FICTION

NEEDFUL THINGS: The Last Castle Rock Story by Stephen King (Viking: $24.95; 690 pp.). Castle Rock, the fictitious setting for a number of Stephen King tales, is about to meet its end in an appropriately apocalyptic manner. Setting things off is spooky and omniscient Leland Gaunt, who opens Needful Things, a curio shop that offers everyone’s heart’s desire, for a price. And we’re not talking money here. Sheriff Alan Pangborn, previously seen in “The Dark Half,” is the hero who will try to combat the evil set loose in his town, but not until after much mayhem ensues. People often forget that King is a good writer, but he prevents himself from achieving more than the odd moment of greatness by frequently resorting to cheap manipulation of emotions. Pathos and repulsion, not to mention grisly acts of violence lovingly detailed, are lumped together with the usual forces of good battling not really omnipotent forces of evil. Yet King is a tremendous storyteller, with a keen eye for character--and that is what makes even this very long, and secondary, novel a rapid read.