Author: Stephen King
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Hard Case Crime
ISBN-10: 1781162646
ISBN-13: 978-1781162644
Synopsis:
Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.
“I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favorites. I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.” – Stephen King
There you have it, directly from the Amazon page (linked at the bottom of this post), if you want to check out this book you’re going to have to do it through the available paperback or audio book, no eReader for you, yet. And after having read Joyland, I can see why.
The narrator speaks as a retrospective look to a fantastic summer of adventure in the midst of his college education. Full of broken heart and adventure, Devin Jones tackles a job at a beach side amusement park in the 70’s. It’s full of all the great stuff of a coming-of-age novel mixed in with the grittiness of a job with a bunch of hardened carnies. There is something just so great about reading this book in paperback form and imagining the beach and the park rides, I could probably have read it on an eReader, but I think I enjoyed it more this way.
The sci-fi aspect of the book is not as big as I thought it would be, but still an excellent part of the story. There is a particular ride at the amusement park that is rumored by carnies to be haunted though few have actually seen the ghost of the murdered woman themselves. It does weave its way into this haunting story and there is excellent payoff.
The twists were unanticipated and the turns were excellent. I couldn’t put the book down and think it would make a great addition to your summer reading list.
I give Joyland by Stephen King 5 Out of 5 Stars.
Joyland by Stephen King is available on Amazon! Here’s a link!
[AMAZONPRODUCT=1781162646]
