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656 pages, Hardcover
First published November 8, 1984
"Traveling" Jack Sawyer is a good kid and 12 years old when he and his mother flee Los Angeles for New York ultimately ending up in an empty, creepy hotel in New Hampshire; and while Jack questions the moves, he knows deep down his mother is not well.
As the days pass and his mother's rest periods become more frequent, a worrisome Jack explores a closed amusement park nearby and is soon befriended by a gnarly old black janitor...Lester Speedy Parker who tells him incredible stories of a parallel world and a magic juice that can transport him to a place where he can acquire the secrets of THE TALISMAN and hopefully save his mother.
His danger infested quest from east coast to west with flips from a world of evil doings and enslavement to one with bizarre creatures beyond your imagination has an unlikely friendship for Jack with a 6'5" Wolf that will break your heart.....it did mine.
For me, THE TALISMAN brought back memories of King's Dark Towers series, and while a chunkster at 700+ pages, entices me to re-read it in the form of a graphic novel so I can see the creeping tree roots, the evil abusive bar owner, the camp-school from hell, and visually experience the train ride through the "blasted land" as a scared, but brave young Jack Sawyer grows up fast to save his friends and mother and complete his mission.
Entertaining and fun read with a young-adult feel to it.
'Near the middle of December in the year 1981, a boy named Jack Sawyer stood where the water and the land came together, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking out at the steady Pacific. He was twelve years old and extraordinarily beautiful for his age. His brown hair was long probably too long-but the sea breeze swept it back from a fine, clear brow. He stood thinking of his mother, who was dying, and of friends, both absent and present, and worlds within worlds, turning in their courses.'