Jack Sawyer is no longer the triumphant boy we met in The Talisman, now he's a cynical ex-cop on the run from himself. When a series of child murders strike his new neighborhood he's reluctant to get involved, fearing that the strange experiences he's having are the sure signs of a looming nervous breakdown. He is soon forced to accept that his boyhood daydreams of travelling to a wonderful, scary world are true. Jack is once again forced to become "travelling Jack" and relive the nightmares of his past; in the hope of saving the life of a young boy - and maybe the world.
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The review of this Book prepared by Sue Jeffrey
When he was a child Jack Sawyer traveled to a parallel universe, but he has repressed memories of his visit. Now he is a retired homicide detective living in rural Wisconsin. When a serial killer starts preying on children in his community, the local chief of police asks him to help in the investigation. Jack eventually remembers his past in the "Territories", which he is going to need in order to enter the strange house in town he believes is the door to this other world & the evil behind the current serial killer. He must return to this other world to rescue a child, or possibly many children, being held in captivity there.
The review of this Book prepared by Kim Mills
Random House, 28.95, 625 pp.
ISBN: 0375504397
Two decades have passed since Jack Sawyer saved a different world from destruction, but remembers nothing about his heroism. Over the subsequent years Jack became a LAPD homicide detective until an incident propels his subconscious mind into pushing him into a retirement in Coulle County, Wisconsin before he recollects his non-earthly gallantry.
Life near the upper Mississippi is pleasant for Jack until a series of gruesome homicides occur. Someone is dining on the town's children. Chief of Police Dale Gilbertson knows his staff is undermanned and inexperienced. He asks his buddy Jack to help with the investigation into what appears is the youthful reincarnation of Albert “Fisherman” Fish, a killer who used the same modus operendi several decades ago. As Jack makes inquires he obtains aid from an assortment of fringe characters, but also begins to believe that the Fish is the puppet of something more malevolent and deadly.
The sequel to the TALISMAN is an incredible collaboration by two grandmasters brilliantly merging the best that each one brings to a novel into one of the top books of the year. The story line is a superb horror tale that terrorizes the reader with fear. The characters seem genuine especially Jack. The references to other novels adds a Speilberg-like appeal especially to fans of Stephen King. Many times the reality never comes close to the hype, but BLACK HOUSE does that and more as Mr. King and Peter Straub co-author a classic that hopefully will not require twenty years for the next team-up.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
