In Later we meet Jamie Conklin who has the gift/curse to see dead people. When someone dies, they usually linger a bit. Either on the spot where they died or on a favorite spot. That’s when Jamie sees them. Usually they move along soon after but until they do, he can see them, and they can see him. And when he asks them a question, they must tell the truth. Jamie has had this ability for as long as he can remember, and his mother is the only one (to start with) that knows about it. But things are about to take a turn for the worse when the NYPD needs to get information from a bomb man…after he died.

Later is a nice little book with quite few characters for a King book but as usual they are what carries the story forward. And the story is an interesting one. It might sound like something you have read or seen before but not quite with this twist that King has put upon it. The fact that the dead must tell the truth can be very helpful, or hurtful if you’re six and have just drawn what you think is a very nice dinosaur…

I also like the way King portrays the villain in the story, who starts out as a good person but then, a bit surprisingly, turns bad. And as usual we don’t condone her actions or agree with what she does but I can totally see why she does what she does and see that she thinks it’s the only way out.

Hard Case Crime and Stephen King is a match made in book heaven and I sure hope they will do more books together. The audio edition is also a good way to read that book. This one is narrated by Seth Numrich and I recommend you to give it a chance. If not for the first read how about the re-read?

Later is a great little book with a great story and even greater characters. I think that this is a book I will return to several times for a re-read in the coming years (I have actually read it twice already). That is how good it is.