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Book Reviews of Bag of Bones

Bag of Bones
Bag of Bones
Author: Stephen King
ISBN-13: 9780340718735
ISBN-10: 0340718730
Publication Date: 8/6/1998
Pages: 516
Edition: Airportopen Market E
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 2

3.3 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

112 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Bag of Bones on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
The second best Stephen King novel in y opinion. Right behind IT which was the best book I have ever read. King creates some of the creepiest imagery I have ever read in Bag of Bones. I LOVED IT!!
heytiffy avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
I could not put this book down! So scary! I read it in about 3 days because I was so spooked.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 81 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I began reading this book but it scared me so bad that I never finished. I know I would have had nightmares. If, your looking for a good horror book this is it.
mommytsunami avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on
Helpful Score: 5
This was one of my favorite Stephen King books (and I've read them all!). The characters were easy to like and the storyline was interesting.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
I'm not actually a huge King fan but I enjoyed this book. The story is good and the scary parts are really, really scary. I think even non-King fans would like this one.
gil avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 66 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
A classic ghost story and haunting with the Stephen King twist. Bag of Bones is a bit slow on the upstart, but once the story gets to rolling you will not be able to put this book down. King weaves in the characters like no other author.
RoyalCatwoman avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 278 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Bag of Bones is partly inspired by Daphne du Maurier's classic Rebecca, but there's more than homage in this novel of horror and romance. Like du Maurier's Manderley, King's scary old place (on the shore of Maine's remote Dark Score Lake) is haunted by the late lady of the manor. There are many gory ghosts afoot, though: men, women, and wailing kids. The hero, a thriller novelist, stirs up hell's plenty of angry shades while investigating his wife's death. It turns out she either had a dark secret herself or was onto some dread scandal lurking in Dark Score Lake
IlliniAlum83 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 181 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Couldn't believe over 700 pages for a non-serial fiction story, but it was needed to cover all the details of this haunted mystery. I didn't think eveything could be explained as I neared the end, but it all tied together neatly without giving the answer away early. I really liked it and quickly read it in 3 days. More ghostly doings than gore which I appreciated.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
732 pages. It is a page turner. You want to read te scary parts fast before the images get burned into your brain
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A different type of story for Stephen King. I didn't really like the ending. Too sad. But it gave me the goose bumps...
literatec avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
There aren't many great old-fashioned ghost stories out there anymore, so leave it to horror master Stephen King to bring us a suitably chilling tale. Absolutely loved this novel, from beginning to end. He brings great humanity to his paranormal story. Definitely a must-read, but the faint of heart should be careful - it's quite spooky! I for one will never look at my nephew's alphabet refrigerator magnets the same way again!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 115 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
stephen king's most gripping and unforgetable novel, bag of bones, is a story of grief and a lost love's enduring bonds, of a new love haunted by the secrets of the past, of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 69 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
For those of you who think that Stephen King writes only horror fiction,think again,King offers readers rare blend of luminous prose,thought provoking themes and wonderful storytelling. I loved it.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
My son loved this book and read it in one afternoon.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 298 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This one took me by surprise awesome book.
Paucle avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 19 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I'm a big fan of King, and in fact early on in his career a new King novel meant a new purchase for me and nothing else mattered until I was done reading it. Not sure exactly when that changed, but somewhere around It/ Tommyknockers/ et al, I realized I was actually falling behind. Years went by, and I missed as many as I caught. PBSwap has helped me to catch up. "Duma Key" was my first grab, and found it very well done. My next try, though, surprised me: I couldn't finish "Lisey's Story." Tried a few times. Failed. It just didn't grab me. So, it was with some trepidation that I requested "Bag of Bones."

