Rating: 
Summary: Average at Best
Review: I keep hearing rumors that this is King's last stand-alone novel, and the only thing he intends to publish for the rest of his career are the final three books of his inferior Dark Tower series. I hope these rumors are false. I'd hate to think his last novel was a book this average. Not a bad book, but certainly not a great one either.
Rating: 
Summary: Now and then he produces a book like this....
Review: In his time, Stephen King has produced some fantastic horror novels, but only a couple fantastic novels, full stop. "Bag of Bones", for example. (Which is his masterpiece.) This book lurks somewhere in between the two categories. it is not quite a brilliant horror novel (more just very chilling) and it is not quite a brilliant novel. (Some of the characters don't sit quite right for one.) But, in my opinion, this book ranks among King's very best works. The story is told with some very original and effective narrative devices, which work very effectively. He tells the tale in a number of "voices", and each one is individual and well construcated. The plot is structured well, too. the writing is subtle, and the story teased out in such a way as suspense is created. It attempts to explore several things: The fascination that the unkown, and also deadly things, have for us. The nature of stories, and the nature of relationships not bound by blood. It also serves as materful police procedural novel. The procedural aspects strike true, and work to give this novel yet another level. Possibly not quite King's best book (as i say, "Bag of Bones" shall forever hold that acolade) but certainly up there with some of his greats.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad car! Bad!
Review: OK, so it's a 356-page book about a car that isn't really a car. And the "car" just sits in a garage and does some occasional odd things. *Yawn*. In my opinion, this book isn't in the same league as some of King's classics ("The Stand," "The Dead Zone," etc.), and isn't even half as good as the more recent "DreamCatcher."
Rating:
Summary: It's not "It"
Review: Having been a long-time reader of Kings, and having plowed through every one of his books, with the exception of Dolores Claiborne (which I could only force myself through half of), I can say with some authority that there's been a decline in intensity over the past decade or so, as compared to what he used to write. It started with Tommyknockers, and aside from a few bright spots (Desperation, Dreamcatcher, a very few others), it's all been down hill, and it hasn't stopped with Buick 8.
For what it's worth, it's not a bad story, really, it's just that there's not much to it. I wanted a *really* good story packed into that skimpy 350 pages...I wanted it not to be full of mental ramblings about morals and music and death and Ned by the main character. I wanted a good conclusion that would explain what was going on. I wanted King to get off his "I'm a literateur" kick he's been on for awhile now. I was disappointed in all these, but at least I've filled another space in my book-case with a pretty jacket.
100 pages were good, and the other 250 were just filler and fluff like only King and Clancy can do.
Next!
Rating: 
Summary: weird, yet unbelievably powerful
Review: I was absolutely stunned by this novel. At first, when I read the reviews, I was let down. It seemed as though this was a story, in which, you would not be as close to the characters as in King's previous works. However, the only negative side to this book, was one of the last creatures to come out of the car. The previous ones, he made similar to real life animals, which made the story much more real. However, one was completely alien, and had no comparison to any creatures we know of (this is the only reason I do not give it five stars instead of four). At this point in the book, I was thrust out of the story. Though I was still very tense as to what was going to happen, unlike the previous scenes, it was more surreal. Still, the rest of the book was almost too real. And the end of it was amazing. Right when you thought he might be trying to bring the story to an end, the climax hit. I found this to be brilliantly done, and I was shocked because I rarely see this type of strategy in King's writing. The many messages, and symbols, hidden in this book are beautifully put in. They will have a huge impact because it is the story itself that makes these points. Which has rarely been done by King (except for Desperation, and possibly some of The Green Mile's points). I have a feeling that no matter which of King's books you enjoy, everyone will like this one to some degree.
Rating:
Summary: good king...not great
Review: A quick-read page-turner bound to satisfy most King fans.
With all the focus on the "monster" I did think some of the characters fell off into the background, including Ned. Great picture of rural Pennsylvania, and police procedures in general. King displays his usual fine skill at ratcheting up the tension and the thrills as the novel moves along, although I have to confess the disections-by-cop seemed a bit hard to accept. All in all a good weekend-passing read.
Rating:
Summary: Better than most other authors, but not one of SK's best
Review: The book starts off good, and the 1st Person Now/3rd Person Then (it's narrated in flashbacks) narration helps it move along. However, the more they concentrate on the 'Now', the less interesting it gets. The main Narrator (Sandy) tells us that he's getting angry at his main audience (Ned), but it rings hollow, because the typical reader will identify with Ned's point of view way more than it will Sandy's.
The finale also betrays its source; without getting into too much detail/spoilers, the moral of the story is supposed to be 'You can't always learn the truth' -- but then in the finale we do get definitive answers to a couple of questions that while we may have believed to be true, we had no way of knowing for sure.
There will be inevitable comparisons to Christine, but I think they're pointless. The real comparison will be with The Mist.
To summarize, yeah, it was ok, but nothing that special. If this is indeed SK's final non-Dark Tower novel, then it's not the best note to end on.
Rating:
Summary: Going Out On Top
Review: Stephen King is rumbling again in the press that he's going to stop publishing after the DARK TOWER series concludes. I understand that he doesn't want to overstay his welcome on the literary scene, but if he still has within him the capability to write something as compelling as FROM A BUICK 8, then I think leaving the scene now is just kind of sad. As a voracious reader of all types of fiction, I know my own world will seem a little smaller once the King has left the building. That said, definitely pick up FROM A BUICK 8 as a chance to see a great writer spin a terrific tale -- perhaps one of the last he intends to share with us. And be aware going in that a tale is exactly what this book is. Not a lot "happens" over the course of the book's 350 pages, but at no point does King's voice ever waver. That voice is like clear and simple music in this book, and it will keep the reader turning pages right up there with the best of King's work. Something really interesting happened to King's writing a few years back (starting, probably, with DESPERATION and blossoming in his masterpiece, BAG OF BONES): he became somehow calmer, more centered, less concerned with effect and more concerned with texture. FROM A BUICK 8 is an excellent example of a fairly simple story elevated by the abilities of its author to provide texture and nuance and graceful contemplation to one of the oldest forms of entertainment: simply telling a story. Steve, I'll miss you. The reading world in general will miss you. But thanks for this great campfire story, and all the great campfire stories that came before it. Even when you aggravated the heck out of me (everyone knows which books I'm talking about), you still kept me reading far into so many wonderful nights.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining ride
Review: Once again Mr King has managed to chill us all with this easy paced novel of a rather suspicious car which arrives quite unceremoniously and "lives" out its "life" in a shed at the back of a local police authority. There is weaves its spell over the police officers who work there, and this tale is told to the teenage son of one of these officers, now deceased. This is a chilling book rather than terrifying. Mr King takes great care to show how the car has woven its spell, but that the people involved still manage to have what passed for normal every day lives. The wonderful part of this book is in the detail - you can really see the car which is not quite right, and you can imagine the world that it opens a door to. The visitors that come from that world occasionally keep up the interest and the "horror" aspect. But ultimately it is a tale of how we are all drawn to things that we know in our rational selves that we should leave well enough alone, and it is done very, very well.
Rating:
Summary: The King Does It Again...
Review: The King Of This Genre Does It Again In, "From A Buick 8." Nonstop action, page turning intrigue, and spine-tingling suspense. A Book You Won't Want To Miss.
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