Black House was a bit slow starting out, and I began to wonder if I’d read the wrong book summary because our hero, Jack Sawyer (who you know from The Talisman), doesn’t make an appearance right away.

Once the story started moving, it was hard to put down. When I finished the book, I was glad for the slow start because I got acquainted with the characters of French Landing (even though it seemed as though the story was going to be told from the viewpoint of a fly, or something similar). We get a little peek into the normalness of their lives before life as they know it is disrupted.

Overall, I would definitely say this is worth reading, especially if you’ve read The Talisman. It would be hard to follow if you had not. The Talisman introduced us to what Jack calls “The Territories”, and although this story is mostly set in our world, having glimpsed another world makes this story more colorful.

Don’t expect a full-on continuance of Jack’s travels though, this story takes place twenty-some years after his “travels”. Do expect a return from another of the main characters from The Talisman.

One thing I didn’t like about this was the mention of a “dark tower”, if I’m remembering correctly, because it made me wonder if this was somehow supposed to tie into the Dark Tower series (which I’ve never read). Actually after reading a little about the dark tower series just now, that seems exactly the case. (Some of the language reminded me of Desperation as well.)