Not to worry. King nails another compelling, haunting premise. Just when you think you know where it's going, it takes a left turn. As the new path seems to take shape, he pulls a U-ey. Then he drives you smack into a brick wall. Then he forces you to walk away from accident and take a different path entirely. And the whole time you're saying, "I must get off this ride!" and you know you will... as soon as you see just what happens next.
DLeahL avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 48 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
We all know that Stephen King can spin a fabulous, hair-raising horror story. However, when you look beyond the hype, beyond the blood, gore and juddering bones, many of his works show finely honed artistry.

Bag of Bones is, arguably, King's best work so far, although since the quality of his work is of such high literary caliber, this could be a questionable claim. In it, he combines such frightening images that, as one PBS reviewer wrote, "It scared me so much I couldn't read past the first few pages." (sic - I can't see the review while I am writing this one, so I cannot quote it correctly.)

King's characters are full bodied People, with families and histories and allergies. His houses have dust, the garden weeds, and you don't want to think about what might be underneath the surface of the lake. His villains, frightening enough as they are, are all the more horrific for the fact that it is very easy to identify with their very humanity.

One of King's greatest skills is that he DOES write fine literature for those who wish to seek it - there is amazing symbolism and philosophical discussion of what it means to be an artist/writer and the responsibilities incumbent upon the artist. Yet for those who just want to read a book so scary it will make them wet their pants, this book satisfies completely. He interweaves his artistry into the story so deftly that the reader is never pulled away from the world within the book - on the contrary, his world is so fully drawn, so complete, that it is easy to feel the hot sun on one's back, the warm wood of a deck beneath one's feet and the bone-chillingly frigid water in one of Maine's famously dark watered lakes.

I believe it goes without saying that this is a book one would not want to give to a child, no matter how precocious. There are some very disturbing images of child murder, some graphic sex and a very violent rape in the story.

So if you like to read Stephen King because he's stomping scary - you'll love it.

And if you are a bonehead intellectual who loves to seek the symbolism and resolution of the "anxiety of influence," you'll be astounded.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
As autumn approached I thought it would be good to crack open a creepy book. You know, the kind that makes you a little hesitant to read directly before falling asleep for the night...the kind that makes you reach into a room and blindly search for the light switch before stepping through the threshold. Sadly, "Bag of Bones" does not fit this description.

I picked up my copy of "Bag of Bones" back in '98 and for one reason or another, perhaps the fact that I horde books for example, I never got around to reading it. Finally, as I hovered over my bookshelf trying to decide which to crack open (I was already sold on reading a King novel and was choosing between "It", "The Stand" and "Bag of Bones") I plucked the shortest in length (at a concise 732 pages) and thus sealed my fate. There was no turning back.

I'm really not sure what to make of this novel, which centers around a husband/writer grieving over the loss of his wife, a small town custody battle, and some angry ghosts. Perhaps the fact that I was expecting something different led to my distaste for this book, similar to all of the disgusted folks who thought M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" would be a horror flick, as the previews seemed to insinuate. While King's name is typically synonymous with horror novels, I've come to really enjoy some of his departures from horror, such as "Under the Dome (loved it!) and "Eyes of the Dragon," so it's not that he needs to scare me out of my mind in order for me to enjoy his work. Just keep my interested Stephen! That's all I ask!

Ultimately I found the novel to be unbearably slow moving at times and probably 200 to 300 pages too long. I'm not one to shy away from a lengthy novel mind you, and typically I prefer them, however the sloth-like pace of the story attributed to my overall frustration. I found the story to be incredibly dull and uninteresting at times, with King using a few well placed creepy scenes (i.e. the very frightening basement "knocking scene") as well as a few unexpected plot twists as the glue to hold everything together.

Unfortunately by the close of the book I realized that I really didn't care as much about the outcome of the book as I did about simply completing it. Being that avid book reader that you are I'm sure you've experienced this phenomenon one too many times yourself, and it's never pretty is it?

