When Stephen King announced that the third installment in the Talisman series, Other Worlds Than These, would be published later this year, I knew it was high time to give Black House a shot. Can't quite believe I've waited this long to finally read this novel, for it was one of King's best efforts. It looks as though collaborating with Peter Straub seems to bring the best out of him.
Given that I've read The Talisman over a decade ago, I was concerned that my not remembering everything clearly would have a negative impact on the overall reading experience for this sequel. In the end, I shouldn't have worried. First of all, the main character himself doesn't recall anything about his harrowing experience in the Territories, so that's that. And then, I should have known that the authors would provide the context needed for readers to enjoy Black House to the fullest. As a result, there is no need to reread The Talisman to fully enjoy this second volume.
Here's the blurb:
Twenty years ago, a boy named Jack Sawyer traveled to a parallel universe called the Territories to save his mother and her Territories “Twinner” from an agonizing death that would have brought cataclysm to the other world. Now Jack is a retired Los Angeles homicide detective living in the nearly nonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, Wisconsin. He has no recollection of his adventures in the Territories, and was compelled to leave the police force when an odd, happenstance event threatened to awaken those memories.
When a series of gruesome murders occur in western Wisconsin that are reminiscent of those committed several decades ago by a madman named Albert Fish, the killer is dubbed “the Fishman,” and Jack’s buddy, the local chief of police, begs Jack to help the inexperienced force find him. But are these new killings merely the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious and malignant force been unleashed in this quiet town? What causes Jack’s inexplicable waking dreams—if that is what they are—of robins’ eggs and red feathers? It’s almost as if someone is trying to tell him something. As this cryptic message becomes increasingly impossible to ignore, Jack is drawn back to the Territories and to his own hidden past, where he may find the soul-strength to enter a terrifying house at the end of a deserted tract of forest, there to encounter the obscene and ferocious evils sheltered within it.
The Talisman was a big, sprawling fantasy novel. In style and tone, King and Straub's second collaboration is more of a dark horror novel sprinkled with a number of fantasy elements. Although there were several hints throughout the book, the authors never openly confirmed that The Talisman was part of the Dark Tower universe. There is no such pretense in Black House. Indeed, a good portion of the plot has to do with the Dark Tower itself. Still, even though this is another tale that spans our world and the Territories, the heart of the story revolves around a serial killer killing and eating children's body parts and a missing kid who must be found before it's too late.
Jack Sawyer makes for an interesting main protagonist. The boy he was in The Talisman was more endearing, but I like the man he has become over the years. His amnesia regarding his mother's rescue and everything that went on during his journey across the Territories helps readers get into this one a little more easily, especially if it's been years since they've read the first installment. And as Jack's gradually recalls his childhood adventure, so do we. But it's the supporting cast that makes Black House such a memorable read. Beginning with the antagonist, who'll remain anonymous because I don't want to spoil the surprise. This novel is filled with a group of disparate men and women that truly add layers to the plot, chief among them the Thunder Five bikers, Dale Gilbertson, chief of police, young Tyler Marshall and his mother Judy, who appears to have gone mad, and, last but not least, the inimitable Henry Leyden, the blind radio host who is Jack's only true friend in this small corner of rural Wisconsin. A familiar face from The Talisman makes a few cameos, which was a nice touch. How the hell King and Straub managed to integrate such a diverse bunch of people into this story, I'll never know. But it works incredibly well.
With the beams breaking, the fall of the Dark Tower would signal the end of all the worlds. This time around, the authors make so secret of the ties between Black House and the series that permeates so many titles in King's body of work. And yet, though it does become important in the last portion of the book, the bulk of the plot has to do with finding Tyler before the serial killer murders him. The Talisman was a 921-page doorstopper. With less than half of its predecessor's pagecount, this sequel is much tighter and the plot progresses in a more fluid fashion.
Hence, there are no pacing issues to report. Sure, there are a number of storylines that seem to have nothing to do with one another. The Thunder Five biker group is a prime example of that, as is the plotline occurring in the senior home. But trust in King and Straub to weave those strands into a tapestry that will quickly become a captivating read. As anticipated, the endgame features a return to the Territories through the Black House. But as good as the finale turns out to be, the gut-wrenching ending came as a shock. I knew something would happen, but I never expected that it would be something so heartbreaking.
Black House was written by two bestselling writers at the top of their game. Now that Peter Straub has passed away, I wonder if Stephen King can recapture the magic that made their past collaborations such great reads. One thing's for sure; I'll be lining up to read Other Worlds Than These as soon as it comes out!
The final verdict: 9/10
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