Stephen King ‘Revival’ Review
Written by: Vitina Molgaard
But I do nothing upon myself, and yet I am my own executioner. – John Donne
Twisted days lay ahead for our main protagonist, Jamie Morton, whom we follow through some five decades in Revival. It’s a long journey, but I promise you will not be bored.
Jamie first meets the charismatic Reverend Charles Jacobs in his youth, what the good Reverend brings to his life is more than anyone could imagine. Young Jamie is quite taken by the Reverend and a bond develops between them that will stay with them throughout the course of 50 some odd years.
Tragedy hits the Jacob’s family and the Reverend steps down and disavows God. In his innocence Jamie does not understand the behavior of this man who has become a mentor to him. But that will not matter much as neither time nor comprehension are going to alter the fact of their lives’ deeper connection. Nor will it change the fact that Mr. Jacobs has begun to live a bizarre life of experimentation with unknown forces of scientific things that are somehow connected to a demonic force.
During the decades we get to know a Jamie who plays in various bands and lives with a nasty heroin habit. No matter what or where he is in his life he continues to find that Jacobs is there, and neither one of them is doing all that great.
Revival is definitely classic Stephen King. I found myself staying up late to read it, completely hooked. The story is definitely horrific, but that horror is more common to mankind in nature than a lot of King’s outrageous ideas and fantastical narratives. While the conclusion of the book has been panned by some critics, it worked for me in all the right ways, as I found it to be just beyond disturbing, at the very least.
If you’re a dedicated fan of King’s work, Revival will leave you plenty satisfied. There’s a classic essence to the novel that calls back memories of some of King’s lower key hits, like The Body or Different Seasons. Revival earns big recommendation from me. I loved this story!
Rating: 5/5
Horror Novel Reviews 
I’ve heard enough about this to want it. Might wait for paperback though.
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Vitina, I’m now 200 pages into Revival and loving it. It’s all about the characters and how King creates them and then has them interact with each other. So far, Revival is excellent and pure Stephen King.
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Wayne..I knew you would love this one….It is definitely about the characters and their interactions….Continue to enjoy…Just me
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drhumpp….I definitely suggest you do pick this up and read some excellent King. Vitina
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Yeah, King showed no mercy with this one… he went straight for the jugular. I thought there was a sense of doom throughout the book, even before the conclusion. Horrific stuff and King, being a master, gives depth to his characters. Much better than the disappointing Dr. Sleep.
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smbaird…I agree with the sense of doom, but then that definitely is the theme here. I have not read Dr. Sleep although I have it in my possession. Working here for the site I try to read a great many independent authors that I only take time out once in awhile to indulge myself in the already well known authors. I hope I am not as disappointed in Dr. Sleep as you are. Thank you…Vitina
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I think Dr. Sleep was a disappointment in that it was the sequel to The Shining, one of King’s darkest works. It’s well worth reading, and there is a genuinely creepy element when it deals with the past and the Overlook. It’s not a bad book by any means, but it just didn’t live up to The Shining (which I re-read before tackling it).
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Meh. I found it a solid effort, with glimpses of vintage Stephen King, but far from “the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written” (as the cover blurb would have us believe). It felt like the monstrous epic I was hoping for was left lurking in the darkness, hinted at and touched upon, but left to linger just off the page.
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Bob Mine…I agree that the word terrifying is not accurate for the ending…Disturbing yes..very disturbing….Vitina
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i bought this book the day it became available and read it immediately. i was completely disappointed and I feel this is the poorest novel he has ever published. I sensed burnout on every page.
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It’s really interesting to see the mixed reviews on this one. So many people love it, and so many hate it. Pretty wild!
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I thought Revival was boring. Mary Shelley explored the theme of bringing someone back from the dead over two hundred years ago and she needed a lot less than 400 pages to do it. It also felt that descriptions and paragraphs were borrowed from Dean Koontz and Lovecraft. I gave this book two stars on Amazon and it only got that many since Stephen King had enough discipline to sit down and commit that many pages to paper.
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