Finished it yesterday. It didn't grab me immediately: I didn't want to race through it to start with. But, from about halfway, it became a page-turner.
I was quite aware of the "building blocks" in it - story construction elements in there to ensure that the story progressed in a particular way, to set up payoffs etc. But this didn't spoil things.
I thought the villain was great - a true monster, yet with a degree of sympathy.
I liked Janey very much (I note that someone else didn't). Perhaps it's that, as an overweight 62 year old man myself, I found some elements of Bill's situation fairly enviable.
And, again, Mr King gave me a moment where I thought "Oh no, he's not going to..." and then he did, and I had to put the book down and go and have a few minutes by myself.
The only bit I didn't like was the very end which was a bit too "last shot of a horror film"-y for me.