Bottom line - Only crack this one open if you enjoy prolonged periods of boredom followed by nightmare free, sleep filled nights.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 683 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
For those of you thing that King only writes horror fiction, think again. In Bag of Bones, offers readers a rare blend of luminous prose.
Ediesbeads avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Good book! A great human story with some eerie ghosties.... not too scary, but it will get your heart thumping a bit at the end!
jojo76 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on
Helpful Score: 1
Great book! There were a few parts that were slow and/or confusing, but for the most part, I could not put this book down! I stayed up way past my bedtime many nights because I couldn't stop reading.
snake avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on
Helpful Score: 1
Very nice King effort. His best in quite some time. Touching and scary.
Sleepy26177 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 218 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I haven't read a King since Dreamcatcher has been published in German language in 2002.
I found a loooong ghost story which didn't leave me alone. In King's way it was a long and very descriptive plot.
We're back in Derry, the place where It, Insomnia and Dreamcatcher took place, we have a writer like in The Dark Half, The Shining or The Tommyknockers but still, Bag of Bones is nothing King has ever written before.

All allround a story that fits the friend of ghost stories. It feels a bit stretched at times but also wouldn't feel right without the stretching.
zreader avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 51 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I actually love this book, having read it several times it still scares me. But really it is outside if King's normal style, it is also a love story.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 165 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very, very good. More of a ghostly offering than some of his, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
SuDongpo avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 37 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Possibly King's finest book. The journey inside the protagonist's psyche illuminated like nothing else I've read the real thought processes of a 40-something, highly intelligent man coping with the loss of a great love, and the slow process of realizing that the death of a loved one isn't the end of the road and that love has a habit of re-emerging in unlikely places and when least expected. Like in the best of King's work, the horror element in BOB becomes part of the growth process of the hero, illuminating the fears and nightmares that adults can still be prone to, and reminding him that there are things worth fighting for, and people worth loving, even when it's scary and painful to do so.

Despite the presence of the quote lending a title to the book, King's characterization and deft handling of the internal dialogue of the narrator remind this reader, at least, of the probability that King will still be read, filmed, and enjoyed long after most of the bestsellers of today's paranormal, supernatural explosion are nothing, not even footnotes to the future histories of our popular culture.

