Review - Mile 81 by Stephen King

Mile 81 by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Blurb from Amazon

A Stephen King eBook Original Short Story featuring a never before seen excerpt from 11.22.63, Stephen King's new full-length novel coming in November.

With the heart of Stand By Me and the genius horror of Christine, MILE 81 is Stephen King unleashing his imagination as he drives past one of those road signs . . .

At Mile 81 on the Maine Turnpike is a boarded up rest stop, a place where high school kids drink and get into the kind of trouble high school kids have always gotten into. It's the place where Pete Simmons goes when his older brother heads off to the gravel pit to play 'paratroopers over the side'.

Pete, armed with only the magnifying glass he got for his tenth birthday, finds a discarded bottle of vodka in the boarded up burger shack and drinks enough to pass out. That's why he doesn't notice a freshly mud-spattered station wagon (which is strange because there hadn't been any rain in New England for over a week) which veers into the Mile 81 rest area, ignoring the sign that reads 'closed, no services'.

The driver's door opens but nobody gets out . . .


My Review

It has been a wee while since I read a Stephen King short story and I really enjoyed this one. Despite the "monster" not being given a where it came from or why or anything in depth like that I really enjoyed it. We are introduced to the main character and given a sense of his character as with the other characters who briefly appear. It is decent paced and the only moan I have is as with some of his other books which is not having complete closure and every angle covered however some readers prefer this. Very quick read, I think I read it in just over an hour - not one of his best but pretty good for a short story and its pretty cheap too, 4/5 for me.

Also there is a preview of his new novel 11/22/63 which is due for release in November.



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