EXCERPT: The Avon Lady who was not the Avon Lady walked away from the trailer and back toward the meth lab. The smell of propane grew stronger with each step until the air was rancid with it. Her footprints appeared behind her, white and small and delicate, shapes that came from nowhere and seemed to be made of milkweed fluff. The hem of her borrowed shirt fluttered around her long thighs. In front of the shed she plucked up a piece of paper caught in a bush. At the top, in big blue letters, it announced EVERYTHING IS ON SALE EVERY DAY! Below this were pictures of refrigerator units both large and small, washing machines, dishwashers, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, Dirt Devils, trash compactors, food processors, more. One picture showed a trim young woman in jeans smiling knowingly down upon her daughter, who was blond like Mom. The pretty tyke held a plastic baby in her arms and smiled down upon it. There were also large TVs showing men playing football, men in racing cars, and grill setups beside which stood men with giant forks and giant tongs. Although it did not come right out and say so, the message of this advertising circular was clear: women work and nest while men grill the kill. THE BLURB: In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep they go to another place. The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied, or is she a demon who must be slain? MY THOUGHTS: Ummmmmmm. . . When I started to read Sleeping Beauties, a collaboration between Stephen King and son Owen, I felt sure that I was getting into another 5 masterpiece. The first third kept my interest levels high, although I often had to abandon it in favor of Netgalley reads that needed to be reviewed because they were due for publication. I usually push them to one side in favor of Mr King, but not this time. The second third continued to intrigue me, but perhaps not quite as much. I felt like my wheels were spinning a little. And the final third? Well, the whole warfare episode - shoot 'em dead, blow 'em up - I could have done without. It kind of felt like they were cheating, taking the easiest way out. I have to admit to finally skimming large tracts of this section. It was that or throw the book away. And the ending? My jury is still out on that decision. It is an exceedingly long read at 714 pages, which I have come to expect from Mr King. But I also expect a little more quality than I got here. Sleeping Beauties could easily have been quite a bit shorter. I am not going to apportion blame for either the length or the warfare, because I don't know the logistics of how this was written. But I would like to know. Did they collaborate to the extent that they squabbled over the keyboard? Did they write alternating chapters? Had they each written a similar story that they merged? I don't know. I thought that they may have discussed this in the authors' note, but they don't. I haven't previously read any of Owen King's work. I need to do so. I have wavered over my rating. 2.5 ? 3? 3.5? It is better than 2.5-stars. Better than average. 3.5? Probably not quite . . . although I am a little more wary of the cobwebs that cling stubbornly to the outside of our house. And those innocent looking little brown moths that swarm around the porch light at night? No way are they coming inside. So some things have lingered. 3.25 seems fair to me.I wish I could have liked Sleeping Beauties better. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Best Let Sleeping Beauties LieCompletely revised on 10/18/17Stephen King, who recently turned 70, has written a phenomenal fifty plus bestsellers. Regrettably, "Sleeping Beauties," a writing collaboration with his younger son Owen that may seem touching in the paternal sense, fails to plunge the reader into the type of heart-thumping chills and page-flipping thrills that casual King fans crave. Rather, the novel proves itself a tiresome, often grandiose, fantasy-soapbox that is sure to please only the most hardcore King fans.The novel opens in the small Appalachian town of Dooling, West Virginia, when a nubile nude woman, with green pubic hair and moths fluttering from her mouth, strolls out from behind a mammoth tree in a large clearing to bludgeon a local meth dealer who abuses his girlfriend. She then patiently awaits arrest. This supernatural goddess named Eve or Evie Black--we soon see--mocks all men, reads minds, controls a pack of prison rats and commands an army of moths. Sheriff Lila Norcross transports her to the women's prison outside of town where Dr. Clint Norcross, the Sheriff's husband, is the prison psychiatrist. The same day, a worldwide plague known as the "Aurora flu" strikes every woman who enters a state of sleep, after which tendrils grow from her body and form a cocoon from which she does not awake. If anyone--even a family member--tries to break open the cocoon and wake the woman, she is transformed into a crazed, bloodthirsty killer. One yokel yucks that the plague is "the ultimate PMS." This of course leads to a dramatic increase in the sale of Red Bull, coffee and cocaine as women frantically try to stay awake.We get sound bites of end times from around the globe: riots in D.C., vigilante brigades gathering to torch the cocoons, a jet going down, and "hard right conservatives on talk radio ... proclaiming the Aurora virus as proof that God was angry with feminism." The focus though is on the small hillbilly town. Nearly half the book is consumed by a tedious introduction to seventy characters, including half of Dooling and most of the female prisoners. If you can keep up, you may still get frustrated by the lengthy and frequent slow-motion diversions into the connubial blemishes of Lila and Clint Norcross, which seem feeble when considering that humankind stands on the brink of extinction.Dooling's female correctional facility is ground zero for the Aurora flu, housing the sole female immune from the plague, Evie Black. The question at the novel's center is how the men of this small Appalachian town will react to the plague. Will they act out backwards male stereotypes, form rabid packs and go after Evie? As Evie explains to Dr. Norcross, she will not defend