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 The great thing about Stephen King is his interest in families--and the same applies to his son, Joe Hill.


Hill's story (now a movie), "The Black Phone," concerns two children and their problematic dad. Mom has offed herself; Dad drinks all the time, and he has a short temper. In one especially brilliant moment, the little girl tells her brother, "It's Friday. I'm going to a sleepover." And the little boy shrugs and says, "Right. I'll take care of Dad."

Small details stick in your memory. The boy tips the father's beer bottle so it's right-side-up; this seems to be automatic, as in: the gesture is now just wired into the boy's muscles. A little girl endures a beating when she knows she is right; she tolerates the pain and says "the correct thing," and everyone is mortified to sit through the father's display of weakness for several minutes. Finally, one sibling urges another to go up and talk to an appealing girl in math class; this is how siblings look after each other.

Both Hill and King have an interest in violence; "Black Phone" has several painful scenes about bullying. At the same time, more than most other writers, Hill and King have an interest in kindness. "Black Phone" has at least a few arresting moments where a kid takes time to help another kid, in a thoughtful way.

An additional trick I loved in "Black Phone": Hill invents bizarre ways for characters to speak with one another. These are not simply interactions at the water cooler. The community "web" that Hill creates is sui generis; you feel like you've purchased an odd new game, a game that doesn't resemble any others.

Anyway, I loved "The Black Phone." My two cents.
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