Stephen king has always been accused of not being quite there when it comes to good stories but this firecracker should send his detractors packing.He’s not so much a horror writer as a people writer.
Hearts in Atlantis is actually a collection of 5 stories about a bunch of kids who grew up in the mid 60’s and follows them through their lives and loves and the tortured times they live in. It’s not a saga more like windows into their worlds.
Low men in yellow coats is the first story which is classic King in building up its atmosphere of unease by suggestion. 5 pages into the story and you are already sweating wondering what’s going to go awry. And something does. something goes very awry. Our friend/hero bobby garfield a single kid being raised by a single mom finds that a new neighbour has moved in.His mom intensely distrusts him because he moves his stuff in paper bags.By the way she’s some Mom. King gives her some of his best one liners.As the story progresses and it does so very rapidly we find that things aren’t what they seem at all.Revealing more would be criminal. But it’s a beautiful searing story about innocence lost, childhood past and the colossal folly of taking life for granted. We have all felt this way.King has always had this fascination for children and how they think. It was in peak form during most of IT. This is no different.The details, the honesty, the faith.....
Hearts in Atlantis is the second story which is another roller-coaster ride and probably has one of the best ending paragraphs ever(yes you read correctly-ever).The other stories are offshoots from the main one until everything comes together in the last one ’’Heavenly shades of Night are Falling.’’
A beautiful beautiful book.