Blockade Billy

Blockade Billy... This book has seen many mixed reviews. I for one LOVED IT! . Yes it is a different style for King, we are used to the spine tingling terror of mad men that lurk in the darkest of shadows of his brilliant mind. So one would automatically assume this one would be of the same style and nature of his best selling novels. It is Not, this does not make it bad by any means! To be honest I thought it was genius of him to write the book in this style. Telling the tale through the eyes of an elderly man whom lived through this bizarre tragedy!

For baseball fans this is a MUST READ! Even if you are not a player or fan of the game you will be sucked into this story from the start! As always King gives great details into the who's what's and OMG NO WAY's of this nightmare. Yes I said Nightmare because that is what it really is. Further more what will astonish you is the fact that this is based on what was supposed to really have happened and is being told to you ( or MR KING I should say) from the mouth of a man who witness this horror first hand!

Baseball scary? I'm sure you are asking yourself, yeah right is your expression! Read IT! You will find plenty of blood and gore with in its pages! Add in the scare factor of it really happened along with the cover up and wipe out of a National Team! You thought old boy Rose was an issue with a mere gambling problem wait to you get a load of Blockade Billy! He makes Rose look like your cookie baking grandma!

Another thing people complain about is that this is a short story. Yes , it is. But it is a dam good one! Not all good stories need to be a full fledged novels and I believe he did right by this one keeping and short , sweet and to the point! No need to drag it on , it does what it was intended to do , to tell you the story of unspeakable horrors this man brought to the game, country and sport!

So from one King fan to another, Give it a read !

I wanted to like this book because I love Stephen King and baseball too. However, this fell way short of my expectations. First of all, it was way too short. I felt cheated the whole time I was reading this. Character development and storyline both suffer because of it. I kept getting the sense that Stephen King rushed what could have been an outstanding novella or even full length novel here. Not for me.

The book was actually very strange but enjoyable. Both stories had their merits. I was most impressed by the packaging hand wrapped with a book mark thrown in to boot. Awesome. Great job-thank you so much. Will recommend to friends. As I said, very impressed.

With Stephen King a big-time baseball fan & a great writer, you'd think this novella couldn't miss. That was why, I admit, I bought the book. What a total waste of time & a rip-off. Even if you see this book in the 99-cent bin, don't waste your money or your time. Could there be another Stephen King in a 10th-grade English class somewhere that wrote this? Zero stars are the correct review.

When does a short story become a novella? Sports fiction as a genre typically yields inspirational stories of triumph of the underdog, but with King you can always expect some surprise. To me this is a very good short story in sports fiction. Enjoyable read when you have an hour to kill.

Reading should automatically trigger imagination. So, the theme of this story brought me back to the mid twentieth century. I am audience to a man born in the century prior.I guess I'm old enough (almost Stephen's age) to appreciate the vernacular, and the feel of that time period. Sure, you've heard stories of folks who remove others, and assume their identity. This is not the first of that kind, but in the total package, it works wonderfully well! Don't judge a story by it's length, a tale is told when it's finished. If you want to keep turning pages, then it's a success. Picture talking to Casey Stengel (If you know who that is) sit back, read, and enjoy!

Only Stephen King could write two stinkers like that (Blockhead Billy, and the Colorado Kid) and still make me stick with him. I might miss the next "Stand", one of the best books period, by anyone ever that's my story and I'm stickin to it. The only question is which one is worse. I can't think Mr. King has lost it, I still have a few years left, very few, but I hope he is going to continue. Come to think of it, The Dome kinda made up for at least one of them. Save your money on these two, King has enough that, If he is printing drivel for money, he should know that most of his readers would send him $100 or more each, if he needed it, as payment for the joy he has brought us in the past. No grudge like Jane Auel, but save the dough for his next one. fredt

The story was good, however you are receiving a single short story for your money. It took me about 30 minutes to read. The price on this jewel should be .99 cents. The bad news is I will be very skeptical of Stephen King Kindle titles from now on.

Great hardcover book. Blockade Billy is a GREAT story with a super twist ending. Morality (which is included) is a good story but a little messed up (in a funny way). Great book to read if you're reading a larger novel and want to put it down for a day. Book was Brand New as stated.