Of Stephen King's first three novels, this was my favorite, although that could be impacted by my current craving of vampires. This was one hell of a slow burn, I felt like nothing happened until I was nearly two-thirds of the way through the story. Yet, I wasn't bored and wanted to continue reading, not really caring if anything involving Barlow or Straker was involved. I think it paid off because I enjoyed the climax within the third part. I liked the King version of vampires, they contain all your classic vampire tropes and I felt respected that nothing was over explained about their mythos. I also enjoyed that Mark, a 12-year old child, was the most knowledgeable without any extra research (like Matt did while in his hospital bed). I do wonder what happened to Father Callahan and if the curse of Barlow was lifted when Ben drove the stake through his chest.