However, children, if you are unable to suspend your own ego and assume the persona of a troubled middle aged man, you won't get much out of this one. Meyer fans, you are hereby warned.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Quite a thriller. I was actually scared during this one. This is about a house with a past, ghostly visits and a bag of bones.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 19 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Scary Stephen King with a love story added. Pretty good!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
At first I was skeptical, as this is one of Stephen King's more recent novels, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is first person narration, which is unusual for his style, and the story itself quickly becomes eery and unsettling. I was actually spooked by this story, in a way few books have done, so for a creepy, haunting ghost story (no pun intended) I definitely recommend Bag of Bones.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 28 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent book. Couldn't put it down. One of his best!!!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 46 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Carrying galley copy that avoids the h(orror) word while touting its "O. Henry Award-winning author," King's latest novel features a marketing campaign in accord with the distinguished pedigree of his new publisher. But has King written a book that ranks him as a literary heavyweight? Indeed he has, though not by forsaking his roots: the novel is a classic ghost story. It opens quietly as narrator Mike Noonan, 40, bestselling author of romantic suspense potboilers (and latest in a line of King novelist-heroes, cf. Misery and The Dark Half) describes the death of his wife four years back and his consequent grief and writer's block. Mike has kept the block hidden from the publishing world?limned in delicious detail, with real names?by annually pulling one of his own, unpublished mss. from a safe-deposit box. Now that he's out of old novels to submit, he resolves to work through his troubles at Sara Laughs, his country house in backwoods Maine. Arriving there, Mike nearly drives over a three-year-old girl. She is Kyra, granddaughter?by way of beautiful young widow Mattie?of mad computer mogul Max Devore, who is hellbent on snatching the girl from her mother. Taking up Kyra's cause, falling in love with Mattie, Mike gears up for a custody battle. Invigorated, he breaks through his writer's block; but great danger, psychological and physical, awaits, from Max Devore but especially from the spirits, mostly malevolent, that haunt Sara Laughs due to hideous crimes committed by Devore's ancestor a century earlier. Violence, natural and supernatural, ensues as past and present mix, culminating in a torrent of climaxes that bind and illuminate the novel's many mysteries. From his mint-fresh etching of spooky rural Maine to his masterful pacing and deft handling of numerous themes, particularly of the fragility of our constructs about reality and of love's ability to mend rifts in those constructs, this is one of King's most accomplished novels. It is his most personal as well, revealing through Mike's broodings the intimacies of the creative writing process: a passionate gift from a veteran author to all who care about the art and craft of storytelling.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 135 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of S. King's later works. A grieving widower returns to their western Maine summer home, gets involved in a custody dispute between a millionaire and his wife, and gets drawn into ghostly happenings and other scary things (a cat clock is one). Good read.
harmony85 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 982 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I have read most of King's novels and this one is on my Top 5 favorites. It's scary, sad, even kind of romantic. It stayed with me a long time. And yes-I was very spooked! I live out in the boonies and my husband is a trucker and not home sometimes. So I slept with lights on for a couple nights!
schwip avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 49 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
As the cover says 'A haunted love story' and it certainly is all of that. In true Stephen King fashion, this book keeps you sort of confused until the end. Everytime you think you have the story figured out, the story twists and you are left wondering again. It takes some commitment as it is 526 pages, but is WELL worth it.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book, and am hoping that it'll go to a good home. It is a love story of sorts and has the ability to cause you a couple of sleepless nights! Enjoy it, I know I did!
gil avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 66 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A classic ghost story and haunting with the Stephen King twist. Bag of Bones is a bit slow on the upstart, but once the story gets to rolling you will not be able to put this book down. King weaves in the characters like no other author.
reviewed Bag of Bones on
Helpful Score: 1
I am not a huge Stephen King fan but this book had me drawn in from the beginning to the end.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 60 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
stayed up all night to finish it!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 121 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
BAG OF BONES is a legal drama, a romance, a mystery and a ghost story, and that last takes a back seat for much of the book. King wisely baits us with hints a quiet incident here or there, often at the end of a chapter of heavy character and plot development. I wasn't that pleased with the ending as it left some unanswered questions. But aside from that it was a great book. I don't always rush to read a Stephen King novel because he sometimes gets to involved in setting up the story that I loose interest . This story was different from most of his previous works .I wasn't sure I even wanted to read it at first but it was the book of the month for PBSMO so I jumped in and I am glad I did!.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 31 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A bit over-long, and yet another trip to the Novelist Main Character Well, but not bad for later-era King.
tracymckibben avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 11 more book reviews
Good old fashioned ghost story, one of my favorite Stephen King books.
l3rookeLuvsl3ooks avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 60 more book reviews
I enjoyed it, but it is not typical King. Who knows what typical King is anymore? lol
adixon avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 11 more book reviews
I was so disturbed by this book! I bought it the week it was released and gave it to a co-worker immediately after reading it. (normally, I keep his books) King's ability to pull readers into the story and emotion of the characters was NOT a good thing this time around! All these years later and I'm still creeped-out by the despair in this story line.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 21 more book reviews
I had this on my reminder list for a while, a little wary of reading horror. This book was ok, a lot of characters to remember that weren't really necessary. There were a lot of questions not answered at the end and some of the dreams and other scenes were so confusing and unnecessary.
kopsahl48 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 181 more book reviews
Four years after the tragic death of his wife, Mike Noonan has returned his lakeside home, Sara Laughs. He doesnt know why he feels that he needs to be here but he knows that he is supposed to be here. Sara Laughs is haunted by several spirits, some good, and some evil. Mike has also discovered that his wife, Johanna, had been making secret visits to Sara Laughs. These visits had illicit some harsh feelings among the locals who want their secrets dead and buried. When Mike enters the life of Mattie and her daughter Kyra, he realizes why he has been brought here and the truth of his past could bring destruction to Kyra who is the granddaughter of Max Devore, a ruthless evil man who will not stop until he has what he wants.

