Later is a horror crime novel by Stephen King.
The book was released by Hard Case Crime on March 2, 2021. It is King's third novel published with Hard Case Crime, following the releases of The Colorado Kid and Joyland, respectively. Also, it was his 76th book, and his 61st novel, the 54th under his own name.
Overview[]
Sometimes growing up means facing your demons.
The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine—as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.
LATER is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King’s classic novel It, LATER is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.
Connection to Other King Works[]
- The fictional court show John Law that Donald Marsden watches was previously referenced multiple times in the novella "If It Bleeds."
- Jamie tells his mother "books are a uniquely portable magic" and that he "read that [the quote] somewhere." This quote originally comes from Stephen King's non-fiction work On Writing.