Book Review: ‘Fairy Tale: A Novel’ By Stephen King

When you think of Stephen King novels you think horror and mayhem like Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Stand, It and Pet Sematary, not fairy tales. That has now changed with his newest book titled Fairy Tale. It’s a magical, mystical fantasy, with a battle of good vs. evil and it’s another thrilling story you will want to keep reading. He wrote this book during the height of the pandemic, he wanted something that would make him happy. Charlie Reade is a 17 year-old student, who is great at baseball and football. He’s had a rough relationship with his dad, who had a drinking problem, after the untimely death of his mother. He has his stuff together now and they’re close. When Charlie here’s an elderly neighbor screaming for help, he saves the man Mr. Bowditch, who ends up in the hospital for a while. Charlie agrees to look after his elderly dog, Radar, and his house. He is told to stay away from the shed in the back. When Bowditch dies, Charlie is left everything and listens to a cassette left for him. Bowditch tells him a story about a secret underground world and how it help him live a long time and it can help save Radar, who is close to the end. Charlie travels to the strange world and is given strict instructions on what to do and along the way he meets quirky, interesting people and bad people. When he’s captured it looks like the end for him, but the good guys show up to help him and it results in an all out war, good vs. bad, for control of the kingdom and this world. It’s a fairy tale for the ages and you will love every minute of it. Only Stephen King could write this book.

You can pick up Fairy Tale in stores on Tuesday, September 6th from Scribner.