Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A volatile ride in a garaged car
Stephen King is a great storyteller. When he creates a character like Ned Wilcox, you can feel the depth of pain and emotion in a teenager trying to cope with the sudden loss of his father. Then he uses the same extraordinary writing talent to present us with a 1954 Buick Roadmaster that's not a car but a machine from another dimension. You know it can't be real, but when the three state cops from Troop D start to dissect the bat-like think that comes out of the Buick's trunk, your stomach muscles will tighten as if it was actually happening.King also evokes great memories for a child of the 50s. A dog named Mister Dillon, the old sarge named Shoendienst, Arkey the big Swede who sounds just like Lawrence Welk and the Buick 8 itself take you right back to the Eisenhower era even though the story starts in 1979. When Brian the low life torments his arresting officer with an insult from their high school days, the chant of "Fat Eddie Jack You Boys" will stick in your head for days. In contrast to "Hearts in Atlantis", however, the Buick 8 isn't quite as interesting as the 50s non-cars that came for Ted Brautigan. This story spends a lot more time on the car than the lives of those affected by it, slowing it down a bit in the middle. When Sandy Dearborn, "the new sarge", is sitting in an old diner, looking at the countertop jukebox selector and listening to obscure rock 'n roll tunes like Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love", he tells us that "life in Statler PA bears Christly little resemblance to the Hallmark Hall of Fame." Right, but did we need the supernatural Buick parked in Shed B for twenty-two years to reach that conclusion? Probably not, but King still makes you glad you came along for the ride.
Rating:  - It's not "It"
Having been a long-time reader of Kings, and having plowed through every one of his books, with the exception of Dolores Claiborne (which I could only force myself through half of), I can say with some authority that there's been a decline in intensity over the past decade or so, as compared to what he used to write. It started with Tommyknockers, and aside from a few bright spots (Desperation, Dreamcatcher, a very few others), it's all been down hill, and it hasn't stopped with Buick 8.
For what it's worth, it's not a bad story, really, it's just that there's not much to it. I wanted a *really* good story packed into that skimpy 350 pages...I wanted it not to be full of mental ramblings about morals and music and death and Ned by the main character. I wanted a good conclusion that would explain what was going on. I wanted King to get off his "I'm a literateur" kick he's been on for awhile now. I was disappointed in all these, but at least I've filled another space in my book-case with a pretty jacket.
100 pages were good, and the other 250 were just filler and fluff like only King and Clancy can do.
Next!
Rating: - Keep your eyes on the car.
A sad boy, a bad car and the twists of fate... Sounds like a rehash of "Christine", right? Wrong. "Buick 8" is nothing like "Christine". The Buick is from another world, maybe even another dimesion. Christine was definitely from hell. Ned Wilcox is grieving but he's no high school loser, like Arnie Cunnigham. Christine deliberately destroyed anyone who messed with her or Arnie. The Buick occasionally eats people who just happen to be around. So enough about Christine."Buick 8" is quite different from Steven King's other works. 90% of the novel is told in flash backs and by several different people, living and dead. The book gets off to a slow start, (this is deliberate, I think),smacks the reader with great big gobs of horror and then pulls up to an abrupt end. As usual King takes ordinary folks, puts them in a hideous situation and makes the reader care about them. The good, the bad and the pathetic are all lovingly portrayed. I loved Curtis Wilcox, I liked Sandy and pitied George and Eddie and Mr.Dillon (especially Mr. Dillon). My major complaints were about young Ned and Arky, both of whom seemed a bit overdrawn to me. My only other real complaint has to do with logic. In all the years that the monstrous Buick sits in Shed B and after witnessing all the ghastly things it could do why didn't any of the troopers try to destroy it? I enjoyed Buick 8 but it didn't thrill me or keep me up all night. It's a very good book full of great characters and incredible scenses but it doesn't have the same power or magic that King's earlier books had. Still, it does entertain and I'm sure it will be appreciated by Stephen King fans both old and new.
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