King is truly masterful when it comes to crafting his villains. He can make them so creepy that it is discomforting to read at times. Bag of Bones millionaire Max Devore and is evil daughter are a prime example of this. The scene where they are bullying Mike made me fear for his life and I was urging Mike to swim faster, get away from them!! For a book to incite those kind of reactions in me is a great read in my opinion. Another favorite attribute of King is the storytelling. His descriptions are vivid enough that it is like a movie reeling through my mind.

The beginning of the book was a little slow for me but when we move to four years after the death of Mikes wife and his return to Sara Laughs the story flows effortlessly all the ways to the dramatic conclusion. Definitely recommended for fans of Stephen King and the horror genre.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 11 more book reviews
One of SK best!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 65 more book reviews
Absolutely classic Stephen King.....
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 23 more book reviews
The second best Stephen King novel in my opinion. Right behind IT which is the best book I have ever read. Stephen King creates some very creepy imagery in this awesome, scary tale. Very disturbing.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 2 more book reviews
King's Bag of Bones is for King fans around the world. It does not disappoint. IMHO, King is at his most brilliant storytelling when he takes a simpleif more often than nottragic slice of life scenario and his character (my favorite when he's a writer because I feel he's playing out a specific nightmare...)generally with great reluctance must face his inner demons, then go on the face those lurking on the outside. King's books grab all your sensespainfully heartbreaking, beautifully descriptive to the point Sarah Laughs will always remain in my mind a cabin over looking a lake in Maine, terrifying in the flashbacks to times when hideous things could happen and the good people of town turned their heads, yet in true King fashion, hilarious dialogue when precious, three-year-old Ki says, "I taggled my own quartermack!" King's the best; King is king.
wutaday avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 2 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite Stephen King novels. It isn't really his typical novel, but it was definitely a good read. I loved it, and plan to read it again! :)
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 18 more book reviews
One of my favorite Ghost stories by the King
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 12 more book reviews
When Mike returns to his family's isolated summer house after the death of his wife, he finds his old beloved town changed. The town is held in the powerful grip of a coniving millionaire and as Mike gets caught up in the struggle, he is also drawn into the mysteries of his old summer house, which is now the site of ghostly visitations, escalating nightmares, and other strange forces that have been unleashed.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 17 more book reviews
excellent
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 273 more book reviews
Four yearsafter the sudden death of his wife,forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving.Unable to write and plaguedby vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs,Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway.There,he finds his beloved yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire,Max Devore,whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter,Kyra away from her widowed young mother,Mattie.As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle,as he falls in love with both of them,he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs,now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors.What are the forces that have been unleashed here-and what do they want of Mike Noonan?
waterbearer avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 62 more book reviews
Great ghost story. I stayed up all night to finish it, couldn't put it down.
magickmom avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 6 more book reviews
This is a great book! It is one of my all time favorites and one of King's best. The story and the characters are interesting on their own but when you throw in a little of the supernatural it takes it to a whole new level. If you are looking for a good read, this is it!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 18 more book reviews
