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A review of The Talisman

by Stephen King, Peter Straub

Fantasy horror about a boy who has to travel between worlds to save the life of his mother.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Andrew
About Jennifer Andrew

The Talisman This is a thick and meaty book that you can hold in both hands. It is full of such content that you cannot put it down. It grabs you, holds you and brings you into the world of Stephen King and Peter Straub. It is an excellent book that must be read because you will love it as much as I did.

It is a tale about a boy named Jack, who is on the verge of losing his mother. His father died in an accident so it's only the two of them left. When she becomes ill, he is forced to do whatever he can to save her. When he realizes that he can travel between worlds, he uses that in the attempt to save his mother.

One of my favorite characters is Jack's friend Wolf because he reminds me of a typical teenage werewolf. He is very tall, very hairy and he loves to wear his Osh-Kosh overalls. He has an extremely sensitive nose, which gets them both into a lot of trouble. I consider this book not only to be a fantasy but also a mystery laced with some humor.

I really felt for both Jack and Wolf because they were characters that were forced into predicament after predicament with only each other for support. Even though the setting is modern day Earth, Peter Straub and Stephen King make it out to be an insensitive place filled with adults who want nothing more than personal gain and the fulfillment and satisfaction of hurting others. It made me route for the characters even more, especially for Jack. Poor Jack! Can you imagine the burden that he was going through to try to help his mother without really knowing in what direction to go or what he had to do to save her? That the only people to help him along the way was a blind man, a character from another world and a sniveling, frightened best friend from school.

The book made me feel glad that I was not in his position because I don't know what I could have done or if I would have had the courage to go through all that Jack had to go through. You care so much for these characters that you remember them even after you put the book down.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: The Talisman

Copyright © by Jennifer Andrew, 2002

Reviewed by Jennifer Andrew:
-- The Talisman - by Stephen King, Peter Straub
-- Dance Upon the Air - by Nora Roberts
-- Heaven and Earth - by Nora Roberts
-- Face the Fire - by Nora Roberts
-- Hollywood Wives - by Jackie Collins
-- Mars and Venus on a Date - by John Gray, Ph. D.
-- Timeline - by Michael Crichton
-- Needful Things - by Stephen King
-- Wizard's First Rule - by Terry Goodkind
-- Dragondoom - by Dennis L. McKiernan
-- Running with the Demon - by Terry Brooks
-- A Knight of the Word - by Terry Brooks
-- Angel Fire East - by Terry Brooks
-- Hollywood Wives: The New Generation - by Jackie Collins
-- The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara - by Terry Brooks
-- The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara - Antrax - by Terry Brooks
-- Degree of Guilt - by Richard North Patterson
-- The Halls of Justice - by Lee Gruenfeld
-- Pantry Raid - Out of the Cupboard Cooking - by Dana McCauley
-- Low-Carb Meals in Minutes - by Linda Gassenheimer









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