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Heir to the Glimmering World

 I tend not to love Louise Penny books, and I thought the most recent one ("All the Devils Are Here") was particularly distasteful and irritating. I thought this because I found Gamache so tiresome; so relentlessly "correct"; so obviously superior to his son. Enough already.

It was a relief to move on to Stephen King, who is a bit less pious. (I'm talking about King's new-ish novel, "Later.")

Trust Stephen King to feature vomit, a grotesque reference to human-torture-by-means-of-blow-torch, ghosts wandering around with just half-a-head, OxyContin, bayou threesomes, drug-running evil cops, and a splash of incest.

You don't really need to know the plot of "Later." Just trust that it has a wondrous, childlike quality, the way Stephen King's best writing does. And it's under 300 pages. Hurray!

Finally, know that this one is set mostly in Manhattan, and it's a treat to see King wandering around this terrain. (I don't think Manhattan has been a major part of his fictive landscape, thus far.) You'll encounter Dalton, Central Park (which is its own precinct!), publishing lunches, taxis at war with Uber. You'll also see a child sleeping each night in a tiny alcove, because Mom needs to convert one bedroom into an office, because owning an actual office post-Madoff seems impossible. Anyone who has attempted to live in New York City will relate to the characters in this scene.

I was pleased to spend a few days with this book.
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