BANGOR, MAINE – Stephen King has often returned to the worlds of his earlier books, with multiple Dark Tower books and a sequel to The Shining, but for the first time he’ll be revisiting the world of Christine, the tale of a possessed Plymouth Fury, with a tale aimed specifically at elderly book readers. His new novel, Esther, tells the tale of a 1985 Buick Riviera possessed by the spirit of an elderly ghost who becomes obsessed with the car’s new owner, Irving, a 93-year-old Florida resident.
Several excerpts from the new novel have been released, including one sequence in which the possessed Buick attempts to make its driver stop at a deli for soup. But King fanatics who are looking forward to another grisly and gory tale will be in for a surprise; the book features a shockingly low body count, primarily because Esther never drives over 4 miles an hour.
In one thrilling sequence, the possessed Buick prowls the streets with its left turn signal flashing as it searches for a Sizzler so it can redeem a 2-for-1 senior deal coupon. Its owner, Irving, who becomes increasingly obsessed with Esther, soon modifies the large car with curb feelers and a giant convex sideview mirror. A running mystery concerns the contents of the glove box, which is revealed to be filled with Werther’s Original Caramels.
King has hinted that if the book is successful, he may yet return again to the world of possessed cars with two new books: Malcolm, the story of an idiot whose spirit possesses a 1987 Yugo, and Frank, the tale of an acrobat who accidentally cartwheels off a cliff and is reincarnated as a Suzuki Samurai.
Photo Source: cargurus.com
