The Tommyknockers, by Stephen King, was released in 1987 and is a thick tome that keeps you enthralled throughout the whole novel. It follows Bobbi, a western genre novel writer, who trips upon a metallic object in the woods that she inherited. As Bobbi uncovers more of this mysterious object, the reader is directed to meet Gard, Bobbi's alcoholic former lover and poet. Gard travels a long and dark road to help Bobbi and they start to discover the truth about what was hidden in the ground. Sinister things start to occur as more is revealed and changes take place to the little town of Haven where Bobbi lives.
Stephen King is the master of character development; he draws the reader into his stories whether they like it or not. His characters are fully formed in this book, but I have to admit that I wasn't all that empathetic with them. I feel like I should have cared about them more in this book and I would have enjoyed the book more for it. As it was, I was rooting for the good guy in the end, but didn't really care what happened to most of the characters. Given that statement, I think that an emotional separation from these characters was fitting for this book. In essence, I, as the reader, was mirroring Gard's relationship with Bobbi by the end of the book. An emotional detachment from a person he's attempting to help. The Tommyknockers is about evolution and regression at the same time and maybe the reader shouldn't be empathetic to a character that becomes something new.
The Tommyknockers is a product of its time with a heavy hand on the topic of nuclear power and what Gard refers to as the "dallas police". I liked this book, but I won't read it 10 times like It.
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