If you lived in Castle Rock – the fictional town in Maine that Stephen King uses for much of his fiction – you would have to be a little worried. No-one can live there without being afflicted by the inexplicable events that King delights in dishing out to the residents of the parochial county.

This novella introduces us to yet another set of Castle Rock residents. Scott Carey has new neighbours, Deidre McComb and Missy Donaldson, who have recently moved into the area to open a restaurant called Holy Frijole. Scott is a mild-mannered man with a broken heart that’s slowly on the mend. He has two problems: firstly, his neighbours’ dogs use his front lawn as their toilet despite the owners insisting that it isn’t their animals making the mess; secondly, he has been losing weight recently, feeling lighter without changing shape or shrinking his waistline. He tries to deal with the first problem face to face, only to be accused of harbouring prejudice against same-sex couples. The second problem is even more perplexing.

As Scott’s attempts to broker a peace between himself and the fired-up Deidre continually fail, he makes one last-ditch effort to prove to Deidre he means no harm and wants to be friends. He lays out a wager: if she can beat him in the upcoming annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 12k run, he will stop trying to be nice to her and leave her alone.

In the meantime, Scott is experiencing some blowback from the more rednecked members of the community who cannot understand why he would stand up for Diedre and Missy. All the while he keeps losing weight and the pull of gravity on him becomes weaker.

At the heart of this novella is a simple tale of tolerance and understanding, of people who have differences to start with but who grow to accept each other. Highly recommended for fans of King’s fiction in all its forms.

Reviewed by David Johnson