By Paul Palazzolo

Before the story of Secret Window was known as a Johnny Depp screenplay flop, there was the short novel written by Stephen King. The novel is available in the collection of short stories titled Four After Midnight. The collection of short stories also includes The Langoliers (that was also made into a television movie in 1999) The Sun Dog and The Library Policeman.

In classic King style, Secret Window, Secret Garden captures the readers by having well-developed dramatic characters. King allows the reader to think of one way the story could go, but then goes in a completely different direction. This makes the book significantly less predictable than the film.

The short novel takes place in the usual rural Northern New England setting. The frazzled, divorced lonely writer Morton Rainey wrote several bestsellers and was awarded with different awards for his work. However, his success with his writing leads an unwanted visitor to his summer home in Tashmore Lake, Maine.

“You stole my story,” begins the novel. The lonely John Shooter travels all the way from Mississippi in his beaten up station wagon from the 1960s to Rainey’s home. He travels to confront Rainey about a story that Shooter wrote seven years ago and claims Rainey stole it from him.

Shooter gives a copy of his work to Rainey that’s called, Secret Window, Secret Garden. Shooter claims he wrote his short story in 1982. However, Rainey first published his work in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine in June 1980, two years before Shooter claimed he wrote his. It shouldn’t be difficult to have Shooter go back on his merry way, right?

Shooter’s character is awfully stubborn and has nothing promising happening in his life. One of the problems is that both stories are eerily exact duplicates of each other. From the first paragraph until the end of the story, Rainey swears at himself because the stories are exactly the same. In both of the stories, a man killed his wife who was loveless and only cared about the house and garden. The man buries his wife in the garden crop, claims insanity and eats the vegetables from the crop.

Another predicament that Rainey has is Everyone Drops A Dime was placed in his collection of short stories Sowing Season in 1983. Shooter wants proof and would not leave until Rainey has it, but Rainey does not have any in his house. Shooter gives Rainey a three-day deadline. So Rainey needs to find a copy of that issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine before the deadline and before Shooter drives him up the wall.

Rainey ignores him after the first time, but each time that Shooter confronts Rainey, his threats become stronger, concentrate on what matters more to him and become more unusual.

Rainey finds something in his garage that Shooter hung for a reminder of his three-day deadline. Then his shortcut to heaven is literately burned away along with an 130 year-old house two hours away with Shooter being spotted an hour before in Tashmore Lake. Is it just a coincidence, or did Shooter actually pull it off? The book continues until the climactic ending and will cause readers wanting more from the short novel.

Even though the novel is not as famous as other King classics like Cujo or The Dead Zone, it’s almost as well written. Those who were disappointed in the Johnny Depp film will be entertained to read a finely-made work from a legendary author. Those who like thrillers or King novels will be thrilled and almost off their seat when they read Secret Window, Secret Garden.