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Average Customer Rating: 
Four Past Midnight (Signet) >
Customer Review #1:
 Two Really Good, Two Really Bad
That about sums up the novel Four Past Midnight by Stephen King. The book contains four novellas, The Langoliers, Secret Window, Secret Garden, The Library Policemen, and The Sun Dog. The first two stores in the novel are the good. The Langoliers is a scary imaginative story that could only come from the mind of Stephen King. The plot is unique as is the theme of the story. Very well written. Secret Window, Secret Garden is a familar story from King. Boy he just loves to reak havoc on those author characters of his doesnt he? I have not read The Dark Half, so I can not comment on how similar the two stories are, but Mort Rainey is a great character and King tells this story well. The final two stories in the novel really ruin the book. The Library Policemen is dumb and really luaghable when you get right down to it. The Sun Dog is done so much better in Cujo that we dont much care for it here, and are bored becuase of how long the story needs to take off. So an overall mix of good and bad here, with a final rating falling somewhere in between there.
Four Past Midnight (Signet) >
Customer Review #2:
 The book is worth the first story alone
If nothing else, buy this for "The Langoliers", one of, if not the best short stories Stephen King has written. Most people believe Stephen King is a horror writer, and does not fail to meet expectations with Four Past Midnight, but he strays a little off the path with "The Langoliers", which is more of a suspense/thriller rather than horror. Any dedicated King fan absolutely must read "The Sun Dog" which sets the role of a character whose name is sure to repeat through other stories (i.e.: Needful Things). The other 2 stories, "The Library Policeman" and "Secret Window, Secret Garden", are not for the weak-minded. There is a quick mention of a location in "The Library Policeman" in Needful Things as well. And if you have seen and enjoyed the movie Fight Club, youll love "Secret Window, Secret Garden".
Four Past Midnight (Signet) >
Customer Review #3:
Four novellas
Like "Different seasons", "Four past midnight" is a book featuring four stories that were too long to be considered short stories and too short to be considered full books. Bur while "Different seasons" can be considered a "lighter" book by Stephen King standards, "Four past midnight" is a comeback to Kings earlier darker, fantastic stories. The main problem with this book is that Stephen King is, in my opinion, a great author concering character development. But these developments usually take time, chapter, and pages. Kings short stories are almost always a step down from his lenghtier works. "Four past midnight" is no exception. The four premises are good, but every time I finished a story I felt there was something lacking in it. "The langoliers" - the most fantastic story in the "Four past midnight", about a plane that goes through a rip in time. This is the story with the best premise, and with the most developed characters, so it is the best story in the book. Graphic descriptions, deaths, thrilling, a good work. 8.0 "Secret window" - this is the basic plot of the recent movie with Johnny Depp. I had high expectations, bu I was let down. Its a simple story, and a little bit obvious. This is an example that, if King should have chosen to develop the plot further, we could end up with a terrific book. The way it is, I didnt like very much. 6.5 "The library policeman" - Once again, a plot dealing with fantasy and terror. This story has all the elements to be great, bu t it isnt. When I read it, it became very clear to me that Stephen King started to write one story and ended up with another. The beginning has an almost comic style (as opposed to the somber ending), and there are many characters that were intended to be bigger parts in the plot, but were left aside after the initial chapters. Its cool to see that a story may have a life on its own, but I think in this case there could have been more editing to it. Also, the final is too rushed. This story has too many elements is too few pages. 7.0 "The sun dog" - this could be the best story in the book, because the initial plot was really great. Its about a malfunctioning Polaroid camera, and a ferocious dog that appears in every photograph taken with it. This is the kind of idea that makes SK one of my favorite authors, but, as happens with the previous two stories, "The sun dog" lacks strenght in the end. 7.5 So, "Four past midnight" is a good collection of short stories, but Stephen King has written many better books than this one. Grade 7.5
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