Elevation by Stephen King

Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.

In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.

A book? Well, maybe a short story in book form. I love his long, drawn-out novels, so this was a bit of a disappointment.

But only a bit of one. The story is more science fiction than horror, something King seems to have slipped into recently. But that’s okay, I like science fiction, too. It’s an entirely readable short story. And even though I pretty much knew how it was going to end, with its touch of whimsy and likable characters, it was well worth reading, especially since it only took an hour to do so.





Mount TBR 2020 Book Links

Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.


1. A Wicked War
2. The Grapes of Wrath
3. The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses
4. Thera: Pompeii of the Ancient Aegean
5. Unbury Carol
6. The Institute
7. With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change
8. Elevation


BOOK BINGO 2020 - 25. Read a book with a one-word title