Blockade Billy [Kindle Edition]

Stephen King (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A quirky baseball player with a past shrouded in secrecy is the tragic hero of this macabre tale from the dark side of the all-American sport. In the voice of George "Granny" Grantham, retired third-base coach of the New Jersey Titans, King (Under the Dome) recalls the spring of 1957, when Billy Blakely, a catcher called up from their Titans' Iowa farm system, helped to boost the team out of the basement and add some excitement to the national pastime. Billy hits with such power and guards the plate with such determination (hence his eponymous nickname) that teammates are willing to forgive such eccentricities as his frequently addressing himself in the third person, or bloodying runners who collide with him. Of course, these kinks are clues to a shocking pathology that King coaxes out in a narrative steeped so perfectly in the argot of the game and the behavior of its players and fans that readers will willingly suspend their disbelief. As King's fiction goes, this suspenseful short is a deftly executed suicide squeeze, with sharp spikes hoisted high and aimed at the jugular on the slide home.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Reviewers tended to dismiss Blockade Billy when they compared it to the sum of King's oeuvre, but they appreciated the book as a better-than-usual attempt to fictionalize the world of baseball. Readers with a more nostalgic take on the game will particularly enjoy King's evocation of the way it was played in 1957. And baseball-stats wonks will likely salivate over the mystery of what event could be so horrible that the Majors would efface the scorecard for all time. But other readers may wish to start with one of King's classics.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 682 KB
• Print Length: 132 pages
• Publisher: Storyville (April 15, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003HKR18Y
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,201 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #8 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Sports
  • #11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Sports

More About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was also a bestseller. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

219 of 231 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blockade Billy: Publication info and spoiler free review, April 22, 2010

By 

Antmusic Fan "Antmusic Fan" (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blockade Billy (Hardcover)

I'm going to keep this as spoiler free and as informative as possible.

"Blockade Billy" is the latest release from Stephen King. Its announcement in March 2010 was a surprise for everyone, and I know that I wasn't expecting any new King for another six months or so.

First, some info about the book itself:
Overall, this book is a novella, the physical book clocks in at a little over 100 pages with some excellent Alex McVey illustrations (in the Cemetery Dance and Lonely Road Books versions only).

There are a few editions of this book (some forthcoming). Cemetery Dance Publications had the 1st edition 1st printing of Blockade Billy with only 10,000 dust jacketed copies that was officially released April 20, 2010. This came shrink wrapped with a bonus William "Blockade Billy" Blakely baseball card (that looks like a Topps 1957 card, very cool). They also had a limited slipcase available at an additional cost. Cemetery Dance will also be doing a second printing of 10,000 that is for libraries only.

Scribner's version of Blockade Billy will be a non-dust jacketed trade hardcover edition and it will be coming out at the end of May, 2010. Sadly, it will not have the awesome Alex McVey illustrations, but they are adding Stephen King's short story "Morality" that was released last year in Esquire magazine.

In the summer of 2010, Lonely Road Books is releasing a Signed Limited Edition and a Lettered Edition of Blockade Billy. Both of these will come with the same William "Blockade Billy" Blakely baseball card that came with the Cemetery Dance Publications version, and they will also come with a SIGNED Stephen King baseball card (how cool is that!?)!

There will also be an audio book read by Craig Wasson (Blockade Billy Audiobook), a Kindle version (Blockade Billy for Kindle), and other e-reader versions.

Now, to the story.... Yes, this is a baseball story. If you aren't a fan, some of the passages will go over your head like a foul ball, but the thing is, you won't care. You'll be too engrossed in the story. The next thing you'll know, the story will be over and you will feel a sense of satisfaction and completion.

This novella is a very fun and very fast read. For sports fans that love King, this book will probably be a dream come true. For King fans that don't like sports... it is a new King story! I'll admit, I don't really care too much for baseball. I know it. I've played it, but I don't watch it. Yet, I still really enjoyed this story. In the end, it is a story about the people, not just the game.

Yes, the book is short, but you will enjoy it. This is a lot more than can be said for many much longer books out there. Stephen King told the entire tale that he wanted, and ended it where it ended. There are no rabid beasties, Dark Towers, or possessed cars, but you will revel in the telling of this tale as if your grandfather were telling you a story about his childhood (one of the good ones that make all the grandkids gather round).

I don't want to give away the plot, but here are the basics: A baseball team loses their catcher. They gain a new one. He is kind of an odd duck, but he plays really well. But... he has a dark secret. Hey, it is Stephen King, you know. That is all I'm going to give you. Buy it and read it. If you like King, you HAVE to get this. I think this book goes beyond King-lovers though. It isn't so... gruesome... as some of his other tales, and I could see people of all ages enjoying this one... well... maybe no under 13 should be admitted without their parent or guardian. Ha ha.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Minor Addition to the King Canon, April 23, 2010

By 

Baron Meinster (Romania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blockade Billy (Kindle Edition)

Though I consider this "book" to be a minor addition to Stephen King's vast literary canon, I found myself enjoying it. Some of King's books could be a bit of a slog trying to get through. This novella is definitely not one of those. I enjoyed the descriptions of the old time baseball scenarios. The story centered on the super-talented catcher "Blockade" Billy Blakely, whose name was inexplicably removed from the records book (the constant reader does not learn why until near the end of the story). It is a fairly straightforward baseball fantasy up to the time it arrived to its Stephen King trademark twist ending. I really enjoyed it for the fast reading and the thrills. I also read this story from the standpoint of being a potential movie script. I was able to see this story fitting nicely as a cinematic offering. If handled correctly by the right director and actors, it will be a viewing experience that few will forget.

102 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Story - Obscene Price, April 20, 2010

By 

Matthew Erwin (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blockade Billy (Kindle Edition)

To get it out of the way early, it is best to know that Blockade Billy is a short story. It is not a short novel or even a novella, it is a short story. Weighing in at only 730 locations on the Kindle, it is extremely hard to justify the eight dollar price tag. It is more than twice the price of King's UR while less than half the length.

The good news is that if are a King completist, Blockade Billy is another nice addition to his baseball stories. The narrator, Granny, a former third base coach and equipment manager for the New Jersey Titans is a funny narrator and tells the story well. He is apparently telling this story to King himself while sitting in a nursing home after a life in baseball.

After losing their first two catchers in spring training, Billy is called up from their Double A squad to fill in until a seasoned pro can take over the catching position. But Billy puts in a great month, making numerous stops during plate collisions (hence the name Blockade Billy) while hitting at a good pace as well. The team's ace pitcher thinks Billy is his good luck charm.

Billy is also either dumb, crazy or both. He talks to himself in the third person and players get injured while playing against him. Eventually, as in all great stories, the little incidents add up and boil over, but you can discover that for yourself.

It's a good if minor addition to King's work. But it remains hard to justify the high price for such a slim work.