If It Bleeds: a stand-alone sequel to the No. 1 bestseller The Outsider, plus three irresistible novellas

King sits high atop his ivory tower, surveys things from his diversity-lacking state of Maine and tells us all, once again, how awful in general white people are, and in particular, our President. King has allowed politics to ruin every single effort of his since 2012 or so. This one is no different. If discrimination is indeed the father of crime, as Jerome wants to say, I’m going to have to turn to the crime of stealing Mr. King’s work, assuming I just have to read it.

If It Bleeds contains four novellas that vary in tone and structure, and each one is well worth reading. A few spoiler-free thoughts:"Mr. Harrigan's Phone"-King is a master of reflective stories, especially those that begin in childhood. Craig, this story's narrator and protagonist, is immensely likable, and his relationship with Mr. Harrigan, the titular character, is very well-developed."The Life of Chuck"-I found this one a little hard to get into, as at first it felt a little too familiar. King has written more than a few takes on cataclysmic events, and while I've mostly enjoyed them, I wasn't sure that this one was going to be one of the best. However, the story soon introduced an interesting mystery, and soon after I realized that this story was not at all what I'd assumed. With an atypical structure and ideas that become more interesting and meaningful with each page, this ended up being my favorite of the four."If It Bleeds"-Fans of the Bill Hodges Trilogy and The Outsider will be pleased, as I was, at the return of Holly Gibney. The story has all the elements that made those novels great, and really develops Holly's character along with her investigation. If you haven't read those novels, you might not enjoy it as much, although King made a strong effort to provide context. It also has some spoilers for the previous books, especially The Outsider."Rat"-King has done a lot of writing about writing, but that doesn't mean there's nothing left to say. Once again, he takes us inside the mind and experiences of an author, and once again it results in a solid character and an interesting story. I didn't like this one quite as much as the other three, and would have liked to see a little more plot development, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the story.

A cell phone, a rat and a legend in his own mind (kind of like the author these days) don’t add up to much worth reading. There is nothing really scary in any of these 3 storiesThere are obligatory digs at the president in all 4 stories; I guess he’s just rattling around in the authors head driving him crazy.There is a good preview of what might be season two of “The Outsider“ in another Holly Gibney story. Unfortunately there is now quite a difference between the written character and the character as portrayed on the HBO series. I prefer the character as portrayed on the TV series although I did enjoy this story which is the only thing which saved the book from a 2 star review.

Stephen King has done it again. This is a great book for our times. During this Covid19 pandemic we need something to take us away, to re-learn to laugh, to have a good time, and to face our demons.Detective Holly Gibney is my favorite Stephen King characters. She is that rare breed, a totally likable person, who gets into horrific messes. As a King fan, I am not into the sci-fi up yonder dudes.In Stephen Kings new book, If It Bleeds, we have 4 novellas. A novella is a very short book, or a very long short story. Mr Harrigan’s Phone is a fun theme about the technological field. It tells the story of a boy Craig and Mr John Harrington. Craig did odd jobs for Mr Harrington, and Mr Harrington liked having him around. Craig received lottery cards from Mr Harrington, and won Some cash. In return he gave Mr Harrington an iPhone, and we see the results. The Life of Chuck is written in 3 acts, and tells the story of Chuck in reverse. It is funny at times, and will keep us entertained. Rat is the dark side of the novellas. It centers on a writer, Drew Larson who can’t seem to finish a novel, and then the troubles really begin.The fourth novellaIs If It Bleeds. This is my favorite novella, featuring Detective Holly Gibney, and she is tracking down a monster that few believe she can tackle.Stephen King rarely disappoints, and this book hits the spot for me. It is silly to say he is a great writer because we all agree. His way with words, the characters he conjures in his imagination, the use of novellas to fulfill his needs as a writer gives us the penultimate read.Recommended. prisrob 04-22-2020

I thought I would give Stephen King one more chance...now I wish I had saved my money and time. Nothing memorable about any of these stories...one dimensional characters and inane plot devices. Nothing interesting or original here. There was no need for them to be novellas; that only happened due to lots of padding and repetition on King's part. They are most definitely not in the same room with scary, eerie or even suspenseful. Shame on his editor for letting him get away with such banal writing, and shame on the "professional" book reviewers who lauded this nonsense and tricked buyers into handing over their hard earned cash. I suspect these are old stories that King started & then shoved in a drawer somewhere...and rightly so...they should have been left there. He clearly tried to change parts of at least 2 or 3 stories to modernize them, and my only enjoyment while slogging through these awful stories, was in identifying those sections that were overlooked when he (or his assistant) attempted to update these stinkers.