Rating: 
Summary: PEOPLE
Review: King draws pictures of all of us with expertise!!! What a gift to be able to take ordinary humans and remind us we are not so ordinary after all!!
Rating: 
Summary: should've been a short story
Review: I have to agree with others that say it's really too long for a novel. The basic idea was ok but although it's always a pleasure to read King's prose, it takes too long and is repetitive.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Creepy/Confusing !
Review: If you love Stephen King, you'll love this book. A wonderfully creepy, strange tale. The only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is that they never explained where the weird Buick '54 came from or what happened to the strange russian sounding man who dropped it off at the gas station. Other than that, it's really cool. Although, if you want a story that's resolved, go with Carrie or It.
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King is amazing; the story isn't quite
Review: Summary:
Ned Wilcox is the son of a former trooper of Pennsylvania State Patrol Troop D, Curt Wilcox, who was killed in the line of duty by a drunk driver in 2001. In an effort to come to grips with his father's passing, Ned begins spending a lot of time around the barracks. As he spends more and more time there he begins to become like a member of the force and eventually is accepted into their ranks as a telephone operator for the summer before he is to go to college. The present story (a large part of the book is told as backflashes to the past) takes place during the summer when Ned is working at the barracks. Sandy Dearborn, who is now the commanding sergeant, decides one day to tell Ned about the mystery of Troop D, which also happened to be the pet project of Ned's father Curt - The Buick 8 Roadmaster kept behind the barracks in Shed B. The Buick showed up at a gas station one day in 1979 but isn't a normal Buick. The engine is fake, the exhaust system is made of glass, the wheels don't turn, etc. What's more, the car cannot get dirty, can't be scratched, you can't really do anything to it, but it can do things to you. Every now and then, without any explanation as to why, the Buick will seemingly come alive, shooting lightning bright bolts through the air (though they are for the most part harmless) and act as some sort of a portal between Earth and some other planet or dimension where things are very different. Occasionally it sucks something from Earth through the portal (it sucked Curt Wilcox's partner Ennis Rafferty through just after they found the car and later sucked a criminal through, Brian Lippy, among other things, including a number of other animals) and at other times it delivers things from the other side, including animals, plants, and even alien 'monsters'. Over the years, Curt, Sandy, and the former commander, Tony Schoondist, performed a number of experiments on the car and even dissected a number of the creatures that came through from the other side. The problem is that despite their investigations they were never really able to figure anything out other than the fact that when the temperature drops in Shed B, where the car is stored, it is likely that the car is going to do something. As the recounting of the events surrounding the Buick comes to a close, Ned seems disturbed. He claims that he is going to go home, but ends up doubling back and dousing the Buick with gasoline. He is going to try to destroy the car because he believes it is what killed his father. Sandy eventually gets him out of the car, but only barely in time to save him from falling through to certain death on the other side of the portal when the car becomes active. Eventually Ned seems to accept his father's death, but college isn't right for him and he returns to work at Troop D, in essence taking his father's place. The book ends with one of the troopers committing suicide and the Buick beginning to show signs of wear as though its magical powers are finally wearing off. My Comments:
In retrospect the story is good, but not a stand out. There is no amazing ending, though there is kind of climax when Ned tries to destroy the car. But what the story does have going for it is Stephen King's writing style. He really is a brilliant writer. I was enthralled just to listen to the book. There are a couple of problems, the biggest being the transitions between characters. I thought it was an interesting method of telling the story, periodically switching from Sandy's perspective and voice to that of one of the other troopers or participants in the history of the Buick, but sometimes it got a little confusing. Also, because I was listening to this on CD as I was driving I was generally annoyed by the different voices. The actors on the CD did a decent job of portraying different voices, but it was still a little distracting. I think the book would have flowed better had the author stuck to just one voice. Also, as I mentioned above, the ending is a bit anti-climactic. But I think that is actually for a reason - sometimes you just don't understand things and, well, that's it. I think that is really the point with this story (it isn't always subtle as Sandy tries to get Ned to understand this point numerous times). Of course, this introduces another problem, which really did kind of bother me about the book: Why didn't the members of Troop B ever turn this over to a university for real study? Just because we don't understand something doesn't mean we can't ever understand it. I understand that this wouldn't have worked as well as a story if upon seizing the vehicle and discovering its mysterious powers they had immediately handed it over to someone that had a clue, but it's what I would have done. Overall, the book is engaging because it doesn't really reveal everything about the Buick until the very end. But, I have to admit that by half way through the novel you have been exposed to just about everything. I think I kept waiting for something even bigger to happen, but it never did. The book is remarkably well-written (other than the character changes) and has a pretty good plot idea, but it kind of fizzles in the end. I would still recommend this book for any Stephen King fan or for anyone that would like to read a Stephen King novel that doesn't have the sex that he often throws into the mix. I really liked the book but believe it could have been better.
Rating:
Summary: Big Reader
Review: I Love this book so far, Stephen King is a favorite!
Rating:
Summary: A worthy read.
