For all those hardcore Steven King fans out there, King’s latest book, Hearts in Atlantis, lives up to his typical standards of excellence. While it is not written as one of his traditional blood-and-guts horror novels, it still maintains his rich and captivating style, which has placed his books on the bestseller lists time and again.Hearts in Atlantis is made up of five separate-yet-interrelated narratives, starting from 1960 to 2000. The book focuses on five main characters, each telling a separate story from each character’s own point of view. The characters all revolve around one main theme, which is the events of the late 60’s, in particular the Vietnam War.

The first narrative starts in 1960. King focuses on a young boy whose encounter with some supernatural beings takes his ordinary life and changes it in ways so profound that things are never the same again. This is the only narrative which contains some of King’s original spooky-ghost horror. It is an emotional and heart-pounding read.

The second narrative focuses on college life during the late 1960s. This is probably the most enjoyable story out of the five, for it contains many aspects of life a lot of Guilford students can relate to. The main character is a young-Republican-turned-hippie war protestor. It focuses on his obstacles as a work-study student at the University of Maine. It also focuses on his relationship with Carol Gerber, who was best friends with the main character of the first narrative.

The third narrative takes on the point of view of someone who fought in Vietnam. This story has a remarkable contrast from the second one, which told the story from the point of view of people against the war effort. In contrast, this story contains the pain, glory, and loss of fighting in the war. The main character used to be one of Carol Gerber’s schoolyard bullies, back in the first narrative. This story also ties in certain characters from the University of Maine that went on to fight in the war.

The fourth narrative is also from the point of view of someone who fought in the war. He is a childhood friend of the main character in the first story and a one-time boyfriend of Carol. This story is somewhat like the second, yet it goes on to spell out the lives of earlier characters in the novel, and it brilliantly conveys how life can be “oh-so-unpredictable.” It ends in a way the reader least expects.

The fifth narrative ties everything all together. It ends in an emotional and heart-breaking climax, yet it leaves the reader with a sense of deep happiness and closure.

What is possibly the best aspect of Hearts in Atlantis is the way King finds a way to tie in each character to one another. A master of plot twisting, King interconnects every character in some sense. He shows how people can grow apart from each other and change in ways never thought imaginable.

Yet perhaps the best aspect of the novel is the way King conveys the horror and grief of the Vietnam War and how it still affects people, even today. There is a lot to learn from reading this book. While it is not King’s traditional style, he finds a way to scare you, nonetheless, on a more real-life basis.