Product Description

Customer Reviews (14)

Terrific!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Rogak offers interesting insights into King's psyche,his early struggles, his sudden wealth and fame, and into his creative process, even when he was drunk and stoned. She captures something else, too, a kind of ineffable quality that only another writer would understand: the inner need to keep writing. It didn't matter to me that the book is an unauthorized biography. Sometimes, an outsider is better able to capture the essence in a way that an insider simply can't.

`So who is Stephen King, really?'
In her introduction to this unauthorised biography, Lisa Rogak recounts an anecdote about her trip to Bangor, Maine and a discussion she had with Stephen King's assistant, Marsha DeFillipo about the aim of book she was planning to write.
`For most of that half-hour conversation, the man himself hovered just outside the doorway, listening in on our conversation but never once stepping inside.'

This anecdote could be a summary for the book itself:Stephen King's presence within it is indirect and reflected, rather than direct and central. There's plenty of data here, mostly drawn from secondary sources but little insight or analysis.That doesn't mean that the data isn't useful (although based on events detailed in the book, the timeline is incomplete) simply that a third person biography of Stephen King has little new to add to what is already publicly available.

However, for those discovering Stephen King for the first time, this book contains a lot of useful information including a bibliography.I found the notes section frustrating: there is no reference within the text to the notes; the notes themselves contain page references back to the text.So, if you read the text without exploring the notes you would not have a clear picture of how (and from where) the information was gleaned. For those who have been avidly following Stephen King's career since `Carrie' was first published in 1974, it is unlikely that this book contains anything new.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

A great read
I enjoyed this book very much and think it gave me a better overview of Stephen King, the man.When one gets an overview of an author, it makes his work even more meaningful.

Great Cover!
This Edgar award nominated book has a great cover, the rest of the book is okay. It's very readable, and should hold your interest, but it's a "hit the high and low points" type of biography. There is quite a bit of info, known to even the casual King fan, that is left out.It's repetitious, could have used one more proofread, and I found it a little depressing. The author writes that King has lost readers since he turned away from horror. I was an early (rabid?) King fan (if you have not read SALEM'S LOT buy it and read it instead of this book), but I must admit he lost me along the way. The book is surprisingly short, and I wish better photos had been selected for the photo section. The author does a very good job dealing with some sensitive areas of King's life, and giving the reader an idea of some of the wonderful things King has been able to do for people in need.

Any King fan knows all this
This book is a lame lazy retread of the most common King info. If you read King's own book 'On Writing' you got all the information in nearly the exact same sentence structures as in this book certainly concerning his childhood and early writing career. Seriously, she copies it nearly verbatim. This is followed by her "discussions" of his books and writings and this is pedestrian at best and sophomoric summaries of book jacket summaries at best. A complete waste of money ... a complete waste of time ... it's a shame trees died for this to be published ... Read more

Product Description
The #1 bestseller-for King's rabid fans.

A family dog turns into a family killer in King's canine classic.Amazon.com Review
Cujo is so well-paced and scary that people tend toread it quickly, so they mostly remember the scene of the mother andson trapped in the hot Pinto and threatened by the rabid Cujo,forgetting the multifaceted story in which that scene isembedded. This is definitely a novel that rewards re-reading. Whenyou read it again, you can pay more attention to the theme of countryfolk vs. city folk; the parallel marriage conflicts of the Cambersvs. the Trentons; the poignancy of the amiable St. Bernard (yes, thebreed choice is just right) infected by a brain-destroying virus thatmakes it into a monster; and the way the "daylight burial"of the failed ad campaign is reflected in the sunlit Pinto thatbecomes a coffin. And how significant it is that this horror tale isnot supernatural: it's as real as junk food, a failingmarriage, a broken-down car, or a fatal virus. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (279)

Cujo
I read Cujo a few months ago, and this was my first King novel. Where the story was quite weak and a little boring at times, King makes up for with great writing. I'll definitely continue reading King.

Reading with Tequila
I saw the movie adaption of Cujo a few years ago and thought it was just kind of okay. With that kind of enthusiasm, I didn't expect much from the book. While the story isn't hugely scary (I have no fear or dogs, nor rabies), the book goes much deeper than the movie did, making the whole story more well-rounded and the ending that much more traumatic.

