I loved this story. King writing about writers is always a win for me. I love when he writes a strong female character which he did not just with Alice, but with Marge, fucking Marge. 

I wasn’t sure about the ‘story within a story’ element at first, but it ended up being such an effective way to get to know Billy and how he became the man we meet at the start of the book. 

I loved the nods to The Shining, especially the painting in the shack. I think I loved the ending most of all. King is known for less than stellar endings and while I don’t often find much to dislike in them, I do get a special kind of joy when he really nails it. 

My one complaint about this book was the insinuation that someone on the autism spectrum is dumb. Maybe it was meant that appearance is deceiving, as Billy was much more intelligent than he generally displayed, but it could have been handled better imo.