Revival

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: David Morse

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

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

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, 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 feel the same about Reverend Jacobs - including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of 13, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-30s - addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate - Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

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 Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.

©2014 Stephen King (P)2014 Simon & Schuster Audio

Was not what I expected

Would you try another book from Stephen King and/or David Morse?

from one of my favorite horror authors and with anticipation of his latest book I was profoundly disappointed. Revival is missing the King signature of horror. There was plenty of opportunity for him to introduce his normal style but it seems he blatantly choose this new writing path. No bueno

What do you think your next listen will be?

hopefully a Robert McCammon horror

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

slow, slow, slow and then it was okay.

took too long to get to the meat and taters. the end, still puzzling, didn't justify the rest of the story either.

Who really wrote this?

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I would not suggest it to anyone.

Would you ever listen to anything by Stephen King again?

Of course! I love his books, but this was as bad as Joyland. So he was a little off. I guess I was hoping for something like Dr Sleep.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He sounded flat. Which made the character even more so. He could not deliver on the one liners that make you laugh out loud. But I think there weren't many to begin with.

What character would you cut from Revival?

Start over.

Any additional comments?

I may turn this in for a credit too. It was that bad.

Slow

Excruciatingly slow and predictable. I am a big Stephen King fan and have read many of his novels and short stories. Many of them are known to slow down in the middle and become tedious, but I have never disliked a book simply because there is a slower portion. Revival has changed that for me insofar as I am an individual who must finish a book once I've started it, and I felt that I was just waiting, painfully, for it to finally be over. If a few chapters in you think you know what happens in the end, you are probably right.

a waste of time & a perfectly valuable book credit

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

a decent plot that actually had a destination . . . I kept waiting for S. King to get to the point -or to scare the heck out of me . . . , he never did either . . .

Would you ever listen to anything by Stephen King again?

. . . not sure . . . I'll surely be more skeptical. Several of his books have turned-out to be duds -like this one.

Several S. King books have been quite good (The Shining, Mr. Mercedes, etc).

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

irritation that I followed this waste case of a protagonist around . . . waiting for him to get to the point . . . which he never did. Jamie (the protagonist) repeatedly alludes to regrets about his pending discovery -and how he wished he never knew.

Once "the horror" was (finally!) revealed, there was nothing particularly awful or devastating about this Reverend / Pastor Charles Daniel Jacobs fellow or his discoveries. The guy was just a carnival side show messing with a dead body. It was pretty gross, and ultimately a disrespectful violation of the dead woman's trust, but I don't see how knowledge the protagonist gained from this final experience with *Pastor Danny* rendered him so full of shock & awe that he wished he could get it out of his mind.

Any additional comments?

a pointless book.

don't waste your time or your book credits on this one.

horrible ending

I love Stephen King, but the ending of this book sucks! very depressing and dark.

takes way too long to develop. It doesn't get scary until next to last chapter

When will something happen...

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I couldn't wait for it to end and I have read and enjoyed many of Kings books. Was it a meditation on aging? Was it a good idea that he couldn't make work? I kept pushing on, waiting for the payoff... but into the last hour I resigned it would never come. Great narration but oh wow... one should never be bored in a SK tale... and well... here it is.

Has Revival turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

What does David Morse bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Great characterization

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointed

Awful voice

I don't like listening to the guy who read this book. His voice got to me and I had a hard time getting into the book because of it.

Falls Short in 2 Ways

Any additional comments?

This novel falls short in two ways. First, King is a master of horror. And yet, the horror found in Revival is mediocre (and that's being generous), and ill explained at that. But worse than the low-grade horror is its utter lack of grace. This is the second area in which King usually excels: Resolving the tragedy and redeeming the horror, finding good in the end. But this book is all bleakness and hopelessness in the end. I can't imagine that I'll hold to my current conviction, but if you asked me right now, I'd tell you I'd never read another Stephen King novel, so bad was this one.