I'm confused as to how certain things mentioned in the book relate to the overall story. 4 year old Tad has a monster in his closet. It's made very clear that the monster isn't imaginary. But what did that have to do with Cujo going rabid? The same can be said for the town's previous killer Frank Dodd. He was mentioned numerous times, to the point where you expected him to have been reincarnated as Cujo or something similar. Was it just to show that bad things had happened in Castle Rock before? Any Stephen King fan knows, if something horrific is going to happen anywhere in the world, it's most likely going to happen in Castle Rock. So, what exactly was the point?

And could we have possibly had chapter breaks? This 300 plus page book had no chapters. While not a big deal to most, I found it unnerving.

On the surface, Cujo is a killer dog story. But really, it's a story of a mother's fight for survival and the survival of her child. The long struggle, trapped by Cujo, shows the psychological fear of trying to figure out what to do to protect the child. The book includes much more in the way of backstory for the characters. We see the precarious place Vic and Donna's marriage is in, the trouble with Vic's job, the horrendous marriage of Joe and Charity and their fears about how their own son is growing up.

Cujo probably won't be considered truly horrific by most and has a few glaring loose ends that confuse more than annoy. It does, however, have an impressive psychological impact and will leave even the most hardened horror fans shaken.

Long build up terrifying ending.
Reading Cujo is like believing there is something in your closet that will eventually come out and get you.While you know its there, you begin to grow complacent and it waits.Oh, you know there is something in that closet, but maybe its really not all that bad, maybe if it does ever come out, it will just give you a good scare and then just leave you alone.Maybe it's really nothing at all...It's just a closet, full of shadows cast on harmless things you would have at one time believed were monsters, but your a grown up now and all this spooky talk is just foolishness. Time passes and everything fades into the back of your mind, like a whisper you thought you heard in an empty room.You open that closet.As you peer in, allowing yourself a moment to adjust to the darkness, you stare, suddenly frozen, into the eyes upturned by its maddeningly triumphant grin; and then it grabs you. The monster in the closet is real and it pulls you into its arms as if to lovingly embrace you.The door closes and you let out a soundless scream as the monster in your closet takes its time slowly chewing you to pieces.

Cujo was like that for me... I knew this book was going to be scary, and at first I could see things being played out in my head as I tried to imagine what it would be like to be attacked by a 230lb rabid dog.But then the story takes off in another direction, building the characters and the conflicts between them and you begin to feel like this story isn't about a rabid dog at all, but about people who have really hard lives and are caught up in some really bad situations... then as this story comes to a climax (around the last 150 pages) things take a real turn and then BAM, my heart actually started racing on several occasions... and the ending.... wow, it really blew me away... it was very hard to read, but I wont tell you why, because any hint in that direction would most likely give it away... Read this book, but lock the closet... in fact lock it up and throw away the key.

Still Tedious After all these Years
I first read Cujo 29 years ago, and finally picked it up to reread a few days ago.It didn't get much better in the three decade break between readings. The first time I read the book I was acutely aware of the fact that the 'monster' was just a rabid dog, and I felt disappointed that I had wasted all my time reading about a dog.This time I was more aware of the social commentary King mixed in to explain why nobody was able to come rescue the trapped mom and son, but I was not any more pleased with the overall pacing of the story.

Cujo is one of the lesser King works, and with some trimming of the narrative fat, would fit nicely in one of his short story collections.

I wanted to love this book
I have read just about every Stephen King book. Cujo was the one novel from the early days that I had not finished before. This is my favorite period of King, early 70's - mid 80's. But Cujo doesn't work.

King has a great style. His prose is very simple, his words are conversational. King likes to string together story after story in creation of a larger one that holds them all together. In his work from the 90's on, his prose gets very long in the tooth. Its as if he has become unable to edit his own work with a critical eye. You can see early signs of this with Cujo. If I were editing this story, I would chop about a third of it out.

This is a hyper self involved story. You have a father/mother/young son at the core of the novel. You have a police officer/evil tennis pro/hick car repair guy/his wife/his son/next door neighbor/and more. The focus of the story drifts from one character to the next. Each one has DEEEP thoughts. They reflect on their lives in weighty repose. And this gets pretty old after a while.

