Much like readers Janet, Laura and Tina, I was hoping for a happy ending. But I didn't think I'd get one.

Like Andi, I held off on reading ahead as long as I could, but as things got worse and worse for Trisha - the wasps, the endless mud, the haunting presence of "the thing" - I just couldn't put the book down.

I feel like the voice in Trisha's head has become another character as she fights her way through the woods.

I want to talk about the whole story now! I've joined the rest of you who have finished "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon". I was trying to hold off but I just couldn't help myself. It's the pace of the story that has been pulling me along. Though at times, there's really not a lot of action, the running dialogues in Trisha's mind kept me up reading until I finished last night.

The pace is heart pounding at times, especially when Trisha is physically active, like running. But I really enjoy the way King keeps the pace of the story going by the thoughts that Trisha has going on in her head. If my heart's not pounding from Trisha crashing down a hill, it's pounding because of the silence of the wood. Isn't it amazing how so little action can cause your breath to quicken and your heart to pound?

So, where are you in the story? I was at the top of the fourth inning in my last post. Of course, now I've just finished with the author's postscript. I won't go there yet, although I'd really like to talk about the whole story.

Like many of you, I had never read any of Stephen King's books before, and didn't quite know what to expect from "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon." If it weren't for Read Around Maine, I might never have picked up this book, or any others classified as "psychological horror." But now I can't put it down.

While we're lost in the woods with Trisha, I thought you all might like to see this map of Maine's section of the Appalachian Trail.

I think we've struck a chord here. I have read Stephen King's "Carrie" and even saw the movie from the front row some years ago. I, like many of the readers here, am not a horror fan either. I used to hide under the couch when the Wicked Witch of the West showed up on the "Wizard of Oz" when I was a kid. As an adult, my dad used to call me to see if I was behind the couch whenever he knew the "Wizard of Oz" was being shown on T.V. I am a chicken. : }

That confessed, I am just really pulled into "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon". I love the Red Sox and I enjoy easy hikes. I love the titles of the chapters in this book and right now I just finished "Third Inning" and I'm on the "Top of the Fourth". I have to say, having done a bit of hiking, this story is really scary.