Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over a week

Pages - 640

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," eleven-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror.

In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast.

In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam," two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives.

And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.



My Review

The book is split into two timelines if you like, the first is when Bobby Garfield is an 11 year old kid, a bit miserable but ok with his lot. When he gets a new neighbour, Ted Brautigan, things change for him. His mother, a very unlikable character although I did feel sorry for her for a wee bit, judges Ted quickly although happy to let her dislike slide when she needs a babysitter, honestly not a fan of that woman, at all! Anyway Bobby goes through a lot in a short space of time, love of books, realization of his mothers character, first attration/kiss, first heroic action and a glimpse of some of the horrors out there.

The other parts of the book split into short stories looking at characters who were in Bobby's childhood, college, addition, post war and then bringing them full circle to Bobby coming home. The book has nods to some of the happenings in other King's books and I always find that genius considering how many he has written and managed to intertwine or just brief inclusion/reference. If I am honest the men in yellow coats, first story, was my fave of the lot, the others were ok and it isn't until you get to the end you get the others, well that was how it was for me.

I read this years ago and re read it because I actually remembered very little of it, I think I will watch the movie too and see how that fares. 3/5 for me this time, I love King, he introduced me to reading and horror as a kid, I have keepers of most of his books and some still to read. This isn't a keeper, nor one of my faves but I am glad I read it.

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