Blockade Billy

I think I'm in the minority among King's readers: I think that some of his most powerful writing comes when he avoids using supernatural elements in his stories, and that his short work is much better than the longer stuff he's better known for. The modern publishing industry hasn't been knd to the novella, but King is an absolute master of the form.

As a result, I was pretty excited for Blockade Billy, which for the most part is a classical Americana story – two old men sittinig down to talk about baseball. Then, near the end, the story twists, adding a horrific element to it. It was a pretty good story, familiar but not predictable: my only quibble was that I didn't see how the consequences of the story's climax necessarily followed from the climax itself.

Even creepier was the ‘b-side' story, Morality, a story about what people will do for money and how difficult it can be to escape those decisions.

Stephen King is a master storyteller. Loved the story of Blockade Billy. It had me hooked from start to finish. The bonus story “Morality” was also enjoyable but I didn't find it as good as Blockade Billy.

I'm not really a baseball fan. Okay, let's be honest, I don't really know anything about baseball. So, it was really difficult to get into this and some of the baseball lingoes went over my head. I think if I knew more about baseball, I would've been able to get more into the story.

Rating: 2 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3/5
Cover: .5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Writing: 2/5
Genre: Horror/Sports
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Meh

Another SK book that just misses the mark. For a simple fiction novella it would have been an okay book. 3/3.5 at most but better than a 2. The sheer fact that this was under HORROR and there was really none. For someone who is as hyped as he is I expect way more than what he has given.

Enjoyable short read. The language is slangy enough that you can't let your focus wander, or you'll lose the thread of the story.