Review: When I read fiction there is really only one thing that I am truly after, and that is story. Story, story, story... why tell a story if it lacks story? A distant second would be good character development. This story has both. And I love Stephen King's approach to telling a story this time... a group of guys (and a gal) sitting around, shooting the bull, and telling of their experiences with something that looks something like a Buick. Story!! Meanwhile, you gain a deep appreciation and understanding for nearly every character in the book. It made me feel like I was listening to a bunch of guys swap stories around a campfire. Is this Stephen King's best work? Definately not. But that should not stop you from picking up a copy of the book. It is still a fun read, though a little bit slow at times, that builds up to a satisfying ending. If I were to find a complaint about this book, it would be Stephen King's choice in constantly shifting viewpoint characters. I guess this was the ideal way to tell this story, but I felt the transition between viewpoints weren't done very well. Especially since they all sounded like Stephen King!! Maybe that was my disappointment, the viewpoints and backgrounds all changed (and even genders) but they all sounded the same. I also think one of the strengths of this book is Stephen King's depiction of these small town state troopers. You learn to love them. You learn to appreciate them. You almost get the impression that Stephen King was a trooper all of his life. My hats off to Stephen for such wonderful reality. BRAVO!!
Rating: 
Summary: "Buick" is a lemon
Review: As a voracious reader of King novels, I've come to learn that this master of the modern horror novel (he is!) can be wildly inconsistant. "From a Buick 8" is living proof. As other reviewers here have stated, this is NOT "Christine" revisited -- as if this exonerates its plodding pace and stuptifyingly boring characters. King's most successful novels put everyday people (ones his dear constant readers can connect with) into reality-shattering, deadly situations. But his storytelling prowess and folksy prose usually allow the reader to transcend disbelief and go along for the ride -- feeling the growing menacing that imperials the story's characters. In "Buick 8" we feel no growing menace -- even though King tries mightily to build it. In the end, it's just a weird-looking car locked away in a police garage that occasionally spews out strange lights and even stranger-looking dead creatures. These creatures are apparently disgusting and appalling, and King works hard to convey this feeling, but it was lost on me. I wanted to be fascinated, but it was more like "HUH?" The Buick in question is being stored in a garage at a Pennsylvannia state troopers barracks. Apparently it caused one of the troopers to disappear once, so its remaining caretakers are in constant dread that it could do it again. In fact, as a reader, you pour through the entire book hoping it will indeed suck up one more of these redneck cops into some unseen dimension just to spice things up. I know this is suppose to be a more cerebral work on man's fascination with the unknown, but for me it was a sombulant tribute to state troopers who liked to spend their free time staring through garage windows. Much of the dialog seems self-conscious and forced: unusual for a King novel. I want Stephen King to scare me, jolt me, maybe make me think a little. "Buick 8" made me scared to think that King's seemingly endless well of ideas could be a last running dry. I'm not willing to believe that yet. The man has hit some tough patches in the past ("Cujo," "The Girl Who Love Tom Gordon," etc.) and perhaps this is just another blip on the screen. After all his last few novels have include the elegently frightful "Bag of Bones," and the somewhat bloated, but nonetheless original "Dreamcatcher." He'll be back.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Characters
Review: For those who said this isn't one of King's best works--I agree. He's written better. But I believe King serves his purpose. He has here a terrific father/son character study. There are even elements of a coming of age story here. There isn't much action in the greater portion of the novel, but I believe the suspense and even horror comes from the subtle things. As stated numerous times here, this isn't his best work, but it is still a helluva story.
Rating:
Summary: The twilight of King's career?
Review: Actual rating : 2.5 stars. I discovered King's books when I was 19. I started with his greatest, "The stand", and went on to some of his finest creations. I used to have high regard to the way he poured life into his characters and created solid stories that illuminated many aspects of human nature in the most fascinating way. I still appreciate those books and they stand the test of time. Having read his latest books I can't escape the thought the he may have fallen from grace, or/and I just grew older and what he does no longer attract me as an older person. ============================================================= The beginning of "From a Buick 8" was promising; I sensed the old sparkle that captivated me in my youth and was delighted to go with the flow of King's writing. Alas, after a few tens of pages the story just dragged and I made an effort to finish it - firstly, to see whether there would be an improvement later on, and secondly, to be able to give a report to you, the potential reader. It turned up that the events described continued to be uninspiring. The characters were not special or enthralling to such a degree that it is quite hard now to point a finger on someone that is worth mentioning. To my best understanding and discernment, the fact that King had chosen too ordinary personas to populate his book had a strong effect on the curiosity and appeal the work generated as a whole. Even so, I found some places where the wisdom of King penetrated to the story as used to be the case in his greatest books of the past. The fact that he managed to bring himself to write a number of important anecdotes that made me think for a while - made the book a little more than a regular page turner. These things should have contributed to the advancement and impact of the general plot, functioning as a sidekick to boost the reader's interest, but they did it only to a limited extent. Sadly, I predict that you will forget the story a few hours after reading it. ============================================================= I feel like the current King belongs to my past now. That does not diminish his contribution to my admiration for the art of writing, and I will always remember the significant roll his books played in its development.
Rating: 
Summary: quite boring
Review: i'm a great fan of stephen king & would strongly recommend his 'different seasons' to anyone. But this latest story strikes me as being long-winded and not the least scary. one of my most disappointing stephen king read.
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