I remember years ago reading The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and finding it interesting that Stephen King - one of America's premier horror writers - was also a devoted Red Sox fan. And while Tom Gordon is not, strictly, a novel about baseball, the Game does feature prominently in the story. And, while the level of terror in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was not up to King's typical work, the novel will keep you reading until the end just wondering at each page turn whether something is lurking around the next tree or hill. And hoping something isn't.
It's been over 10 years since King penned The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and since then the Sox finally won the World Series and have contended for several others. That may have provided an impetus for another baseball-oriented story from King, but I don't know.
Unlike Tom Gordon, Blockade Billy (Simon & Schuster: 2010) is a novella about baseball, and specifically a catcher. Told from the point of view of a teammate, the story is about how Billy Blakely became starting catcher for the New Jersey Titans and eventually was erased from baseball records and memory.
I enjoyed the story from a baseball point of view - the descriptions of the game play, the atmosphere and surroundings, etc., were all done very well and aptly provided by the narrator, Granny Grantham. But, this being a Stephen King story, I was expecting more, some level of terror or horror that would darken the tale and provide at least an ending worthy of the book's publicity description ("Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse...") I started reading the story thinking of stories such as "Naked to the Invisible Eye" (George Effinger, 1973) or even some type of monster tale, such as Brittle Innings, by Michael Bishop. But, instead, King crafted just a baseball story with a bit of a twist that most people could have deduced before the end of the book. Was Billy Blakely's secret so dark and terrible that major league baseball would erase all mention of him from the record books? I'm not convinced. And I think that the ending was put to rest a little too neatly and quickly.
Overall: Blockade Billy is a nice little baseball yarn. But know going in that you won't reach a level of unexpected, or terror, that you'd expect from Stephen King. If you want a little fear mixed in with some baseball, read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
It's been over 10 years since King penned The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and since then the Sox finally won the World Series and have contended for several others. That may have provided an impetus for another baseball-oriented story from King, but I don't know.
Unlike Tom Gordon, Blockade Billy (Simon & Schuster: 2010) is a novella about baseball, and specifically a catcher. Told from the point of view of a teammate, the story is about how Billy Blakely became starting catcher for the New Jersey Titans and eventually was erased from baseball records and memory.
I enjoyed the story from a baseball point of view - the descriptions of the game play, the atmosphere and surroundings, etc., were all done very well and aptly provided by the narrator, Granny Grantham. But, this being a Stephen King story, I was expecting more, some level of terror or horror that would darken the tale and provide at least an ending worthy of the book's publicity description ("Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse...") I started reading the story thinking of stories such as "Naked to the Invisible Eye" (George Effinger, 1973) or even some type of monster tale, such as Brittle Innings, by Michael Bishop. But, instead, King crafted just a baseball story with a bit of a twist that most people could have deduced before the end of the book. Was Billy Blakely's secret so dark and terrible that major league baseball would erase all mention of him from the record books? I'm not convinced. And I think that the ending was put to rest a little too neatly and quickly.
Overall: Blockade Billy is a nice little baseball yarn. But know going in that you won't reach a level of unexpected, or terror, that you'd expect from Stephen King. If you want a little fear mixed in with some baseball, read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
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