I’m reading Stephen King’s new book, If It Bleeds, and thought I’d review the four stories in it one at a time. It’s something to do and keeps me off the streets.

New Stephen King books aren’t the same as old Stephen King books. No shame in that. It’s a natural fact of life. If it wasn’t, Michael Jordan would still be tearing up the NBA, and Arnold Schwarzenegger would still be tearing up the box office. Instead, we get Crying Jordan memes and Terminator: Dark Fate.

I prefer King’s short fiction to his long fiction these days. He seems a bit more on point with his short stuff. Some may disagree, but that is all part of the fun. If the work in question can be debated with valid points on both sides, it can prove itself deserving of being elevated.

The first story in If It Bleeds is Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. The story is about a kid who does odd jobs for an old man. As a gesture of thanks, the kid gets Mr. Harrigan an iPhone. Some spooky stuff happens (I’m not going into spoilers on this story).

THE GOOD
The prose is easy to read. The style King uses is the proverbial transparent curtain.

I heard King recently say that readers revisit authors because they like their voice.

Is King’s trademark voice present in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone? Yes and no.

No, his old voice is not present. Yes, his new voice is present.

King’s old voice was rambling, friendly, energetic and fun. His new voice is sparse. When new King rambles, it is usually some short remark about aging, youth or politics. King’s new voice is not friendly or unfriendly. It is matter-of-fact. That old bounce is gone, but Michael Jordan can’t fly anymore either.

At the end of the day, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is easy to read. You know what is going on and who is who. You don’t have too many questions about what happened.

THE BAD
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone probably doesn’t contain anything outright bad. If anything bad can be said about it, it is that the story has a neat idea, but it is delivered in an unremarkable way. King does not put much embellishment on the proceedings. The story is delivered in a straightforward fashion that doesn’t make it hum in any special way.

In musical terms, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone has notes in tune but not a lot of soul. It’s basically the elevator-music version of a song you like.

THE UGLY
Not much about the story is ugly either. As a whole, maybe one could say the ugly is that the Mr. Harrigan’s Phone basically runs out of gas and rolls to a stop rather than ending with a bang. I think old King would have had a final confrontation, but new King seems more interested in ending stories with a shrug.

I can’t help shake the feeling that King continues to struggle with the fact that he is getting old and is going to die. That feeling seems to lurk beneath all of his stuff these days, and he seems to still have no answer for it. I noticed it in The Outsider, as well, which I reviewed at some point. I believe my reaction was for King to go to www.gotquestions.org and have fun with it.

CONCLUSION
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone…do you need to read it immediately or let it go to voice mail?

The story is not a case of needing to stop whatever you are doing, or leave a meeting, because you “have to take this.” Call Mr. Harrigan back when it is appropriate and have a nice chat.