From A Buick 8: A Novel

I really liked this book. I thought it was really good. It would make a good movie I think. The car is obviously alive in some way yet it doesn't tell you exactly "why" it's alive. The story stays consistent throughout and the people's story they tell stays consistent and I like that. This is truly a King tale.

The state police of Troop D in Pennsylvania have kept a very deep secret in Shed B outside of the station since 1979. When Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox went to the gas station and came back with a Buick Roadmaster. Curt Wilcox knew old cars, and he knew right away that this one was wrong. A few hours later Rafferty vanished. Wilcox and his fellow police men knew the car was worse and that it would be better if the Public never found out about it. This was a great mystery/horror book that Stephen King wrote, in my opinion. This book kept me sitting at the edge of my seat waiting for more. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes to sit at the edge of their seat waiting for more. I personally never liked horror books, but after reading this book I might have to change my thoughts about horror books.-ERICH

Not one of King's better works. Unusually for King the story is set in Pennsylvania. As it is about a supernatural car, it is hard not to compare the book with Christine, however it is very different. The characters are well developed and the story is well told as we have come to expect from the author, but the book is somewhat disappointing.

I love this book, but it was not one of King's best works. A mysterious car that is a portal to another world spews out monsters that die immediately (because they can't breathe in our atmosphere) and also sucks people into the other world. Creepy, yes. Could it have been creepier? And improve the story? I'm not sure. It is still good enough to recommend.

This book made me wonder not just why I was reading it, but why he had written it.

Some of his best writing, period; definitely one of his best books post-accident. I read this once or twice a year. Where some of his later books insert his accident midstream, interrupting a story that was otherwise about something else, this one integrates it smoothly and binds it to the story inextricably. It's a book about sons and fathers, about growing up, about questions that don't have answers, about the strangeness of worlds unseen. And it's also a book about this REALLY creepy car that turns up one day...It's told to a boy just about to graduate from high school, by people who knew and worked with his father, all of whom were tied up in the mystery/horror of the car in some way; the voices are strong and distinct, and the stories themselves were highly disturbing. I kind of loved this one!

Not one of my favorites by King, & I generally LOVE him. This book evokes Christine, just a TINY sliver, as both cars were extant, seemingly self aware. Both are menacing, creepy, killers. However, the difference with the Buick, is that it's an impossible car to begin with. And that's where the utter weirdness of this car starts. It "spit out" a batlike "alien" type being, it has occasional "lightning storms" in the garage/shed that it "lives" in because the police department doesn't know what else to DO with it, & it's a mystery in it's own right that they can't solve. In many ways, the Buick is the ultimate puzzle, that affects a lot of people over the years since it came to be in the possession of the police.

Slowest book I ever read, but sweet.

"Come close, children, and see the living crocodile..."Overall, I liked this. Reading a King book NOT set in Maine was pretty cool! And I liked the characters, especially Arky's accent. I also liked that the story was told by many of the characters, past and present, and the cool transitions between chapters. The state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania, and their Shed B, made for interesting reading. (As did the several aside mentions of the Amish!) For me though, the story really dragged. It wasn't scary, and for me, didn't get interesting until the summer of 1988 story. I did enjoy very much, the ol' switcheroo at the ending of who died. That really fooled me! And I liked reading about the origins for this story in the "Author's Note" at the end! But:SPOILER ALERT:I did not like that we did not get to know more about the Buick's origins and who? what? why? it was there. Frustrating!

Like "The Colorado Kid," "From A Buick 8" uses the narrative device of having old codgers tell a young person about something that happened in the past. The story begins in 1979 when the mysterious Buick is abandoned at a gas station in western Pennsylvania. Most of the book consists of the now-middle-aged state troopers who impounded the car relating the events over the past 20 years that convinced them the Buick is actually a portal to another world. This book is far more philosophical than typical early King novels ? not a lot of action and not much resolution. The Buick becomes a symbol of the mysteries of life and the nature of obsession. Those who prefer classic King might not appreciate this book, but I enjoyed it. Stephen King has become so adept at character voice that I can hear each one of them speaking. And occasionally there are bits that sound more like poetry than prose. Another King novel with something of the same flavor is "Lisey's Story" -- a lot of mysterious and unexplained happenings, with the reader left to draw his own conclusions.

