I have been meaning to read something by Joe Hill, and then I saw this book and was pretty stoked.
Let me just tell you in advance, this story has nothing to do with velociraptors. I'll admit, I was a little disappointed about that, but I got over it.
Alrighty, here is a brief summary:
A brother and sister (Cal and Becky) are road-tripping across the country and after a brief stop at the world's largest ball of twine in Kansas, they are driving past a field where they hear a cry for help. They pull over and despite something in the backs of their minds that tells them something isn't right, they approach the field. As they stand on the outskirts, they realize the grass is much taller than they first assumed. The cries for help are joined by another, contradictory voice. With two people lost in the grass, Cal goes looking for them. Becky calls 911 and then enters the tall grass. Cal and Becky lose track of each other and the cries for help are scattered and shifting. They both become disoriented and no matter how far they walk or in which direction, they never get closer to the road. I'm going to stop my summary there and jump into my review.
Here are my thoughts:
As if I needed another reason to not go to Kansas... I recommend reading this story if you don't mind some gross. The story has a pretty "Desperation" vibe going for it. In other words, it was creepy. There is one aspect of this story that I wish I knew more about, but I understand why they didn't go into more depth. There is something about this story, I guess it's a novella, that I didn't like. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was that there weren't answers, just more questions. Actually, the rock has the answers...
The lack of answers aside, I keep thinking about this story. I don't think about the tall grass or the characters. I think of the non-characters. I think about the town with the church. I think of the parking lot and the people. I think about the story that wasn't told. I love stories that keep me thinking.
The more I think about it, the more I like this story. So, Stephen King & Joe Hill, well done.