Stephen King has done it again. He's rehooked major King fanatics (such as myself) with his new collection of novellas, Four Past Midnight. His last two books, The Dark Half and the unexpurgated version of The Stand, didn't make much of an impression on me - The Dark Half was just plain terrible, and I'd already read the expurgated version of The Stand. And this from a person who's read everything the man's ever put out - from Christine to Pet Sematary. I can honestly say I was starting to lose interest.

Then came Four Past Midnight, and I again became a King fanatic. It contains four novellas: "The Langoliers," "Secret Window, Secret Garden," "The Library Policeman," and "The Sun Dog." The first novella (or One Past Midnight), "The Langoliers," is about a group of people on an airplane that have reason to believe they are the last people on earth. "Secret Window, Secret Garden" (Two Past Midnight) is about a messed-up writer named Mort Rainey who receives an unwelcome visitor - with a twist. Three Past Midnight (or "The Library Policeman") is about a man who forgets to bring back his library books on time - for which there's hell to pay. The last novella, Four Past Midnight (otherwise known as "The Sun Dog") is about a very unusual camera and its owner.

I highly recommend Four Past Midnight to die-hard King fans and newcomers who want to get in the act. n