Blockade Billy by Stephen King: Review

Stephen King's love of baseball, nostalgia, and the dark side of the human psyche all blend together to give us his latest novel, Blockade Billy, released May, 2010. This novella tells the odd and dark tale of the tragic 1957 baseball season in the voice of George Granny Grantham, retired third base coach. Blockade Billy makes today's baseball scandals shrink in comparison as Granny tells the tale of the season that was wiped from the record books and shrouded in secrecy.

Blockade Billy tells the story of the Major league baseball spring season of 1957 before the all-American sport became a game of overpaid superstars; the characters are gritty hard working coaches and players of the New Jersey Titans.

Tragedy strikes at the last minute leaving the team without a catcher for the season. After a little scrambling a minor league player is brought up from Davenport, Ia. Billy Blakely is an odd duck, arriving in his pickup with worn equipment and an odd habit of speaking in third person.

The jokes and doubts quickly dry up as Billy reveals intensity for the game and a powerhouse hit that boosts the third-rate Titans right out of the basement. Dark clues to Billy's strange behavior are ignored as the team and fans are swept along in excitement.

Master storyteller King deftly leads fans down a narrative path that quickly draws you in and ends in a quick and merciless home-run hit right out of the park. King's narrative through Granny is perfectly pitched, describing the intricacies of the beloved game, building suspense and suspending disbelief in the dark season that was erased from the record books.

King's novel Blockade Billy contains a bonus short story, Morality. This story also explores the dark side of the human psyche. Morality is a study of human morals and the effects of stepping over the line for profit. I had a hard time believing this short tale.

Blockade Billy by Stephen King is a short engaging read from an author who typically puts out over 1000 page tomes. I love King's short stories; King's quick concise storytelling never fails to amaze me with their twisted imagination and skillful endings. However, BlockadeBilly was not my favorite King novel. I felt the book could have used another story or two to round out the offering. The baseball jargon, while lending a ring of authenticity to the book, became a little tedious. Nevertheless, King is a master of the dark tale and exploring the dark side of humanity.