Creed moves from Chicago to rural Maine with his wife, Rachel and children, Ellie (5) and Gage (1). The fresh start in Maine appears to be the change Creed yearns for. A bad relationship with his father-in-law, the redoubtable Irwin Goldman and soured on city living, Maine appears to be the answer to his questions. Set in 1983-1984, Creed appears to be the picture of the 1980s YUPPIE (Young Urban Professional). Established in his career with the ability to relocate also point up to this very positive, professional image. Each character is drawn with realistic words; each character becomes vivid and believable, again evidence of a master storyteller. My favorite part in this book was Creed’s ’’last happy day, 3/24/84, ’’ the day he spent flying kites with Gage, then just 2.
Once settled in Maine, life and death appear to shift and the line dividing the two becomes blurry and indistinct, thanks to King’s superb storytelling. A graveyard for pets dating back to the early 20th Century is near the Creed home and a very chilling secret lurks there. Death appears to lurk in every corner of the small town. First, the Creed cat is killed by a truck on the truck infested roadway near their home. Gage is killed in May of 1984 after he darts away from Creed and into the path of an oncoming truck. Rachel describes the agonizing death of her older sister Zelda in 1965 when Zelda was 10 and Rachel 8.
Rachel’s fear of death causes her to lash out at Creed when he gently explains the death of the cat to Ellie; she refuses to attend a neighbor’s funeral and barely gets through Gage’s. Creed uncovers the mystery of the Pet Sematary (so spelled by local children who have buried their pets there) and uses what he has learned to make the dividing line between life and death questionable and indistinct. This is one of King’s best stories!