How long does it take until this story starts to take off?

[tedthepowerman]

I just finished Bag of Bones a couple days ago, and is not one of my favorites by King. I don't think (in my opinion) the pace ever changed. It was just sluggish and stale all the way through. And the horror elements weren't all that groundbreaking I didn't think. Only reason I finished it was to... well, finish it. Only S.K. book I gave up on was Lisey's Story. God that one was torture. My advice: Ditch Mike Noonan, and get 11/22/1963. 275 pages into it, and I've been addicted to the story since the beginning.

[J.T. Adams]

Just got this book back from a friend who had never read an SK book before and he said he thought the beginning was 'just good' but in the end it turned out to be one of the best books he's ever read.

Don't just put it down, I say.

[bobledrew]

I find it really interesting that some people get charged up by story A, and others find it a royal drag. We humans and our individuality...

[fushingfeef]

You're not the first to say it. Tabitha King complained about an early draft of the novel where Steve had a whole section explaining all the things Mike Noonan did after his wife's death. Steve said it was necessary to fill in the timeline, but Tabby said something like "Yeah, but you don't have to bore us to death telling us about it!"

Anyway, I remember Bag of Bones fondly for the whole story, not just the beginning, so stick with it and things will start moving.

[JellybeanJay]

I have said it before and I will say it again, BoB is my favorite of King's works. BoB is the type of scare that sneaks up on you and never lets you go. Don't give up, you are in for a helluva good ride!

[Zell]

I just finished Bag of Bones a couple days ago, and is not one of my favorites by King. I don't think (in my opinion) the pace ever changed. It was just sluggish and stale all the way through. And the horror elements weren't all that groundbreaking I didn't think. Only reason I finished it was to... well, finish it. Only S.K. book I gave up on was Lisey's Story. God that one was torture. My advice: Ditch Mike Noonan, and get 11/22/1963. 275 pages into it, and I've been addicted to the story since the beginning.

I finished 11/22/63 last week and moved on to Bag of Bones. Yes! 11/22/63 was a book I could not put down easily.

[curryjacket]

What? Bag of Bones grabbed me right from the start. Just keep reading, you'll like it. And then you'll love it the day after you're done. It really resonates.

I also think 11/22/63 was better, if only marginally.

[Damaris]

I thought the first half to two-thirds was the best part.

[ginapenn]

These days I read all my books on my Kindle. So far I'm about 11 percent of the way through Bag of Bones, and man, the story is a draggin. At this point I'm where Mikes arrives at Sarah Laughs. Is this story going to pick up and get going from this point on? I don't know how much longer I can wait for this thing to grab my interest.

Horror has a long, slow build up. Please keep reading! This book is wonderful and certainly worth every second you put into it.

[ehoeveler]

About halfway through the book.
After that, I have to disagree with my fellow posters.
There are some gripping situations and a memorable ending
but throughout the novel there's a lot of poetic
rambling and constant mentions of Mike's physical state ranging from headaches,
and feeling hot/sweaty to his 'boners' from Jo, Mattie and Sarah.
Also, I was really not clear on why the children were being drowned - I had
no recollection of Sarah placing a curse or that Kia had to be killed because
she was the 'last child'. Same with Jo. In the book she is killed because
she's writing an expose but in the spectacularly horrible A&E video
(even worse than the usual SK movie versions if you can imagine.) representation,
Jo is killed because her baby is of Noonan blood!
I've spent more time in bed with Stephen King than I have most of my boyfriends -
For 3 days I was curled up next to my cat reading 'The Stand'.
I've read 'Carrie', 'Christine', 'Thinner', 'The Shining' and many more, all triumphs
of his genre but this book is a loser. I don't know if he's trying to be a 'deeper' writer
or the people at Simon and Schuster rushed him on this book - who knows?
I do know that I would even re-read a crappy Dean Koontz novel I was tricked
into buying over 'Bag of Bones'!