Fairy Tale was published in 2022 and, as with all of his books, landed on the best sellers list.   It is indeed a fairy tale with direct and indirect references to well-known stories from the Brothers Grimm and other authors, but also to classics in the horror genre.    The 600 page book has three distinct parts.    The first section follows a coming-of-age story of Charlie, a single child of an recovering alcoholic father.      He asks for help for his father and makes some vows to pay it forward.   He helps a reclusive elderly man and his dog and supports him in old-age recovery from an injury, also caring for the dog, Radar.   For this first third there are no fantasy elements, except some strange noises from a locked shed in the back yard.   As the story turns to the hidden secrets, Charlie finds that the man, Mr. Bowditch, has treasure, is very old, and has visited a fairy tale realm, and the shed has a stairwell to this world.   Charlie makes a promise to take the dog into the land to restore his youth.

The second part of the book follows Charlie’s journeys into the alternate world.    We see parallels to other books of Stephen King like The Black Tower Series, 11-22-63, It, and The Talisman.  We find out that the other world is plagued by an evil presence and Charlie starts to encounter some of the dangers himself.    The plan had been to help Radar and get out, but the final third of the novel turns out to be Charlie’s quest to help the people and creatures there to defeat the evil presence and his agents, and save the world, and possibly his own too.   The final third is full of action, heroism, twists and turns, surprises, then a pleasing conclusion.   The whole book is charming, accessible, and familiar.    A fun read, but not in anyone’s Top Ten list.   Recommended, though – 4.1 out of 5.0 stars4.1