“Stephen King never stops giving us his all” (Chicago Tribune) in this #1 national bestseller about the idyllic small town of Haven, Maine, and its encounter with a deadly evil out for a diabolical invasion of body, soul–and mind. Something was happening in Bobbi Anderson’s idyllic small town of Haven, Maine. Something that gave every man, woman, and child in Haven powers far beyond those of … far beyond those of ordinary mortals. Something that turned the town into a deathtrap for all outsiders. Something that is buried in the woods behind Bobbi’s house. With the help of her friend, Jim Gardener, they uncover an alien spaceship. And as they learn more about this strange discovery, the citizens of Haven begin to change: The townspeople are being welded into one organic, homicidal, and fearsomely brilliant entity in thrall to the Tommyknockers, who piloted the alien ship.
In Tommyknockers, “Stephen King at his best” (San Francisco Chronicle), King has given us a “brilliant, riveting, marvelous” (The Boston Globe) novel. “You will not be able to put this down” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). And the next time someone raps at your door, you may want to keep the chain on. It just might be the Tommyknocker Man.more
This is my least favorite of King’s books. There is just something about it that for me doesn’t hit the scare factor like his other stories.
Honestly I didn’t think much that the issue turned out to be little green men from Mars or wherever they were from.
This is not one of his books that I would recommend
I was really looking forward to reading this book! I even downloaded it on audible a month before the Stephen King reader’s group that I’m in was scheduled to read it – on accident. I guess I got a little ahead of myself. King has a way of writing cliche topics in a memorable and twisted way, so why not a full on alien book, right? There were a few times throughout – like when the MC uncovered a spacecraft for example – when king would literally make fun of how cliche it really is, which I thought was hilarious.
There is a lot going on with the Tommy Kockers, and in true King fashion, quite a bit of it was a little confusing. In a way the confusion keeps the reader going, and in a way it’s frustrating. There is also, in my opinion waaaayyyyyy too many characters so they sort of added to the confusion. As I mentioned already, I listened to this book on Audible. There are a couple of characters who share the same name (I’m sure they’re spelled differently, but I didn’t read I listened!) which was also a bit irritating. SO, now that I’ve gotten my complaints out, let’s talk about the actual story.
The book is broken into three parts. The first part goes as follow: Bobbi Anderson the MC, discovers a strange metal object protruding from the ground in the woods behind her house. After it’s found, odd things begin to happen to her, as well as her dog who’s extremely old and seemingly unable to handle the changes going on inside of him. Bobbi obsesses and after digging up the object to uncover the fact that it’s an alien spacecraft, she get even stranger. Her mind begins to slip, and along with that she develops telepathic abilities. She uses those abilities to pull certain people to her. One of which is Gard, or Gardner (his last name), a poet who happens to be in love with her and has the ability to block the telepathy as he wishes to a certain degree.
Part two breaks down the nearby town, Haven. Haven is close enough to the craft that once it’s uncovered, they begin to also be effected by it. Most become mad, crazy, the nuttiest of the nutties. There’s murder, mayhem, more brainwashing, disappearances, blowing of stuff up and oh so much more. Ultimately, the choice members of town that Bobbi Anderson want involved in the ‘Becoming’ do in fact become involved. One by one they make their way to her, and the odd shed on her yard, and together they physically and telepathically change immensely.
Part three is short and impactful. I can’t really tell you what happens here, or it will ruin the book. So read it yourself to find out. 3.5 stars for me.
Not my favorite Stephen King book, but it certainly checked all the boxes for a fun read. It has great, if not crazy, characters, lots and lots of blood, green stuff, and explosions galore. Maybe King got a little carried away with the gory details, but that’s just how he is. I liked the ending when my favorite character, Gard, flies off (literally) into the sunset.
This is the turning point of whether I would read Mr. King’s books anymore to me it was too far fetched to my liking
Stephen King eventually needed to do a horror approach to aliens, and although I liked the ensemble cast, the execution feels flat.
Not a major fan of this one. The premise is great, and the continuous momentum of the townsfolk slowly “becoming” something more alien should have been creepy. But instead, at times, it came across almost cartoony. The gadgets and gizmos the suddenly-genius townsfolk create get a little silly, I felt. The concept of a town being taken over, slowly person-by-person, is a creepy one though, but I think SK covered the theme better with ‘Salem’s Lot (only with vampires instead of aliens as this one is).
I do credit SK’s tackling of alien stuff though. He hasn’t done much of that. (Inter-dimensional and other-worldly yes, but no much with straight up aliens).
Not awful, but not great either.
Join the RK King readers’ list for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: http://www.rkkingwrites.com
This was an unusual King book. I’ve read it twice. The book will always entertain me but I find that it comes across as a series of short stories centered on one topic. The book does not allow the reader to become emotionally involved with one character.
I like everything Stephen King writes.
Not one of King’s better novels, tells the story of a community changed by the finding of something buried nearby.
Do not read before going to bed.
probably King’s best IMO even though he says it’s his worst. Written in his dark drug days, and it shows.
good story
Classic Stephen King. It doesn’t get much better than this.
I liked this one enough to read it twice.
Edge of your seat!
Love Stephen king, this book is my least favorite of all, but still good
Not one of King’s best, but not a bad read. Had some interesting premises that still stick with me 20 years after I read it.
My favorite book
Great horror read.
Only Stephen King could make me buy into a giant space craft in the woods
It’s a bit long winded in the digging scenes, but otherwise I loved every page SK is truly an amazing author!