If I didn't have to drive right now I would never finish a book these days - it's the only time I get to read/listen. This just plodded. Underwhelming. Bound to happen to him sometimes!

Stephen King is great again. I anticipated the ending but enjoyed it nevertheless.

One of my favorites. The voice actors are great in this.

What to say that hasn't been said? It's been said that King's accident (which almost killed him) soured his writing. Agreed.It's been said that where there were optimistic resolves in previous novel, now Evil pervails. Agreed.It''s been said that King will "write no more forever." Fuhgeddabouttit! The man will write as long as he breathes. He is the rare one of us writers, the one who lives to write, and then writes to live. I believe this is a transitional novel, and that his best work lies ahead. I believe that despite the fact that great work lies behind.King rules.Unfortunately, on this one, he rules with a stingy mace.

I never did figure out exactly wtf the Buick 8 was supposed to be, but I think that was the point. The book was damn good anyway.

The officers of the Troop D state police in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret since 1979. Since then, stowed out behind the police barracks in Shed B, has been a classic car - a Buick Roadmaster. In 1979, Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox answered a call from a gas station just down the road and came back with the abandoned Buick. Curt Wilcox knew old cars, and he knew immediately that this car was...wrong, just wrong. A few hours later, when Trooper Rafferty vanished without a trace, Curt and his fellow troopers knew the old Buick Roadmaster was worse than dangerous - and that it would be better if John Q. Public never found out about it.With Curt's avid curiosity taking the lead, they investigated Trooper Rafferty's disappearance as best they could, as much as they dared. Over the years, the troop eventually absorbed the mystery as part of the background to their work; the Buick 8 sitting out there like a still life painting that breathes - inhaling a little bit of this world, exhaling a little bit of whatever world it came from. In the fall of 2001, some time after Curt Wilcox is killed in a gruesome auto accident, his 18 year-old son Ned starts coming by the barracks. Ned does various odd jobs around the barracks - mowing the lawn, washing windows, shoveling snow.Sergeant Commanding, Sandy Dearborn, knows it's just the boy's way of holding onto his father, and Ned is allowed to become a part of the Troop D family. One day, Ned happens to look through the window of Shed B and discovers the family secret. Like his father, Ned wants answers, and the secret begins to stir; not only in the minds and hearts of the veteran troopers who surround him, but in Shed B as well...I must say that I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. It was very exciting and my goodness, what an imagination Stephen King has. I've said before that I'm always a little wary of reading Stephen King's longer novels - the plots of many of his books start off brilliantly, and then they seem to go off the rails slightly, at least in my opinion. Anyway, while I found that some passages in From a Buick 8: A Novel were slightly verbose, overall, the book managed to capture my attention and successfully hold it until the end. I give this book an A!

This book has a lot more personal philosophy to impart rather than horror. This is about growing old. This is about mysteries in life. This is about sticking to duty. This is about the chains that we can feel but rarely know. The Buick 8 pulls up to the gas pumps at a full-serve gas station in Western Pennsylvania in 1979. While the statio attendant is filling the tank, the driver walks around to the back of the station and...disappears. The local police, two Pennsylvania State Troopers named Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox from Troop D, show up and almost immediately notice that this car isn't...right. For one thing, it can't be driven. And...it hums. You can't really hear it, but it's there. Troop D takes custody of it and they watch it. This is one Buick 8 that bears watching. And guarding. Whatever it is, it's not a car. Worse than that, it breathes. It exhales things out into our world and inhales things in to...who knows where. You don't want to know, and you don't want to go there. You won't come back. The car becomes Troop D's family secret, kept in Shed B and quietly but vigilantly guarded. When Wilcox is killed in a senseless accident in the fall of 2001, Ned, his 18 year old son, begins doing odd jobs around the barracks, trying to hold onto his father's memory. Ned discovers the car and the story behind it and he wants to know more. And the car is ready to give him far, far more than he will ever want.

