A review by bbrassfield
Cujo by Stephen King

4.0

Relatively concise by Stephen King standards, Cujo stands as a rip roaring page turner of rabid horror. Sorry, it needed to be said. I last read Cujo in the long ago years of high school and had forgotten everything about the story save for the obvious, Cujo the huge St. Bernard gets rabies from a bite. There is a surprising level of intimate character detail as the story unfolds, even from the dog's perspective as the bite transforms him into the monster that terrorizes a small bit of Castle Rock Maine. I enjoyed all of the material about Vic and Roger's ad agency and the Sharp Cereal Professor who gets upended by the food coloring dye gone wrong. The portrait of the Trenton and Camber marriages fill out the story even as Cujo transforms from a loving dog into a killer and King writes about these very different relationships quite well. It doesn't end well for all of the players, sadly, and I won't spoil who lives and who dies at the end but prepare yourselves for some heartbreak in the end. Quite effective little horror novel with a deep touch of the personal.