WellWorthARead reviewed Later by Stephen King
Review of 'Later' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Later is a coming of age tale, but in Stephen King fashion our young hero Jaimie can see dead people. He sees them whether he wants to or not, and the first sighting when he is just a small tot is truly horrific.
Set in New York beginning just before the recession, we get to grow up with Jaimie, and his mom Tia certainly does some growing up too. Jamie never knew his dad, it's been him and his mom against the world for all of his young life until a romantic interest begins cutting in to their time together. Tia does not believe Jaimie right away when he first tells her what he has seen. Later she makes him promise never to tell anyone, but when it suits her she is the one to let the cat out of the bag, bringing some consequences neither of them bargained for. …
Later is a coming of age tale, but in Stephen King fashion our young hero Jaimie can see dead people. He sees them whether he wants to or not, and the first sighting when he is just a small tot is truly horrific.
Set in New York beginning just before the recession, we get to grow up with Jaimie, and his mom Tia certainly does some growing up too. Jamie never knew his dad, it's been him and his mom against the world for all of his young life until a romantic interest begins cutting in to their time together. Tia does not believe Jaimie right away when he first tells her what he has seen. Later she makes him promise never to tell anyone, but when it suits her she is the one to let the cat out of the bag, bringing some consequences neither of them bargained for.
The pace moves along at a pretty fast clip, and though it straddles the line between horror and crime, dipping a toe in each, it is most definitely Jamie's narrative that is the star of this book. Stephen King books have been hit or miss with me for the past several years, but I'm counting this among the hits. Watch out for those deadlights.