"From A Buick 8" is a wonderfully gripping read, full of the creepy crawlies, but mostly it's a moving, melancholy meditation on time and loss. Give this book a try, it's a great read.

I've read several evil-possessed-car stories by Stephen King. This one was by far the best.

High school student Ned Wilcox is determined to solve the mystery behind his father?s death, who was a Pennsylvania State Trooper. There is a haunting revelation surrounding a Buick 8 hidden in the Trooper?s Shed 8, and Ned is determined to solve this connection. The story and character development is slow, so readers may be apt to lose interest. The strength of the story lies in the use of ordinary, relatable people and situations, and formulating all these elements into a strange, eerie, and terrifying ?ride.? This novel crosses many genres so a variety of readers will find it interesting.

One of my favorite of King's novels. I like the storyline and the cross novelization with some of his characters.

Not one of his better books simply because it's too long. This was a novella stretched out to a novel, and should have been cut down to about half its length. It's a good story and was worth the read.It has a wonderful theme. The young boy, Ned, eventually learns that in life there may be no point to the story, there may not be a satisfactory conclusion that wraps up all the loose ends. Sometimes life leaves us with more questions than answers and we just have to learn to live with that.

One of the better novels I've read by him. Horror and aliens mix in King's typical small-town scenario.

Stephen King writes some of the best suspense stories today. H.P Lovecraft wrote some of the best "strange" stories of his day. Now, imagine if they went out for a few drinks and collaborated on a novel. That is what you have in "From a Buick 8".While not directly connected to the Dark Tower stories, the title vehicle is a car that probably came from next door to Roland's world. The car is a doorway to . . . somewhere else. What sometimes comes through bears no resemblance to anything as nice as what came through the Wardrobe from "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe".The excellent job of the narrators only adds to the flavor of the story.

