Strange forces are maneuvering for power in Derry, Maine, and somehow Ralph is a part of the conflict. As his nights become shorter, his visions become more terrifying, and yet more real. When he begins to see brilliant auras around people and objects, his concern grows. "Celestial forces of good and evil wage an apocalyptic war in a small Maine town in this 14-week PW bestseller." From School Library Journal "Ralph Roberts has been waking earlier and earlier every night for weeks, and the forgetfulness and weariness caused by sleep deprivation are starting to affect him. Robin Deffendall, Bull Run Regional Library, Manassas, VA Some of King's more recent novels, such as Gerald's Game (1992), have been disappointing, but Insomnia is closer to It (1987) and Needful Things (1992, all Viking) in its suspense and entertainment potential. Although Ralph is clearly identified as a septuagenarian, he is never stodgy or prudish, and will appeal to teens. Good guys and evil are well developed, with a depth that makes them believable. King's forte, however, is characterization, and there is no shortage of it here. Well-read students will note references to Greek mythology, the Bible, and to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (Houghton, 1967) interspersed with modern cultural allusions. Ralph Roberts has been waking earlier and earlier every night for weeks, and the forgetfulness and weariness caused by sleep deprivation are starting to affect him. Ray OlsonĬelestial forces of good and evil wage an apocalyptic war in a small Maine town in this 14-week PW bestseller. This is a yarn so packed with suspense, romance, literary reference, fascinating miscellaneous knowledge, and heart that only Stephen King could have written it. Ed has been involuntarily recruited on one side, and, it develops, Ralph and his also-widowed neighbor, Lois Chasse, on the other, of a supercosmic struggle the import of which King reveals with deliciously tantalizing gradualness. Or is it Ed? Ralph senses that someone or something else is in control of the troubled man. Ralph intervenes to help Helen Deepneau escape from Ed, for which Ed threatens him. Meanwhile, Ed has turned into an antiabortion fanatic and wife-beater. He also starts seeing things-intense colors streaming off people and animals. About a year later and after his wife's death, Ralph begins waking early and then earlier and earlier. On one of the long, exhausting walks old Ralph Roberts starts taking as a brain tumor slowly kills his wife, he witnesses a friendly young neighbor, Ed Deepneau, behaving totally out of character-indeed, like someone possessed. With this dark fantasy based on the conception of a multilevel ultimate reality, he returns to the massiveness of The Stand and It and The Tommyknockers. King's last few novels have been, by his standard, slim and economical. His bizarre visions keep getting more intense, the strange deaths have just begun, and Ralph knows he isn't hallucinating. Each night he stays awake, he witnesses more of the odd activity taking place in his town after dark than he wants to know. Ralph Roberts has an incurable case of insomnia, but lack of sleep is the least of his worries. A well-cared for book, protected from any potential damage. Unique, rare, and distinctive, this book would make a great gift. A wonderful collectible book for your Stephen King library. A deluxe slipcased gift edition, limited to 3,750 copies.
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