I think you either like stephen king or you don't. You have to be willing to have a little paranormal in yur story. If this is not for you, neither is this book. I do recommend reading the Bill Hodges trilogy first --- you see some same characters in this book. But you don't really have to. That trilogy has the paranormal in it as well and I liked that series. this is a good read and one that I couldn't put down!