Stephen King tends to get hammered in the press and by literati. He?s pulp, they say. He?s popular, they say. Nobody can be as productive (he publishes an average of two books per year) and still write quality, they say. I remember starting college in Boston in 1988, shortly after U2 released their huge Joshua Tree album. The established U2 fans rejected it outright as a ?sell out?. They couldn?t believe that their heroes sold out to ?the man? and became? popular. I think King gets painted with a similar brush.But the truth is, much of his writing resonates quite deeply. His work can be touching. It?s relatable, and has as much symbolism and depth as one chooses to see. Is everything he touches great? No. But as a rule, is it schlock? Absolutely not.I only discovered Stephen King as an adult. And over the last few years, I?ve been working through his catalog, kicking myself for not having given him a chance sooner. Fortunately, I have a whole lot to look forward to.From a Buick 8 was published in 2002. The actual writing took place in 1999 and was finished shortly before it was published, bracketing King?s well-publicized auto accident, which almost took his life. The story?s emotional focal point centers on the accidental death of a police officer, Curt Wilcox, who was killed by a drunk driver while investigating a truck?s mechanical problem on the side of the road. The exposition surrounding the officer?s death is detailed and pain-laden, and I couldn?t help but view my analysis of the story through the lens of King?s accident until I got to the author?s notes where King is swift to point out that the scenes of the accident were written before his own and were only moderately edited after. It was just coincidence, which brings us to the crux of King?s story. How much in life has a natural beginning and end? How many of the threads of our existence have a natural continuance or succession? How much happens that is explainable or simple coincidence?From a Buick 8 is equal parts science fiction, horror and Lovecraftian ode. Many readers anticipate that the eponymous Buick is a sort of ?son of? Christine ? the evil car gone amok in his 1983 novel (and movie), but this is not the case. Stephen King?s 1953 Buick Roadmaster has nothing to do with Stephen Kings?s 1958 Plymouth Fury.When the story begins, it?s 1979 and a stranger in a black jacket pulls into a gas station in rural PA. He asks for a fill up, indicates he needs no oil and heads to the john. 30 minutes pass, the strange man never returns, and leaves his Buick 8 behind. Local Police Troop D is brought in and the mystery is off and running. The car is like nothing anyone?s seen. It has no functional parts, sucks the heat out of the shed in which it sits, and belches horrible creatures from its trunk.From a Buick 8?s narrative thread focuses on Officer Wilcox?s son, Ned, several months after his father?s death in 2001. The story is a journey taken together by two characters: Ned, and the current Chief Commanding of Troop D, Sandy Dearborn. The journey is one that covers time rather than space as vignettes connect the past and present of Troop D?s interactions and investigations of the Buick over the years. It?s Ned?s journey of understanding and acceptance. It?s Sandy?s story of reconciliation with what the Buick means and the role it?s played in the collective past of Troop D.Sandy?s journey started years ago but doesn?t end until the present. Ned?s is happening in the narrative real time.There?s much sitting around and talking? telling stories, drinking and eating. One might make a symbolic connection to the Last Supper: Jesus (who is probably Sandy, but could also be Ned at times), surrounded by disciples (the other officers and caretakers), mostly younger but some the same age, who sit at his feet while he tells tales and waxes poetic. King even references that the storytelling group appears to look like a ?little council of elders? surrounding the young fellow, singing him our warrior-songs of the past.?The real theme of From a Buick 8 is about learning how to let go. Let go of the past? Let go of blame? Let go of finding fault and reason and answers. Chief Sandy uses the imagery of a chain when discussing cause and effect. And his idea of a chain surrounds, ties, and binds the story and characters. For example, the gas station attendant who witnesses the man in the black coat leave the Buick is the same person who, years later, hits and kills Curtis Wilcox.Sandy considers: I didn?t know about reasons, only about chains ? how they form themselves, link by link, out of nothing; how they knit themselves into the world. Sometimes you can grab a chain and use it to pull yourself out of a dark place. Mostly, though, I think you get wrapped up in them. Just caught, if you?re lucky. Fucking strangled, if you?re not.Is there simply cause and effect? Ned?s father?s death is suggestive of nothing beyond coincidence. The book sets the tone with the following quote from Sandy regarding Curtis? death: If there was a God, there?d be a reason. If there was a God, there?d be some kind of thread running through it. But there isn?t. Not that I can see.This story didn?t have the emotional depth that makes King?s memorable work? well, memorable. Despite the incorporation of a dog who senses evil and a teenager whose father just died in a violent accident, it just didn?t touch me.The elements of horror are definitely creepy. There are some gross-out moments, but nothing flat-out scary. Lovecraftian ?cosmic horror? is a place King loves to go. But Lovecraft, for all of his bombast and grandeur, had a certain subtlety about his pacing and finales. Lovecraft is all about the glimpse? the merest horrified glimmer of ?eldritch horrors? that one sees in the periphery. King, for all of his own vivid visualizations, is not beyond that Lovecraftian subtlety.Sandy thinks back on the first time he entered the shed where Troop D kept the Buick: In the twenty-odd years that followed that day, he would go inside Shed B dozens of times, but never without the rest of that dark mental wave, never without the intuition of almost-glimpsed horrors, of abominations in the corner of the eye.And King always works one or two Lovecraft code words into his work. In this case, I didn?t catch a reference to ?cyclopean? structures, but I did see something that was ?lit up a pallid, somehow eldritch yellow.?From a Buick 8 ends in very Lovecraftian fashion, which will disappoint people who desire a very conclusive and explosive finish. If you?ve read later-era Stephen King, you?ll relate the ending in From a Buick 8 to the big finale in Revival. It?s pretty dramatic, but King doesn?t give it to you: he leads you to the water and you have to drink it in. But he does this with a very clear purpose. Some things end and have a clear conclusion. And sometimes things just don?t. Ned searches for an answer to his father?s accidental death. Of course, there is no answer. Things happen. Sometimes bad things. Sandy, our own personal Pennsylvania Jesus, tells Ned at one point: Sometimes there?s nothing to learn, or no way to learn it, or no reason to even try. I saw a movie once where this fellow explained why he lit a candle in church even though he wasn?t a very good Catholic anymore. ?You don?t fuck around with the infinite,? he said. Maybe that was the lesson?This is a good book. Not one of my favorites from King, but enjoyable and uncharacteristically short. If you?re a King fan you?ll enjoy it, though it may not be tremendously memorable. If you?re a Lovecraft fan, you?ll enjoy it as well.

