King returns as master of novella

Stephen King’s affinity for the novella form goes back to the early stages of his long, prolific career. In 1982, King published “Different Seasons,” a quartet of long stories that contained some of his finest work, and eventually led to some memorable film adaptations, among them “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Stand by Me.”

Since then, at roughly 10-year intervals, King has produced three similar volumes that have allowed him to play with a wide variety of themes, scenes and settings.

The latest of these, “If It Bleeds,” contains four new, exceptionally compelling novellas that reaffirm his mastery of the form.

King, of course, has made good use of virtually every mode of storytelling.

But the mid-length narrative suits his talents particularly well, permitting a degree of expansiveness while maintaining a controlled, disciplined approach to the material at hand.

The results are stories that cover a surprising amount of emotional territory but can still be read in a sitting.

“The Life of Chuck” gets my vote as the collection’s most original story.

It opens on the image of billboards bearing the portrait of a middle-aged accountant named Charles Krantz.

Each billboard bears the words: “39 GREAT YEARS! THANKS, CHUCK!” Who is Chuck? And what is the story behind those billboards?

In time, we learn a good deal about this character as the story, constructed in three acts, moves backward in time to Chuck’s early life.

The result is a slightly surreal, wholly engaging narrative about dance, music, mortality and acceptance, and about the bedrock notion that all of us, like Chuck, contain multitudes.

The centerpiece of this volume is the title story. “If It Bleeds” is a fully developed short novel with multiple ties to King’s recent fiction.

The protagonist — and true hero — is Holly Gibney, the damaged, savant-like young woman who played a pivotal role in King’s 2018 novel “The Outsider.”

“If It Bleeds” is a direct sequel to “The Outsider,” though it contains enough relevant detail to stand on its own.

Watching Holly overcome obstacles, among them her own fear, her troubled past and the disbelief of others, is one of the central pleasures of this book.

In “If It Bleeds,” King continues to draw from a rich and varied reservoir of stories. At its best, his work remains deeply empathetic and compulsively readable. May the reservoir never run dry.

1. Camino Winds

2. If It Bleeds

3. The 20th Victim

4. Walk the Wire

5. All Adults Here

6. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

John Grisham Stephen King Patterson/Paetro David Baldacci Emma Straub

Mackesy

7. Hello, Summer Mary Kay Andrews

8. The Wedding Dress Danielle Steel

9. The Book of Lost Friends Lisa Wingate

10. Big Summer Jennifer Weiner

11. The Book of Longings Sue Monk Kidd

12. American Dirt Jeanine Cummins

13. Someone Like You Karen Kingsbury

14. Masked Prey John Sandford

15. The Giver of Stars Jojo Moyes

Charlie

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Publishers Weekly. Week ending May 19, powered by NPD Bookscan.