斯蒂芬·金（Stephen King，1947年9月21日－），美国畅销书作家，写过剧本、专栏评论，曾担任电影导演、制片人以及演员。他是美国通俗小说领域的国民作家，以恐怖小说著称，被《纽约时报》誉为“现代惊悚小说大师”，更是读者心目中的“恐怖小说之王”。他的作品还包括科幻小说、奇幻小说、短篇小说、影视剧本及舞台剧本等。作品总销量超过三亿五千万册，超过一百五十部影视作品改编自他的作品，由此创下一项吉尼斯世界记录。七次荣获布莱姆.斯托克奖，六次荣获国际恐怖文学协会奖，1996年获欧.亨利奖，在2003年获得美国国家图书奖“终身成就奖”。他的作品远远超出了类型小说的范畴，深入内心、逼问人性、展现灵魂，是一位不折不扣的文学大师。

代表作品：《闪灵》《肖申克的救赎》《亚特兰蒂斯之心》《黑暗塔》《尸骨袋》

A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It’s a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.