Revival

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: David Morse

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

A spectacularly dark and electrifying novel about addiction, religion, music, and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town, in the early '60s, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs Jacobs; the women and girls - including Jamie's mother and beloved sister - feel the same about Reverend Jacobs. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.

Then tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, the preacher curses God, mocking all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. In his mid-30s, he is living a nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in lightning' - and their meeting has profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings. Because for every cure there is a price....

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It's a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.

©2014 Stephen King (P)2014 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"The most remarkable storyteller in modern American literature." (Mark Lawson, Guardian)

"America's greatest living novelist." (Lee Child)

"King's gift of storytelling is unrivalled. His ferocious imagination is unlimited." (George Pelecanos)

"King is a very remarkable and singular writer. He can catch dialogue, throw away an observation or mint a simile, sometimes, brilliantly . . . Storytelling is everything - and by golly does he know how to carry the reader." ( Observer)

Good stuff from Stephen King

Good narration of an intriguing and pitch-dark tale. It had my attention throughout with a highly memorable ending. Awesome.

Not one of his best!

This is not one of SKs best at all. I am not sure why, but since his accident he has written some odd ones, and this is one of them. It starts off very slowly, in fact it was quite boring for the first 4 hours, but I thought "it will get better", but all it got was odder and odder. Still I listened right up to the end, and all I can say is, I should not have bothered.
I cannot say the narrator was the trouble, he did what he could with the story he was given, but the story WAS the trouble I think, was it horror, I guess so, I know I will probably lose sleep over it, and I sure will try staying alive, FOREVER.

WOW! Just WOW

It's been a while since Stephen King wrote a book that really grabbed me but this blew me away! A tight, well crafted story that feels almost like a a true bow of respect to the greats who came before: Lovecraft, Matheson, & even Burroughs.

Both entertaining, endearing, and existential, Revival touched on the big questions that plague us all regarding religion, life, and what it is that makes a person who they are and who they become. I could talk all day about what it is that made this book so enjoyable and worthy but it's impossible to do so without spoilers and this is one of those books you need to come at with a clean slate.

Awesome read, well worth the credit and the time.

Excellent reader.

Not his best book. But it was still enjoyable. The performance was brilliant. I loved the characters in the book.

Not your usual Stephen King

I'm still not really sure what to make of this book. It appears to be a biography, without much story or direction, almost up to the last 30 minutes or so; only then does the real Stephen King shine through.
It also felt as if the book could end within the next few minutes, almost all the way through.
I certainly enjoyed it, but did not get that tugging 'thrill' that normally accompanies King' stories.

What can I say apart from get this book.

By now the narrator sounds like SK to me. Having listened to Bag of Bones I do know what SK souds likebut still....
The story. If your expecting a preachy carnival type of evangelism. Fear not. What you will find is a fith business. A change agent, a man.
The writing. Thisbook is written so well that the moment I finished listening to it i started from the start.

All in all, I can tell you now this book will be downloaded again and enjoyed again. It is that good!

Yawn zzzzzz

Not frightening as the hype. Bored to tears . Not on my recommendation list of books to buy. Sorry Mr King