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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Child sexual abuse depicted; horror violence; the library policeman as monster
Language
Some
Moderate language; King's direct register
Sexual Content
Some
Strong; child sexual abuse is the monster's mechanism — depicted with King's characteristic unflinching approach
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
Very strong; the horror of a childhood trauma that expresses itself as irrational adult fear; how predators use the appearance of authority; the exorcism of buried memory
What this book is about
One of the four novellas in King's Four Past Midnight collection: Sam Peebles borrows two books from his small town library on a dare from a dream — and then the Library Policeman comes to collect the fine. What seems like a surreal comedy of overdue books opens into one of King's most devastating explorations of childhood sexual abuse and the way childhood trauma warps adult life into shapes that don't make sense until you see their roots.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Childhood sexual abuse — depicted directly; King at his most disturbing on this subject
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