Later

Published by Hard Case Crime in 2021, Later follows Jamie Conklin, a boy who can see and speak with the recently dead. The dead appear to him as they looked in their final moments, and they are compelled to answer his questions truthfully before they fade. His mother, a struggling literary agent, and her morally compromised detective girlfriend both find ways to use his ability—with consequences that grow increasingly dangerous.

Both. Hard Case Crime published it as a crime novel, and the plot mechanics are those of a noir thriller—a boy with a dangerous gift being manipulated by adults with agendas. But the supernatural element (communicating with the dead) and the ultimate antagonist place it firmly in horror territory. King has compared the tonal hybrid to his own The Dead Zone.

Later is set in New York City rather than King's usual Maine, and it stands alone—no crossovers with the King universe. However, the narrator-looking-back-on-childhood structure echoes It and The Body, and the premise of a child with an unwanted psychic gift is a recurring King preoccupation stretching back to The Shining and Firestarter.

Liz is Jamie's mother's girlfriend, a New York police detective with a serious drug problem. She is the novel's primary antagonist—a morally compromised authority figure who exploits Jamie's ability for her own ends. She represents the adult world's willingness to damage children in pursuit of adult desires, a theme that runs throughout King's work.