. By the ending which was extremely convenient - it felt like nothing was ever really at stake and it made the whole turmoil of emotions you were supposed to be feeling on the build-up cheap.
Gwendy's struggles felt totally unnecessary like there was no point in the addition of this novella to the series. Having read the next one it feels unnecessary to have it as a separate installment. This was an intro to the rest of the story. As you were reading maybe the first 50% it feels like we have something big coming, but when you reach the ending and have nothing to show for it, it ends up being a disappointment. Unfortunately, it suffers from middle book syndrome.
A few details are necessary for the next installment:
Gwendy got married, managed to move into politics, and is trying to do good for the people in her District and her country. Another nugget of information regarding the mystery man with the hat and the chocolate dispensed by the Button box.
It was an enjoyable read but nothing awe-inspiring nor something that will stay in my mind for long. Right as I finished the story it was a 3 but the more I think about and put distance between us I might duck a star or a half a star.
This was picked for the challenges:
Continue a series
Losesly as it continues a story started by Stephen King
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