Christine by Stephen King - Review

Nothing can describe the feeling of a boy buying his first car. But for Arnie Cunningham, it’s more than just love at first sight. The 1958 Plymouth Fury he spots in the front yard of Roland D. LeBay’s home is nothing short of a wreck, its showroom shine long-since vanished.

But Arnie sees something more, Christine drawing him in to her, possessing him from the very beginning. Despite his best friend, Dennis, desperately trying to talk him away, Arnie resists, giving in to the hold Christine now has over him.

As Arnie begins to restore his new ride, Dennis is aware of a strange connection growing between the car and its new owner. As Christine is slowly restored to her original glory, Arnie begins to exhibit signs that he too is changing, soon just a mere shadow of the shy and withdrawn teen he used to be. As Arnie’s former bullies begin to die, each in sinister circumstances, Dennis can no longer stand idly by, desperate to save his friend before it’s too late.

Some authors have a collection of books which fans see as their core work, the pinnacle of the stories they return to time and time and again. For Stephen King, Christine is one of those books. Written back at the dawn of his monumental rise, Christine is everything a reader could want from a good old-fashioned ghost story.

The action never lets up, Christine pulling in readers just as she pulls Arnie in during the first few pages. Sitting alongside him as Arnie cruises the streets in his machine, stalking those that wronged him is how I came to feel while consuming this epic read.

But it’s also the tragedy that tends to linger long after the final words are done, its emotional rollercoaster never quite leaving you once you’ve had a taste of the old Plymouth.