By disturbing, I do not refer to the horror aspects of the books, which are thankfully few, but in the ways that the books relied so heavily on deus ex machina to get the characters both out of and into difficult situations. This seemed to be a very personal series for Stephen King as he (quite literally) put a lot of himself into it. However, the story itself went off the rails (again, at some points literally so) only to be forced back in a jarring fashion.
I have a long ways to go before I can craft character, action, or description like Stephen King does. These characters were quite memorable and I will remember some of the settings and events for a long time to come. However, I think that I will look to other role models when it comes to plot and theme.