This is not one of the Stephen King books most people talk about, so I didn't expect much, but I liked this one. I thought Christine was creepier, in an evil, killer-car sort of way, but the alien car in From a Buick 8 is pretty weird, as is the guy who flits through the story early one to convey the car to the small Pennsylvania town where it lodges itself. Mostly, this book is about small-town life from the perspective of a boy whose dad was killed on duty. The kid is brought up by the rest of the men in the police precinct, and gains a more grown-up perspective on life and his own place in the world. Threaded into this coming-of-age novel is the alien car, which may be responsible for a lot, or maybe almost nothing of what happens in the boy's life, as it mostly just sits in a shed doing nothing, for most of the book.
I love the idea that the car is a portal lock sent through a science experiment that began in a lab on some other planet where scientists are experimenting with high energy physics and time/dimension/large distance travel, but this book never really tells us what the car is, or why it turned up where it did.

While From a Buick 8 is neither as strong nor as compelling as King?s best books, it?s eerie that the central theme so closely paralleled my own thoughts in recent months. On the surface, this book is about a strange car that looks like a Buick, but only if you don?t examine it too closely, because then you?ll see that it is like no other car ever imagined. Abandoned at a western Pennsylvania gas station by its equally weird driver, the Buick is impounded by the State Police and kept out back of the barracks in Shed B, where it occasionally shows signs of life. Sometimes things come out of its trunk, and sometimes people go in.That?s the plot in a nutshell ? your basic horror yarn. But this book is not about a Buick from another dimension, not really. It?s about the senselessness of death. It?s about how we, as human beings, try to impose some sort of pattern and meaning on our lives, when everything really is just chains of random events linked together. There are no easy answers to all these questions what we all ask, but which really come down to one thing: Why? We can?t even hope to understand death, no matter how much science we apply to it, no matter how many frustrated emotions we throw at it, not matter what we do.So, while FaB8 is not the intricate, suspenseful epic story that characterizes my favorite King books, there is a lot going on here ? a lot more than in many of King?s more ordinary horror tales. Perhaps that?s why it feels so unsatisfying at the end ? because that?s the point. The reader ? like the character of young Ned, who lost his father in a traffic stop gone horrifically wrong ? will never get any satisfying answers, and in the end, the reader ? like Sandy Dearborn, the cop who has lived with the weird Buick for two decades ? will just have to accept that.

Better if it was a short story. It's too long and convoluted.

Usually I hate to see a story narrated by several different characters. It tends to complicate and confuse, but King pulls it off in Buick 8. I'm still trying to figure out the whole point to the story, but perhaps that is the point ... there is none. Not one of King's best, but an interesting read all the same.

One of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. Great variety with the excellent multiple narrators. I think audiobooks should be more like radio dramas with actors for each character, sound effects and music, though not a script—and ensemble dramatic interpretation. A reading 100% faithful to the original print version. This is about as close as I’ve found besides an audio version of Dracula I discovered. Great job!

In rural Pennsylvania Troop D performs all the usual work that a small town police force performs. They answer the calls, assist the public and keep order. But Troop D provides one other not so public service. Out behind the station house in an unremarkable shed they have worked since 1979 to keep one very big secret. A strange abandoned Buick 8, which is not really a Buick 8 at all, but a portal of some sort. A portal that occasionally brings strange creatures forth into our world. And on the rare occasion snatches someone from our world and takes them ?elsewhere?. Stephen King has managed to blend a traditional haunted house story into his fable of an otherworldly Buick that is far more than it first seems. As the troopers tell their spellbinding history to Ned, the son of one of their fallen commands the Buick listens and it waits?