Bag of Bones Book Review

I make it a point to have a Currently Reading Book; it really helps with my writing. The words come easier and I get inspired to improve on my writing and come up with new techniques.  

But since I don't have the budget to splurge on brand new books the smell of which brings such joy to me I have to make do with old, really old books which are sold by vendors who come to the office every payday, all the more to tempt you with, my dear and sell old Stephen King, John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon books at P150.00 a pop. 

So even if that brand new book smell (which I love so much) is replaced by moldy, wet paper, old book smell (which I choke on, every time I open the book and get it too near my nose) I still get to have a new book to read so I'm happy and content. 

My latest old book find (which I got around my birthday) is Stephen King's Bag of Bones and well, let's just say that I haven't been this scared by a book in a long time, so much so that I would refuse to go down in the early morning to get a glass of water, even if I'm already parched. 

I loved that the novel featured a writer/novelist as the main character. As I got a glimpse of what it's like in the life of a novelist, being chased by editors, publicists, being pressured to continue to write books and appear on TV interviews and what not. It's like  I was able to get an idea how it is to be a successful novelist, so that was a refreshing new protagonist, only someone as gutsy as Stephen King would try something like that. :) 

This ghost story of epic proportions begins with the sudden death of novelist Michael Noonan's wife, Jo. Mike is devastated, his grief is overwhelming but aside from his mourning; Mike has to get over the fact that his wife was pregnant and that she kept the pregnancy from him. Which is strange considering that he and his wife have been trying to conceive a child for a long time, they even have a name picked out already, Kia if the baby was a girl. 

Now if Jo was keeping that secret what else could she have been hiding? 

All these questions plague Mike and even follow him in his dreams, their lake house, Sarah Laughs. These vivid dreams turn into nightmares and Mike is haunted not only by the nightmares but the inability to write as well. 

So apparently there's a movie version of Bag of Bones with Pierce Brosnan playing Mike Noonan, have to put that on my to-watch-list.  

Crippled with writer's block and haunted by ghosts and spirits unknown, in a desperate attempt at peace, Mike heads out to the lake house in question. 

In this seemingly peaceful town, you know the type where everyone knows everyone, Mike meets a young widow and her young daughter and from this chance meeting (or is it?) Mike is thrown in a web of mystery, violence and horror (one he will never, ever imagine) and one too horrible to even be a plot in his books. 

Without giving anything away Bag of Bones works up a good climax (even if the first part of the story, the mourning part, took a bit long). You get caught up in the story and characters and like classic Stephen King, everything goes down at a big event and it will literally leave you with your jaw open. 

This horror story comes in full circle and will have you scarred in the end at how cruel human nature can be and how far hatred can go, beyond years, beyond generations and even beyond death.