I thought I would take a break from the slow reading of Ričardas Gavelis’ Vilnius Poker. It’s decent, but it’s dense and thus taking me a while.
So today I went up to Remedy Teas to read the penultimate installment in the Green Mile serialization Night Journey. Now’s the time for those who don’t want to book to be spoiled to click away.
Up until now, Paul Edgecombe, the head guard for the death row wing of Cold Mountain Penitentiary, has realized the John Coffey, the big dumb black inmate, has the ability to heal illness. The reader has also been introduced to the asshole guard Percy Wetmore and a couple of inmate (William Wharton, Eduard Delacroix) as well as a few of the other guards. Last installment, Wetmore took revenge on Delacroix by making his execution exceedingly painful. That was somewhat of a catalyst for an idea that Edgecombe had which is to be carried out in part five. He wants Coffey to heal the Melinda, the wife of his friend and warden of the prison, who has been stricken with brain cancer.
In order to do that, either Melinda needs to come to the prison or Coffey needs to go to her. Since she’s extremely ill, it must be the latter. With the assistance of all the guards except Wetmore, they sneak Coffey out to visit the warden’s wife. There’s not a lot of character development this time, except we see the kinds of hearts that the guards have. They all help. This book is the plot-driven build up to the end of the saga. Will they pull off the caper without being discovered? A lot of do something, encounter problem, solve problem, move to next step in the plot. And then, King leaves the reader with a cliffhanger as the caper ends.
Liked it.
Title: The Green Mile: Part Five: Night Journey
Author: Stephen King
Series: The Green Mile; 5
Imprint / publisher: Signet / Penguin
Format: Mass market paperback
Length: 90 p.
Publication date: July 1996
ISBN-10: 0-451-19056-4