Spooky ghost story...a bit too long though.
reviewed Bag of Bones on
I have been reading and watching horror from the time I was 7 or 8 and I don't scare easily, but this book had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up! OMG!
jade1313 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on
This bokk was very very good. It took a little while for me to get into it,most of Stephen King's books are like that anyway though because he writes in so much detail that you have to read like 200 pages before you are sucked in, but once I did I couldnt put it down. Literally! This is one of the BEST books that I have read from Stephen King. Its very romantic and gets deep down into the darkness of this mans life where he lost his wife in a tragic accident and how he comes to terms with the grieving process. Its so complex though that this is just the cover story, It doesnt begin to describe the creepy other side stories and charecters that are in this book. It left me thinking about it weeks after I was done reading it. This is an absolute 10 for KING!!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 22 more book reviews
This was my first Setphen King book and I thought it was great! It was a hit as our bookclub so it is a mystery that everyone enjoyed.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 9 more book reviews
This book was one of the best I have read...I couldn't put it down!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 6 more book reviews
This was the first Stephen King book I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. At parts I thought he was over explaining the story, but all in all it was a great story and a great book!
I will definitely be reading more King.
reviewed Bag of Bones on
Outstanding read. Keep you on the edge. You can't put it down.
terra57 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 100 more book reviews
My favorite by Stephen King.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 87 more book reviews
My favorite Steven King novel.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 5 more book reviews
This was a good book,very spooky...i loved it!!!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 17 more book reviews
Scary, sad and very satisfying.
reviewed Bag of Bones on
Not one of my favorite Stephen King's but reasonably entertaining, nevertheless.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 36 more book reviews
FOR THOSE OF US THAT THINK THAT STEVEN KING WRITES ONLY HORRO FICTION THINK AGAIN...
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 8 more book reviews
With Stephen King, it's always a thrilling read!
duffeybooks avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 59 more book reviews
really good book, one of my favorites
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 21 more book reviews
Very creepy - one of Stephen King's better novels.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 21 more book reviews
King at his creepiest, as usual!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 19 more book reviews
Good ole king
pibblegrl avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 64 more book reviews
This was interesting..took me a while to get into it though.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 9 more book reviews
Very good
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 292 more book reviews
A good read. Joalice
sewingnancyl avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 78 more book reviews
King offers readers a rare blend of luminous prose, thought-provoking themes and masterful storytelling - San Diego Union Tribune
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 2 more book reviews
This is by far the best Stephen King book that I have read in years. No explanation needed!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 2 more book reviews
This is a great stephen king book. He always writes great.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 8 more book reviews
Pretty creepy. Exactly what I would expect from Stephen King.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 11 more book reviews
some twists and very good read
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 33 more book reviews
!! THE BEST FROM ONE OF THE BEST !!
bookluver-in-sc avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 229 more book reviews
A strange King novel. But a good read.
Nova-Cana avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 12 more book reviews
I feel like this story is one that SK wrote a while ago, and gave to his publisher when he got Writer's Block in 1998.

