Billy Summers

*2.5 stars. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. I have read nearly his entire catalog and have overwhelmingly enjoyed his work. Seminal novels in my reading life - It, The Stand, 11-22-63, Joyland, Duma Key, Salem's Lot, The Shining, Bag of Bones - and short stories and novella collections that are among my favorites, too - like Four Past Midnight and Nightmares and Dreamscapes - King hits the right notes for me much more often than not.
However, sometimes the shimmering writing and sneaky depth that make his work so much better than just popcorn fluff is missing. Then when you lose his most critical skill, simply telling a compelling story, you are really up against it.
Sometimes he falls into the pitfall of living down to his detractors and churning out works that just don't measure up. That was the case here as I was disappointed pretty much across the board with Billy Summers.
Hollow characters, a plot line that felt contrived and more forced as the book went on, a King staple of projecting completely unbelievable engagements for the time period in which he has set his book - Monopoly battles with neighbor kids who, despite just having met said single, adult, male neighbor, are truly engaged and excited about these weekly contests and mom is all for the new random guy spending any of his free time eating her food and playing games in the basement with her children, like immediately after meeting him - just one example, and King's tendency to project himself onto his protagonists with the secret novel writing cover story for our lead character, just scratch the surface.
I found there to be a significant shift in tone halfway through when our minor lead character enters and much of the plot afterward is stilted and overdone.
And, let's not even mention the one-note “bad guys,” the unending parade of forgettable ancillary characters or the fact that in the end, despite suffering early serious childhood trauma, what really makes Billy Summers someone worth rooting for? Where is the great description of character that allows readers to build their “hero” from the pieces provided with the depth and insight King is capable of?
I can tell you where it isn't - in Billy Summers.
A final note - as always, even though they also felt a little more forced than most of his efforts - I enjoyed the King Easter eggs, probably because I have come to expect them, but more likely because they took me to a different book and a different place; one I enjoyed visiting so much more.