Author: Stephen King
Format: AudioBook
Reader: Ken Howard
4 of 5 stars
For most people the library is a place of quiet solitude whose greatest offense might be that of ennui. Leave it to Stephen King to turn it into a place of intense fear and dread, tucked neatly into the Four Past Midnight collection of novellas. The major themes will be familiar to King fans; suppressed childhood fears revisited upon the adult, warped realities and allusions to other King archetypes. I’m usually not a fan of novella collections, but this one was strongly recommended to me by a colleague where I used to work, and I was not disappointed.
Sam Peebles, as the main character, finds himself at odds with a very particular librarian. His tale of adventure brings a deep dermis kind of skin crawl, especially for anyone who has suppressed memories and/or anxieties related to overdue library books and the weight of shame incumbent to such situations. There are some subtle allusions for anyone familiar with King’s The Dark Tower series that help to bring an additional edge to an already sharply tense tale. Most notably there's mention of a not too friendly train, who is indeed a pain, and that is the truth.
The audiobook, read by Ken Howard, was exceptionally well done. The few additional auditory flairs around the section breaks were nice touches as well. I am typically leary when audiobooks start to add sound effects, though arguably the reader's utilization of different voices for different characters equates to the same thing. When it comes to supplementary sounds, the less is more approach was taken, serving to enhance an already enjoyable experience.
I heartily reccommend both the story, The Library Policeman, and the audiobook version to anyone looking for some thrills and chills associated with that sometimes dark and forboding place known as the public library. The only reason I kept this story at four instead of five stars is due to some close calls with cliche. Considering the brevity of the story (relative to King's usual fare), I think they can be forgiven, but not without knocking just a little shine off the star.
