2.5 stars rounded up to three. 
 One of the drawbacks of being a Stephen King fan is that I'm constantly looking for links to his other works since he loves to do that. As a result, it's difficult for me to read his stories for the sake of reading that particular story. I did that here. From the moment we met Richard Farris, my mind made him Randall Flagg, and I'm still not convinced that he wasn't. His personality was consistent with how he's portrayed in other stories, but he's usually causing trouble, and I didn't find a lot of that here. He shows up, gives Gwendy a present, and I spent the whole time waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never did. In fact, this is about as close to a happy ending as you can get with Stephen King. 
 Maybe Gwendy was just a link in a chain that led to a great disaster in the future. That being said, I'm now having fun pretending that the boy in Pescadero pushed the black button June 16, 1990. Wouldn't that be neat? Yeah, I know in 1984 RF said Gwendy would (view spoiler)[live a long life, sell a book at age 35 (which would be way after 1990), and die surrounded by friends (hide spoiler)], but this wouldn't be the first time Flagg/Walter/Marten/Ageless Stranger/Man in Black/Walkin' Dude/Covenant Man/Russell/Richard/Whoever lied. And of course this whole thing could be happening on a different level of the Dark Tower or in another where and when. But still, I like my idea. As long as the black button didn't cause the pulse in Cell. That would be lame as hell. Not because that particular apocalypse was lame, but because I really don't like that book. 
 This is a quick and enjoyable read. There are a couple of thriller elements, and I guess it makes you think about what you would do with such power. It's also put together well, and there are some neat elements. So, well done on that score Messrs. King & Chizmar. I was just expecting more oomph since Flagg was (maybe) introduced, so my expectations have once again been my undoing.