It's been a long time since I felt compelled to read anything new by Stephen King, but I took a punt on his new offering Joyland and the early pages point to it being a very entertaining and engrossing read. A paperback original published by Hard Case Crime, Joyland is, at only 288 pages, one of King's less hefty tomes, and the plot seems to explore the author's common themes of youth and youth lost, small town mystery, violent murder and a touch of psychic horror. But the novel's setting - an archaic, grimy amusement park/carnival in 1973 North Carolina - gives it a real classic noir edge that certainly makes it delightful to digest. The great piece of cover art by Glen Orbik further conveys the novel's vintage pulp roots.
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