Book Review: Revival by Stephen King

RevivalRevival by Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner
Release Date: November 11. 2014
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.
Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that
revival has many meanings.

I am not a Constant Reader of King’s so this will give my review a different perspective then if I were. After perusing reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, it seems like most of the five star reviews are from people proclaiming that King is God and can write no wrong. The last book of King’s I read was The Shining so I’m reviewing Revival purely on its own merits, not as the work of a god or compared to anything else King has written.

The book focuses on Jamie’s life and how Charles Jacobs weaves in and out of Jaime’s life throughout the years. Jaime is not a likeable guy once he starts to grow up. He’s a smug rock musician and drug addict. Still, he had an interesting story to tell. There is a lot of discussion about religion since Jaime grows up Methodist and Charles is the pastor at his childhood church and later becomes an evangelical healer. The philosophical questions surrounding religion that Jacobs brings up on various occasions were my favorite parts of this book.

I found the story engaging enough to keep reading it but it took a long to time to get to the “scary” stuff. I wouldn’t have expected anything scary except that the cover promises the most terrifying conclusion that Stephen King has ever written. The “terrifying conclusion” seemed rushed and contrived. I didn’t understand why Jacobs insisted that Jaime had to be the one who helped him. It seemed to me anyone could have. It felt like King had reached the end of the novel and just picked out a supposedly scary scenario at random for an ending.

I think Revival was just okay. Certainly if you are new to King, you would want to choose a different book to start with, probably one of his older classic horror novels.

  • bermudaonion(Kathy)

    I’ve read a couple of King’s books but nothing really scary. I think I’d like to try one of his classics before I try something like this.