DESPERATION

Stephen King trudges with amiable doggedness through twenty-one and a half hours of terror and mayhem, courtesy of ye olde psycho cop of Desperation, Nevada. Despite his lack of showmanship and technical facility as a narrator, King has a compelling vocal personality of boyish, twangy mischief. Like flies to wanton boys are we to Stephen King. He seems less interested in spooking us than in inviting us to play with him in his lethal sandbox. The tape, therefore, gives King fans an important insight into his authorial intent, one lacking in many of the TV and film versions of his ghoulishness. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 98]