Weekend picks for book lovers: New Stephen King

Compiled by Jocelyn McClurg | USA TODAY

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY’s picks for book lovers include Gwendy’s Button Box, a Stephen King scare fest.

Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar; Cemetery Dance Publications, 180 pp.; fiction

King takes a trip back to Castle Rock in his new novella, a different sort of coming-of-age story about a mysterious stranger and his odd little gift.

This zippy work returns to the small-town Maine locale of The Dead Zone and Cujo to introduce Gwendy Peterson, a 12-year-old girl in 1974 wishing to get in shape and rid herself of the moniker “Goodyear.”

Gwendy is doing her daily workout at the local park on the grimly nicknamed Suicide Stairs when she meets an odd man with a black hat. Richard Farris comes bearing a mahogany box with various colored buttons and levers, handing it to her with an ominous caveat: “It gives gifts, but they’re small recompense for the responsibility.”

Pushing one lever delivers delicious chocolate animals; the other offers valuable silver coins. The eight buttons, however, are a bit harder to push because of the weight of their destructive significance — the black one is called “the Cancer Button” for a very good reason.

USA TODAY says *** out of four stars. “Extremely well-paced …a fun read that never loses momentum.”

Testimony by Scott Turow; Grand Central, 483 pp.; fiction

Kindle County attorney Bill ten Boom gets the case of a lifetime at The Hague, investigating the possible massacre of 400 gypsies in a refugee camp after the Bosnian war.

USA TODAY says *** stars. “Lively prose and terrific cast of supporting characters make Testimony one for the beach bag… a fun ride.”

Incendiary by Michael Cannell; Minotaur, 257 pp.; non-fiction

An account of a mad New Yorker who terrorized Gothamites in the 1950s by setting 32 bombs over 16 years.

US TODAY says ***½ stars. “Riveting…much of Incendiary’s power comes from Cannell’s writing.”

Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton; Harper, 286 pp.; fiction

A historical thriller about an Ivy League hunt for dinosaur bones in 1876 that transforms into a rollicking, Wild West, coming-of-age adventure.

USA TODAY says **** stars. “A fun, suspenseful, entertaining, well-told tale filled with plot twists, false leads and lurking danger in every cliffhanging chapter.”

Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker; Grand Central, 449 pp.; fiction

This novel imagines the back story of Edward Fairfax Rochester, Jane Eyre’s tormented employer, from Charlotte Bronte’s revered novel.

USA TODAY says *** stars. “Satisfying… there is a distinct pleasure in encountering Jane Eyre’s characters from another angle.”

Contributing reviewers: Brian Truitt, Jocelyn McClurg, Marco Della Cava, Don Oldenburg, Emily Gray Tedrowe