Dreamcatcher

Inhoud

Once upon a time, in the haunted city of Derry (site of the classics It and Insomnia), four boys stood together and did a brave thing. Certainly a good thing, perhaps even a great thing. Something that changed them in ways they never begin to understand.
Twenty-five years after saving a Down's-syndrome kid from bullies, Beav, Henry, Pete, and Jonesy -- now men with separate lives and separate problems -- reunite in the woods of Maine for their annual hunting trip. But when a stranger stumbles into their camp, disoriented and mumbling something about lights in the sky, chaos erupts. Soon, the four friends are plunged into a horrifying struggle with a creature from another world where their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past -- and in the Dreamcatcher.

Bespreking

Some old King classics revisited

It all started as a common reunion of old boyhood friends. Like every hunting season Henry, Pete, Jonesy and 'The Beav' reunite in their camp "Hole in the Wall", located somewhere deep in the dark woods of Maine. But this year is not like any other year. When a guy named McCarthy stumbles into their camp - after almost being shot by Jonsey, because at one point he looked more like a deer than a man - he brings an evil with him that is not from this world. This stranger keeps on mumbling about weird lights in the sky and when it becomes clear that there is more about him than that horrible smell, it is already too late: McCarthy is nothing but a human vessel for what is quickly known as a "shit-weasel".

This book can be called for more than one reason: a strange book. First of all it breaks clearly with Stephen King's more recent works and returns to the good old classics like It, The Stand and The Tommyknockers. It is really refreshing to see that King can still compose intriguing and gripping characters and place them in a setting that is utterly estranging. It almost feels like King is revisiting some old pals, maybe having a family visit in good ol' Derry. Second reason is his almost parodical image of the old jack-in-a-box-alien. Now be honest: a "shit-weasel" being born out of an extremely flatulent human body is not really your common idea of an evil alien, is it? I guess not. And the final reason: the story itself. For me this is certainly the weakest point of the book. Although at the start it has quite some potential, it bleeds to death after the first half of the book. When the 'final chase' starts, you already know how the ending will turn out (call it the Koontz-feeling.). Don't expect any surprising turn. Just sit, relax and lets go with the flow. Not really what you expect from a 'thriller'. But, of course, most suspense novels don't count 620 pages.

But all put together it is still quite an entertaining novel, although it is unlikely that you will remember the plot half a year after reading it. Unless you go and see the movie, that is. ;-)