《穿过锁孔的风》是斯蒂芬•金为其最负盛名的奇幻巨著“黑暗塔”系列所作的番外篇，故事的讲述者是罗兰。母亲死后，刚刚成为枪侠的罗兰被父亲派往德比利亚调查“皮人”。皮人可以随意变换各种野兽的形体，作案手段血腥残忍，已经制造了几起惨案。查案过程中，罗兰遇到了比利•斯崔特，农场灭门惨案的唯一幸存者和目击证人。为安慰小比利并帮助他鼓起勇气配合调查，罗兰给他讲了从母亲那儿听来的“勇者心提姆”的故事《穿过锁孔的风》。
本书是“黑塔塔”系列中相对独立的一本。斯蒂芬•金在完成了长达七卷的“黑暗塔”八年之后，忍不住技痒，再次回到这个故事，追忆了少年罗兰的一段经历，也讲述了另一个关于枪侠的传奇。此举印证了“黑暗塔”果然是斯蒂芬•金本人耗费心力最多也最在意的作品。对于“塔”迷来说，《穿过锁孔的风》足以慰藉他们读完全系列之后的惆怅；而此书亦能帮助从未接触过这个系列的人在最短的时间内走入“黑暗塔”的世界。
这是一本如宝石般熠熠生辉的小说，跌宕起伏，引人入胜。斯蒂芬•金对于“中世界”的驾驭得心应手，他创作了一种独特的语言和韵律，与他讲述的故事配合得天衣无缝。
Stephen King returns to the rich landscape of Mid-World, the spectacular territory of the Dark Tower fantasy saga that stands as his most beguiling achievement.
Roland Deschain and his ka-tet—Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy, the billy-bumbler—encounter a ferocious storm just after crossing the River Whye on their way to the Outer Baronies. As they shelter from the howling gale, Roland tells his friends not just one strange story but two . . . and in so doing, casts new light on his own troubled past.
In his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt-ridden year following his mother’s death, Roland is sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape-shifter, a “skin-man” preying upon the population around Debaria. Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, the brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast’s most recent slaughter. Only a teenager himself, Roland calms the boy and prepares him for the following day’s trials by reciting a story from the Magic Tales of the Eld that his mother often read to him at bedtime. “A person’s never too old for stories,” Roland says to Bill. “Man and boy, girl and woman, never too old. We live for them.” And indeed, the tale that Roland unfolds, the legend of Tim Stoutheart, is a timeless treasure for all ages, a story that lives for us.
