Joyland

July 29, 2013
Michael Kelly begins his rendition of King’s engaging short novel sounding pleasantly satisfied, if wistful, with just a twinge of regret—precisely the mood of Devin Jones, the book’s protagonist. Now in his 60s, Devin recalls the details of how he spent 1973, working as a “Happy Helper” at Joyland, a slightly seedy North Carolina amusement park where, several years before his arrival, a young girl was murdered on a ride called Horror House. Kelly follows King’s lead in fashioning a proper voice for each and every character, creating a delightfully unpretentious and winning listening experience. With this performance, it seems as if Kelly is himself responding to the advice given to new carnival employees by the sweetly paternal Joyland director, Bradley Easterbrook: “Remember,” the old man tells them, “you’re here to sell fun.” A Hard Case paperback.

April 8, 2013
A haunted carnival funhouse gives a supernatural spin to events in Thriller Award–winner King’s period murder mystery with a heart. In the summer of 1973, 21-year-old college student Devin Jones takes a job at Joyland, a North Carolina amusement park. Almost immediately, a boardwalk fortune-teller warns that Devin has “a shadow” over him, and that his destiny is intertwined with that of terminally ill Mike Ross, a 10-year-old boy who has “the sight.” Shortly after Devin meets Mike, Mike makes a cryptic comment: “It’s not white.” This proves a vital clue when Devin begins investigating an unsolved murder committed four years before at the carnival’s Horror House, and quickly stumbles into more than he bargained for. King (The Colorado Kid) brings his usual finesse to this tale’s mystery elements, and makes Dev’s handling of them crucial to the novel’s bigger coming-of-age story, in which Dev adapts to the carny life and finds true romance. Agent: Chuck Verrill, Darhansoff & Verrill.

Stephen King is in full form. JOYLAND, narrated by Michael Kelly with just the right touch of innocence, is a creepy story about a young man who gets involved with a dying boy, his beautiful mother, and murder. A little slow at the start, the story quickly turns into an engaging, horror-tinged spookshow of the kind King has made famous. Kelly is convincing as the earnest, confused young hero. His voice convinces us that Devon Jones is a good guy who will always do the right thing. We are passengers in Jones's mind as he tries to chart the course of his life, which was difficult enough before he got involved in a series of grisly murders. M.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine