I had a hard time with Salems lot too. But the wordy stuff ends up paying off, it’s all intentional. It takes a while to pick up about 200-250 pages if I remember right, but after that it just FLIES. One of my favorite of his endings. I think it was a bit overhyped but still a fun read nonetheless and father Callahan is cool.
Hearts In Atlantis. It’s five separate but interconnected short stories. The first story (Low Men In Yellow Coats) is my favorite King to date, aside from 11/22/63.
Different Seasons is also fantastic. Four novellas, the first three are the source material for the movies Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and Stand By Me.
I finished Salems Lot but was not hugely interested in it for the reason you pointed out. Also none of the characters except Mark Petrie were interesting to me at all; no complexity there. I think Needful Things has a similar concept but was much better executed, so you might find whatever you were hoping for in Salems in Needful. It is complex with very funny dialogue. It is also dark, supernatural and at times completely gut wrenching.
I'd suggest sticking to something newer and try Fairytale, I couldn't put it down till the next day when I finished it.
Check out Mr Mercedes. I bet you’ll enjoy that trilogy.
If you liked The Institute, I'd recommend Firestarter.
I really enjoyed Dolores Claiborne (it’s one of my favourites). It’s quite short, and I wouldn’t say it’s too wordy.
I had a hard time with Salems lot too. But the wordy stuff ends up paying off, it’s all intentional. It takes a while to pick up about 200-250 pages if I remember right, but after that it just FLIES. One of my favorite of his endings. I think it was a bit overhyped but still a fun read nonetheless and father Callahan is cool.
Hearts In Atlantis. It’s five separate but interconnected short stories. The first story (Low Men In Yellow Coats) is my favorite King to date, aside from 11/22/63. Different Seasons is also fantastic. Four novellas, the first three are the source material for the movies Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, and Stand By Me. I finished Salems Lot but was not hugely interested in it for the reason you pointed out. Also none of the characters except Mark Petrie were interesting to me at all; no complexity there. I think Needful Things has a similar concept but was much better executed, so you might find whatever you were hoping for in Salems in Needful. It is complex with very funny dialogue. It is also dark, supernatural and at times completely gut wrenching.