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I’ve been going through this King phase lately – so naturally, I was overjoyed to find one of his books in the bargain section at the local bookstore (I am, after all, a starving artist).
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is the story of a nine-year-old girl who gets lost while hiking the Appalachian Trail with her brother and her recently-divorced mother (who are too busy arguing to notice that she’s gone). And as the search parties start looking for her, she’s left to keep herself alive with nothing but the lunch she had packed and whatever she can find in the woods. Each night, she pulls her beloved headset out of her backpack, so she can listen to baseball games, in which her favorite pitcher, Tom Gordon, always saves the day. She soon begins to realize, however, that she’s not alone in the woods – that someone (or, more accurately, something) is watching her and following her.
This isn’t your typical Stephen King novel (it is, after all, quite short…). Sure, it’s got suspense – and a hint of the supernatural. But it’s not as intense as most of the books King publishes. In fact, it’s a bit slow. It takes a while for the story to really get going, and, to be honest, it’s really not all that scary.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon could be called a starter-King book. It’s perfect for someone who’s just getting started reading King’s novels – someone who wants to start out gradually. But it will probably be disappointing if you’re a more experienced King fan. It just doesn’t have that punch that King’s other novels have. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is a bedtime story in comparison. Ed. note: Interested in Stephen King? Check out Kristin's reviews of Nightmares and Dreamscapes Volume 1, Carrie, and Bag of Bones.
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