Well first thing is first and Joe Hill will never be able to get away from this fact - EVER. Yes, Joe Hill is the son of the writer Stephen King. This in no way validates or excuses any writing from Joe Hill and from what I've read about Joe Hill he didn't ride the coat tails of his dad to get his writing career started. But when the information about his relationship with King was revealed, well there's just not a lot that can be done to hide that fact now considering Stephen King is one of the most famous and prolific writers ever to start writing. Not that Joe Hill is hiding because he's not. He's a good writer on his own. I've read a lot of King books and I've enough of Joe Hill to know that he knows how to write. I think it's interesting that he draws a lot of how King sees the middle class and working class people into his writing - those similarities can't be ignored. And in my opinion Hill has just taken one of the writing styles his father is known for and just ran with it. NOS4A2 has this presence of the middle class and working man clearly woven throughout the book and I will admit that has always been one of the most endearing things I've liked about King and his writing - his admiration and fondness for the middle class and blue collar worker. He's never belittled them, made fun of the, or used them as punching bag. They've always been heroes and been ones to step up to the plate when the going gets tough. Joe Hill has taken this same view point - with that viewpoint comes an easy way to connect with characters in his book.
Personally, though I think Joe Hill's comic series Locke and Key is much better not just as comic series but as an overall story than NOS4A2. I had a hard time figuring out if this book is supposed to be horror or some kind of modern fantasy. It didn't really feel like horror. Don't get me wrong it had horror aspects but the horrific, bone chilling, scare the pants off you aspect was not there and at times it seemed like it wanted to jump into the horror element but it never fully committed to that. It had a more fantastical fairy tale kind of feel to it and that feel it truly committed to. I just wish Hill had explored that fantastical element more because that world, when it was talked about in the book really brought the story to life and by the books end I didn't feel completely satisfied with what I had read. There still seemed like a lot more he could have done with the story than what the over all book ended up being.
I never full connected with any of the main characters. I connected with them enough that I was able to get into the story and finish it but I never became fully engaged with them. I don't know why this is, even when I think about it I can't quite pin down what was missing but something was missing. There just seemed to be something that was keeping me detached from them. Some puzzle piece that was missing from the box. I did like some of the secondary characters more than the main characters. I felt they had more depth and personality that was not present in the main characters.
It was a good read and I don't regret the time I spent reading this book but I just wish he had explored the fantastical elements of the story more. I believe this would have made the books length feel more justified and satisfied by the last page.
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