herself and only if she survives a number of days will the women be set free; if not, all women will perish. Thus begins the battle of men for the existence of our species: the men--almost entirely of cardboard stock--who want to kill Evie Black versus the men who want to protect her, the latter led by Dr. Norcross, who the Kings inform us is "the one who stands for all mankind." Meanwhile, the spirits of the cocooned women gather in a parallel world of peace called simply Our Place. Our Place is just past the clearing from which Evie arrived and the "Mother Tree," the Kings' version of the tree of knowledge and the portal to Evie's Eden-like garden populated by a fox and a tiger that talk, a peacock, and a giant snake that slithers up and down the tree. The Kings endeavor to shroud Eve in mystery via nonsensical queries: "Had Evie come from the Tree? Or had the Tree come from Evie?" It is nonetheless obvious that she is the biblical Eve: "Evie doesn't trust the snake.... She's had trouble with him before."With the exception of maybe five characters, the characters merely play out gender stereotypes--often clownish--with most women (even the imprisoned murderers) caring and nurturing pacifists, and the men--with the exception of Dr. Norcross and a few prison guards--generally drinking, righteous, gun-toting, savage pigs. The absence of the reader's investment in a legion of caricatures represents a fundamental flaw in building a shred of suspense. That is to say, by the time the battle for Eve ensues--think, "Lord of the Flies" at a women's prison--it is nearly impossible to know who does what, when, to whom, who was killed and who survived, and miraculous if one even cares.Lovers of the Stephen King brand of graphic gore may find parts to relish, such as how "shreds of skin flapped like streamers" from a bulldozer that had just flattened a man, or how a man's jaw being cleaved open by a woman sounded like "a drumstick being torn off a Thanksgiving turkey." Yet, this is not the trademark King supernatural novel full of fright, intensity and surprises.Instead, this doorstopper of a novel stands primarily as a political soapbox the Kings thrust upon readers via "original sin" Eve, brought back by some secret force that detests men. Whether or not a reader is in sync with some of the Kings' political persuasions is beside the point. Most readers, it seems, probably do not care to read a novel billed as a blockbuster supernatural thriller that can be more fittingly described as an environmentalist, gun-controlling, feminist, Trump-loathing fantasy with a take on everything from gender politics to racial violence, and that hits heavily on a range of social dilemmas such as suicide, marital infidelity, teen sex, alcoholism, drug addiction in impoverished areas, domestic violence and mental illnesses. Perhaps it's best to let "Sleeping Beauties" lie.

Having long been a fan of Stephen King, I was curious to tackle this novel, which pairs the King of Horror with his Prince of Thrills (?), Owen. Working together on this massive piece, the reader is able to see the Kings respective writing styles and notice how well they mesh together. In the town of Dooling, the discovery of two meth cooks are found murdered seems to be a day like any other, though a stranger may be behind this bloody mess. Normalcy ends in this community when women around the world are going to sleep and not waking up. While in these comatose states, they are discovered with an odd growth on their faces, spindly white thread that soon becomes a cocoon that surrounds their bodies. Panic ensues and those who seek to remove this cocoon from family and friends are met with a rabid response, sated only by the violent murder of anyone who dare disturb the womans slumber. This odd occurrence is tied to sleepbut only of womenand is soon labelled Aurora Sickness. As the folks of Dooling do all they can to understand this phenom, the women are taking matters into their own hands to stay awake. Chaos reigns as caffeine and other stimulantsboth legal and illegalare sought by anyone possessing the XX chromosome, in an effort to remain awake. When rumours hit the internet about a scheme to torch the cocoon-bearers, this only adds a new layer of concern in Dooling, where riots and vandalism have changed things for the worse. Tucked away in the prison is that aforementioned stranger, Eve Black, who appears to be immune to the cocooning and enjoys restful sleep without consequence. Does Eve have something to share with those left awake in Dooling that might bring an end to the madness? What happens to those who remain asleep in their cocoons? These answers and more await the reader as they flit through this massive novellike moths on a summer nightand are enveloped in a story that has all the markings of a King classic. This joint effort should leave fans of the elder King quite pleased and raise interest in Owens own writing.Having never read Owen King before, I must use my knowledge of his fathers writing to provide comparative analysis for this review. I will be the first to admit that reading Stephen King is not for everyone, though his novels as not as horror-based as they might once have been. Their uniqueness lies not only in the number of pages used to transmit a story, but also the numerous tangents taken to get from A to B. While that might annoy me with some authors, I find solace in the detail provided on the journey when King is at the helm. As King is wont to do, he supersaturates the story with scores of characters, all of whom play their own part in the larger narrative. While this may annoy some readers, I find itbafflinglyexciting as I keep track of all the mini-stories that develop throughout. That being said, a few characters rise to the forefront in this piece and help bridge the story together. Lila Norcross proves to be a pivotal character, both in her role as sheriff and a level-headed player in town when chaos begins to rear its head. Lila has much going on and her character must face many struggles throughout the story, but she never backs down from what stands before her. Clint Norcross, Lilas husband and prison psychiatrist at the womens facility in town