Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

9 reviews

shannonredwine8's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ggcd1981's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

‘Salem’s Lot é a visão de Stephen King de vampiros. Jerusalem´s Lot ou ‘Salem’s Lot é uma cidade fictícia do Maine, nos EUA. A história inicia com o escritor de sucesso Ben Mears se mudando temporariamente de volta para uma cidade do seu passado buscando inspiração em particular numa casa antiga de ‘Salem’s Lot, a Marsten House, que foi cenário de um crime e dizem ser assombrada. King no começo da obra apresenta muitos personagens para dar vida a essa cidade, muitos desses personagens não têm influência direta na história principal, mas foi interessante para realmente dar a sensação de uma cidade habitada por pessoas com suas próprias histórias.

Em ‘Salem’s Lot Ben conhece e se envolve com Susan Norton enquanto simultaneamente ocorre uma sorrateira infiltração na cidade por vampiros transformados pelo poderoso e antigo Kurt Barlow. O vampiro utilizou seu escravo humano Richard Straker para agir em ‘Salem’s Lot. Ben e Susan começam a perceber a mudança sinistra na cidade e logo conhecem outros personagens que também desconfiam de algo e tentam lutar contra o que acontece. O livro é mais sombrio do que esperava, apesar de esse não ser o meu primeiro livro de King. Na obra ocorrem alguns cenários fortes e muitas mortes, por exemplo o cenário do abuso e negligência de um bebê por parte dos pais e a morte dos três. Muitos personagens de destaque também faleceram como Susan, o médico Jimmy Cody e Matt Burke, um professor que se tornou amigo de Ben e foi a mente pensante do grupo contra os vampiros. Esses elementos sombrios contribuíram para a minha opinião de que esse foi um dos melhores livros de King que li até o momento. Não sou particularmente fã de genocídio de personagens por autores, mas nessa obra acredito que as várias mortes contribuíram para a narrativa e deixou o clima urgente e sinistro. Um personagem que fez parte do grupo de Ben e não teve um fim claro foi o padre Callahan. Transformado em vampiro ele deixa a cidade em angustia sem direção clara. Será que irei ver esse personagem novamente na Dark Tower Series? O tempo dirá. O ponto mais fraco nessa obra para mim foram o previsível sexismo e misoginia de King. Ele não é terrivelmente sexista e misógino, mas ainda assim esses elementos figuram em suas histórias. Por exemplo quando homens e mulheres foram transformados em vampiros homens que desejavam uma mulher receberam essas mulheres como companheiras. Por acaso essas mulheres transformadas não desejavam elas mesmas outras pessoas diferentes desses homens? Porque essas mulheres transformadas foram o “prêmio” dos homens transformados? Por exemplo quando Susan se tornou vampira ela se juntou ao seu antigo namorado que ainda a queria, mas Susan não tinha mais sentimentos por ele antes da transformação. Sobre essa situação do ex-namorado de Susan ainda ter interesse nela, inicialmente me preocupou pois achei que seria uma storyline de Ben e Susan lutando contra um ex-namorado ciumento, mas felizmente a narrativa não foi nessa direção, apesar de não ter gostado de vampira Susan ter sido um “prêmio” para seu ex, o final da personagem não foi relacionado a ele. A conclusão da obra como um todo foi, na minha opinião, um dos finais fortes de King. Outro personagem que merece ser mencionado foi Mark Petrie, um menino precoce e inteligente ciente do que ocorria em ‘Salem’s Lot que após uma tentativa fracassada junto a Susan (que resultou na captura da mulher) ele se juntou ao grupo de caça vampiros e acabou por ter seus pais assassinados por Barlow. Ben e Mark ao fim deixaram a cidade que havia sido tomada por vampiros após Ben matar Susan e Barlow, esse último em um confronto final. Após um tempo Ben e Mark retornam a ‘Salem’s Lot para terminar o que começaram, matar os vampiros, e começam um incêndio para consumir a cidade enquanto os vampiros dormem.

No geral esse foi um livro de terror forte de King (nem todos livros dele classificados como terror realmente pertencem ao gênero) com clima sombrio numa cidade menor e sensação de urgência e desespero. O autor não pegou leve e eu posso apreciar isso. Com o característico bom desenvolvimento de personagens do autor e um final sólido esse foi um dos melhores que li de King até o presente momento, dou 4.5 estrelas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence

Religious Themes

scip's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Cannibalism

ziopera's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Physical abuse, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia

augustinedreams's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

It was a good book, but lasted way too long. Also once again Stephen King brings things into the story he doesn't have to (ie sexual assault & domestic abuse). This is a book about vampires not abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

chris_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I'm a fan of the few Stephen King adaptations I've seen, but this was my first time reading him. He has a very prominent reputation positive and negative, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. It ended up a pretty mixed bag. 

I enjoyed the plot and—while at times meandering—his prose was great. I liked the focus on classic vampire lore and how it connects to the characters' tenets of literature and religion in the modern world. But there were things that bogged it down as well. 

To start, there were so many characters referenced it felt like I was expected to learn the names and personalities of the entire town. I liked the main players, and thankfully I got over the confusion once the plot got going and focused more on them. There were a couple relevant female characters, but I wish they had a larger role in the story overall. And of course the casual use of homophobic slurs/mentions of rape/slut shaming really date the book. And I honestly expected it to be scarier. 

I'd heard about his lackluster endings more than once, but I quite enjoyed this one. I thought it worked for the story being told, if a bit simply. And I know horror endings are though to land. 

Overall a good book with flaws. I'm definitely willing to try more of his work, so if anyone has suggestions of where to start, please feel free. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Medical content, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Homophobia, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Rape, and Blood

stephanieluxton's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Usually I find Stephen king books a little slow to get into but the ending makes it all worth while. With Salem's Lot, I actually preferred the beginning. I loved reading about the characters and their small town lives in the 70's. I thought it was beautifully written and I would have been happy to read more about their day to day activities. Once shit started to hit the fan, I was interested but I never found myself feeling very afraid or surprised at any point which is why I didn't give it a higher rating.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War

There's a dog deaty that some may find upsetting. A lot of people die but many are "off camera deaths" so overall this book isn't too explicit. There's a couple sex scenes but they aren't really graphic.

baudi_moovan's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

seanajk's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder