Krishna
This book is a full length novel but reading it reminded me of similar themes Stephen King has written earlier and which we have reviewed. The first reference is to the story Mile 81 in the book Bazaar of Bad Dreams. That one is a short story and features a weird car albeit of a different nature. The second is a recurring theme but most prominently in the story Low Men in Yellow Coats in his book Hearts in Atlantis. (Also a different kind of car that is mentioned just in passing)
Curt Wilcox was a cop who died on duty. The boys he worked with are devastated and when Curt’s son Ned comes to them often, they kind of adopt him as one of the boys. Though young, he shows keen interest in, for example, handling police calls for information. Ned Wilcox has, in addition to his widowed mother, two sisters.
When Ned gets into Pitt with full scholarship, he is very happy. Anyway, he is curious about a black Buick 8 that is in the shed. The chief of the station, the narrator, tells the story. The first time anyone set eyes on it when it came to a gas station, ostensibly for a refill. The owner who stepped out was well hidden with a trenchcoat, sunglasses and a hat but still the attendant in charge, Bradley Roach noticed the pallor of the skin, maybe an eye with no white in it and a weird voice as the owner went towards the washroom.
But after waiting a long time, Brad does not find him coming back, and goes to investigate. He finds that the bathroom was not even opened, and so goes looking to the banks of the flooded river. When he thinks he saw the coat, he comes to the inevitable conclusion that the man drowned by accident and calls the police.
The car was looked at by a young Curt and his partner Ennis. Curt is just completely gobstruck at the car construction. For one thing, it has weird modifications like a steering wheel like a cruise boat. It also has different number of portholes on either side. Then the spark plug does not connect to anything, radiator is empty inside, even the battery is unconnected! And yet the car was driven to the gas station (now in police custody) and on that rainy day, not a speck of dust anywhere on the car. Curt is totally weirded out.
They bring the car and the police department puts them in their custody. Suddenly Ennis, the partner of Curtis, seems to have vanished. His car is still there but he is nowhere to be found.
The policemen have a suspicion that the Buick ate him somehow!
As this master storyteller does so well again and again, he slowly brings the strangeness of the car into focus. First it is the laser kind of bright lights emanating from the car and the police finding that the light is not radioactive.
Then something fallen dead by the side of it, an otherworldly presence with papery wings and a huge eye.
They put it in a garbage bag but Curtis is overcome with curiosity.
Meanwhile otherworldly leaves spew out of the garage and Phil tries to collect them with precautions but they just turn to goo on his hands and makes him queasy and for months after that, he finds he cannot touch any food with his bare hands, despite washing himself thoroughly, then and later.
They then decide to dissect the ‘bat thing’ that died and that is a very creepy experience, as King describes it!
Later, there is a very weird thing that comes out to die and that is even more gory. Meanwhile Mister D the mascot and the dog manages to hurt himself badly and has to be put down – all because of the new thing that popped out that seems to have tentacles and eyes on stalks.
Now after telling Ned everything, they think they are done and when Sarge tries to go to a bar to drown his painful memories in beer, an epiphany hits him. He rushes back to the police station and finds that Ned had sneaked back in to take a close look at the car that caused his dad’s death (indirectly). He is horrified that he had not thought of it earlier.
What follows is a very exciting scene with Sarge tries and almost fails to tame Ned’s madness. The scene is well written and great to read. There is some ‘after’ also packed with surprises and finally you get the feeling that you have read another one of the gems of this gifted author.
8/10
— Krishna