also plays an interesting role, in that he seeks to explore the lives and thoughts of those incarcerated, as well as serving as an important liaison for Eve Black, currently being detained in the soft room. Eve Black remains that character that King uses in most of his novels, the unknown individuals who brings chaos to the forefront while remaining calm and even endearing. No one knows anything of Eve, though her character becomes significant as the story progresses. Turning to the story at hand, it is both complex and simplistic, allowing the reader to pull something from it that might appeal to them. The curiosity surrounding the cocoon remains at the forefront of the plot throughout and why women are the only ones being saddled with this remains a mystery. Both Kings seek to have the characters explore this anomaly throughout the novel, while also facing some of the concerns of a town disintegrating at the hands of its female population falling by the wayside, particularly when Eves immunity becomes common knowledge. There are many wonderful plots to follow within the story, which develop throughout the detailed chapters. The reader will likely have to use the character list at the beginning of the piece to keep everyone clear, though the detail offered allows a quick refresher for the attentive reader. The writing style is clearly elder King, with its meandering way and a narrative peppered with commentaries. It is for the reader to sift through it all and find the gems that will help them better appreciate the story. Chapters are broken up into numbered breaks, assisting with the literary digestion process, which allows the reader to better appreciate the magnitude of the story before them. I enjoy this style of writing, though am not entirely clear what flavour the younger King added to the story, as I am ignorant to any of his past published works. That being said, the collaborative King experience was one I thoroughly enjoyed. Kudos, Messrs. King, for this excellent collaborative effort. I found myself enthralled until the very end and hope youll consider working together again.Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at: http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

DNFI'm not going to finish this book; at least right now. Maybe I'll be more tolerant of the slow pacing, exorbitant cast of characters and weak plot line, later. Although I doubt it. I was 450ish pages into a 700 page novel and my suspicion is that this book was more of an Owen King effort instead of Papa King.I didn't see Stephen's fingerprints on this AT ALL. This book had no teeth, no edge, no bite.This wouldn't be the first time I DNF'd a King book, so I don't feel bad about it. He has so many hits for me, a miss is no big deal.This is a miss.

I'm rating this middle-of-the-road because the stuff I liked about the book I really liked, but the stuff I hated I really hated. Liked:Stephen King really gets you inside the characters heads and creates complex characters. I had strong feelings about many of the characters.Hated:There were too many damn characters. There was a cast of characters at the beginning of the book that had over 70 people listed. I was like, do I really need to study this before reading? Is this going to be on the test? I'm not sure if I'm up for it.Also, he added in a couple of bad guys at about 3/4ths of the way into the book. They didn't add anything to the overall story except for additional pages of us having to learn absolutely everything about them and their family histories. I would rather have stuck with the characters I was already invested in and their storylines. It was simply annoying.Liked:There is a plague! Well... a sleeping sickness that only affects women. It was slightly creepy, but a lot of fun to watch as it developed and women fought it for as long as they could. I thought it was funny that the cops eventually started doing meth and cocaine to stay awake. Personally, I'd just say f-it and go to sleep because I hate staying awake and I'd probably be one of those people who has an immediate heart attack if I try to take one of those drugs to stay awake. Hell, caffeine makes me jumpy.Hated:Along with the plague comes a magical tree, a magical tiger, a magical snake, and a semi-magical fox. They annoyed me. No, I didn't find them mystical and pretty. I found them to have a hell of a lot of pages dedicated to their magicalness and I hated them the whole time. Have I mentioned I hate magic? Sure, I like Urban Fantasy, but I have no patience for magic. The only thing worse than magic, in my book, is if it is being performed by a clown. Oh, and we can thank Mr. King as well for our societal fear of clowns.Liked:There is a lot of girl power in this book. The sleeping women travel to another time/space and start a new society. They do amazing things together and build their own new world. There is a lot of food for thought in there:Molly (12 yrs old) walked the two blocks back to her house (in the dark). By herself. And why could she do that? Because in this world there were no predators. No pedophiles.Hated:Although I am all for a good girl-power theme, the world of men seemed to fall apart a little too fast for me. It seems that most men are aggressive, animalistic killing machines without us girls! I guess it's good to be needed, but come on. Society completely falls apart in five days! I truly think they could have made it a bit longer. At least I hope so...Omg, can I have this bunny??? He's so cute!(sorry. I guess I am a stereotype myself. Writing a review: "Oh look, a bunny!!")And finally:What I hated more than anything and, to me, was the most important thing about this book:This book was too damn long!It would have been so much better if it was a hundred pages shorter. Or, even more.There were pages and pages on the magic tree. Pages and pages of what a FOX is thinking. Pages and pages of the guys setting up for their war. Pages and pages of those bad guys that were added in really late and didn't need to be in the book at all.Too long!Still, overall, it was a pretty good book and I got engrossed in the story. I would recommend it for people who like Stephen King and who have patience.