“You’re in my house now, the house of the wolf and the scorpion and you better not forget it.”

Published along with The Regulators, Desperation tells one version of the basic story that these novels share. It’s rather confusing, but in a fascinating way, and the books (imho) actually strengthen each other rather than cancel each other out. Desperation is prime King; epic, cruel and moving all at once, utterly absorbing, though there are times when you might want to look away from the horrors taking place in the Nevada Desert. The main theme is faith, and though this is often an important element of King’s novels its rarely been so frankly and seriously explored. We’re talking God, here, no vague concept or Star Wars Force, a biblical God who doesn’t always do what you want but who makes high demands. This may put some readers off but then again, King does not just write to please you.