Horrible. Loads of dribble! The main character disgusted me and I was rooting for the ghost. So I guess I was reading it wrong.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 74 more book reviews
If you have read Stephen King you know that this in just another in a long line of unforgettable novels - a tale of grief and lost love's enduring bonds, of haunting secrets of the past, and of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 329 more book reviews
Good story line. Enjoy his books even though they can be far out there.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 46 more book reviews
great read
reviewed Bag of Bones on
Good read.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 242 more book reviews
I've lost my taste for Stephen King so I never read this book. From the skimming I did get to do, I found King's writing too wordy. For a long time now, King's books no longer are thrilling or provide suspense for me. I'm still in love mostly with his earlier works. Still, for King fans this looks like an interesting read with ghosts, a heart-wrenching child custody case, past secrets and some romance.
Nova-Cana avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 12 more book reviews
It took me about a year to finish this book and the process was excruciating! And not in a good way. At least it only cost me 0.50 (and a year of my life! lol *cries*).

Unnecessarily wordy and drawn out. I couldn't connect/didn't care about the characters. The first person narrative got on my nerves. The main character's describing his sexual intentions for the woman he intended to help made me sick.

And it was hella dry until about the last three or so chapters when you're over run with loads of information that seems to come out of nowhere.

I was unsatisfied. I usually like his stuff, but this proves ya can't hit gold every time.
reviewed Bag of Bones on
A tale of grief and lost love's enduring bonds, of haunting secrets of the past, and of an innocent child caught in a terrible crossfire.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 4 more book reviews
A good ghost story, King style.
mathboy avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on
Stephen tells a fantastic ghost story here.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 22 more book reviews
A So-So book. Stephen is KING, but this was not his best.
juicyfruit avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on
I read this a while back, when it first came out, and sitting down to write a review years later, I'm having a hard time remembering specifics about the story. I am a huge King fan - I've read just about all of his work - and for me, this was not one of his best. There are so many of his characters that I continue to think about and so many of his stories that stick with me, but this was not one of them. 3 stars from me and a desire to re-read this to see if I missed something the first time.
jjusinta avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 12 more book reviews
OMG this book made me laugh, cry, and made me angry at times this trully is one of my most favorites. I find this book a really rare book the whole story feels so real. I feel like I really know these people that I have walked beside them through out these moments in there lives. SK once again made a wonderful masterpiece.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 7 more book reviews
another best seller from stephen king
DebY avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 12 more book reviews
As usual King delivers another great horror story in Bag of Bones. Not his best but I liked it.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 7 more book reviews
loved it!!! excellent condition
that70sgirl avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on
I have owls all over my house simply because of this story. Seriously.
reviewed Bag of Bones on
this was one of his best but i live basicly live down the street from him so maybe i just like the guy
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 50 more book reviews
Another scary book from Stephen King. Once I got into it, it was hard to put down.
good condition
romanticreader007 avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 11 more book reviews
creepy but great as always in Stephen King fashion!!!!!
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 404 more book reviews
"Bestselling author Mike Noonan, suffering from writer's block and still mourning his wife's untimely death of a few years earlier, returns to their summer home on the coast of Maine. Searching for inspiration and answers, he finds himself regarded with suspicion by most of the town's populace, although he makes the friendship of a young widow who is engaged in a fierce custody battle with her very powerful father-in-law. Cryptic messages left in his home convince him he's not alone, and lead him to uncover a chilling mystery that's far greater than he could have imagined.

BAG OF BONES is by turns a legal drama, a romance, a mystery and a ghost story, and that last takes a back seat for much of the book. King wisely baits us with hints -- a quiet incident here or there, often at the end of a chapter of heavy character and plot development. Those looking for ghouls and gore may be disappointed, but the story is all the more stronger for it. These are hauntings of the fairly typical variety, and it's a testament to King's skill as a writer that they are more frightening than perhaps they should be to the experienced reader. It's only toward the end of the novel, where the supernatural forces come to a head, that it loses some of its credibility. It's a final confrontation that rivals those in "The Library Policeman" or "The Sun Dog" -- not a good thing -- and cheapens what was a high quality read. But this is just a small flaw (it's a big book.)

I'm pleased to number BAG OF BONES among King's best." amazon review
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 57 more book reviews
Wonderful book. No cover jacket, but book is in great shape otherwise.
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 12 more book reviews
Four years after the sudden death of his wife, 40 year old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the group of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vidictive purpose is to take his 3 year old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleased here- and what do they wnat of Mike Noonan?
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 8 more book reviews
"Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plaqued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here-and what do they want of Mike Noonan?"
reviewed Bag of Bones on + 19 more book reviews
Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here--and what do they want of Mike Noonan?
reviewed Bag of Bones on
I bought this book second hand. It is not in perfect condition. One corner of the back cover is missing.
romeo avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 334 more book reviews
Four years after the sudden death of his wife, 40 year old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been released here-and what do they want of Mike Noonan?
madtex avatar reviewed Bag of Bones on + 40 more book reviews
Four years after the sudden death of his wife, forty-year-old bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write, and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls Sara Laughs, Mike relunctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved Yankee town held in the grip of a powerful millionaire, Max Devore, whose vindictive purpose is to take his three-year-old granddaughter, Kyra, away from her widowed young mother, Mattie. As Mike is drawn into Mattie and Kyra's struggle, as he falls in love with both of them, he is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations and escalating terrors. What are the forces that have been unleashed here - and what do they want of Mike noonan?