Stephen King will release two new novels this year
鈥淚n the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.鈥�
That could have been ripped from the headlines of a horrifying news event. As it happens, that鈥檚 the premise behind 鈥淢r. Mercedes,鈥� Stephen King鈥檚 latest from Scribner, set to hit shelves in June.
Art, as they say, mimics .
King fans will have much to celebrate this year. In addition to 鈥淢r. Mercedes,鈥� King is working on another book, 鈥淩evival,鈥� set for release in November by Scribner.
鈥淩evival鈥� will focus on death and the afterlife as well as the sometimes tragic influence of addiction, religion, and fanaticism.
According to the released , 鈥淩evival鈥� follows the life of Jamie, a little boy living in a small, picturesque New England town more than half a century ago. Addictions and family tragedies plague Jamie as he grows up and, 鈥渋n a pact beyond even the Devil鈥檚 devising,鈥� reunites with his small town preacher who was banished from the town when he cursed God.
鈥淩evival鈥� follows the 鈥済reat American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe,鈥� according to the synopsis.
As for "Mr. Mercedes," the book follows in King鈥檚 legendary thriller tradition, providing a chilling insight into the mind of an obsessed killer, Brady Hartfield, the man behind the Mercedes mission, and the son of an alcoholic mother. Hartfield鈥檚 crime spurs a retired cop back to action before the Mercedes murderer plans another killing spree.
Thanks to the well-received 鈥�Joyland,鈥� a film adaptation of 鈥�Cell鈥�, the horror writer鈥檚 Twitter debut, and now two promising new novels on the horizon, there鈥檚 no doubt King is America鈥檚 king of horror.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