King also pulls a 'boogy man', a 'monster' early on that is pretty interesting as a character, but this story line peters out. I have no idea why its there. Its sort of like if the story in 'Misery', (the one where some crazy lady holds a writer hostage)... if that story were started off with a vampire that was chasing the writer before he gets to that house. And then their is no longer a vampire mentioned ever again.

This is not kings finest work. I recently read Firestarter and that had a sweet start. the first 100 - 200 pages were perfect. And of course if you have not read them, Salems Lot, the Stand, or a short story collection like 'Skeleton Crew' are much better bets if you have not tried them before.

... Read more

Product Description
Ralph Roberts hasn't been sleeping well lately. Every morning he wakes just a little bit earlier until pretty soon, he isn't sleeping at all. It wouldn't be so bad if not for the strange hallucinations--and the nightmares that keep coming to life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (426)

The Kindle edition is practically nothing but typos. Buyer beware.
Below is an e-mail I sent to Amazon.com customer service regarding my issues with the Kindle and, especially, the digital copy of this book. It should sum up my complaints well enough.

---------------

First, let me say that I have the utmost appreciation for the way Amazon.com is managed both in terms of employee and customer relations.I only take the time to write such a lengthy e-mail because I feel certain that it will be read and taken seriously, and I sincerely hope that the following problem can be addressed, not just for my own satisfaction (although it would please me to no end to not see silly typos in every future Kindle purchase), but because Amazon is a good business, and I think it would be silly for its strength as a provider of digital content to be negatively affected by what amounts to a technical glitch married to a lack of time and effort on behalf of whoever is responsible for bringing us e-books.

I recently purchased a Kindle after much internal debate and many attempts to convince myself that I would never turn away from my analog books.I was a difficult convert, but since getting my hands on my Kindle I've really fallen in love with the thing and I recommend it to everyone who asks about it (and many who don't).

However, I've noticed some rather bothersome errors that occur when converting books to the Kindle format and wind up in the finished text as silly typos.I understand how these make their way in: you've got thousands of books you're trying to upload to the Kindle to ensure readers have a large enough potential library to warrant purchasing a Kindle and continuing to download books, so whoever-is-responsible-for-this-sort-of-thing gets a text (poopoo to all of those authors of the past few hundred years haven't bothered to submit digital copies of their works) and scans it on some fancy pants scanning machine that automatically converts the words on the paper to words that can be rolled up and sent through the ether to our sexy Kindles and then to hungry minds, and of course you just HAVE to get to the next book, because, hey, there's catching up to be done and we can't sit here and proof-read every book we put on the device, because there's simply no time. I get it. I do.

But errors seem to be inevitable.I've read, I don't know, six books on the Kindle so far, and ALL of them have silly mistakes, the most frequent being the following:

* The lower case letters "rn" become the letter "m".Understandable. Just look at those two intimate little humped consonants rubbing shoulders!If they were at a dance at my middle school, Principal Scragg would quickly remind them that, hey, he better see LIGHT between those two bodies.Totally inappropriate, that level of letter-on-letter intimacy is.Still, I'm sick of seeing "comer" in place of "corner".For the nearsighted among you, I'll repeat that with CAPS: I'm sick of seeing "COMER" in place of "CORNER".I'll tell you, you don't realize how many times an author uses the word CORNER until you've had to stumble over COMER in its place for the fiftieth time.

*Hyphens and double hyphens are used inconsistently, making it difficult to distinguish between hyphenated words and parenthetical statements, and god help you if you should stumble upon a parenthetical with a hyphenated word inside.Who knows what the heck that line is supposed to mean!

*Ellipses, instead of being placed attached immediately to the end of a word (like this... see?), find themselves dangling between words like antisocial little obsessive compulsives (like this ... see?).

Okay, so those are are survivable (although the Kindle has successfully ruined the words CORNER and COMER for me for all time -- I will never be able to read those without mentally stumbling over them -- thanks), but I recently started a book ("Insomnia" by Stephen King) that has so many typos that it wouldn't pass a ninth grade composition class, let alone the scrutinizing eye of an editor at New American Library or Penguin or Signet or wherever.It's gag inducing (hyperbole!).After making it only 4% into the book and being frustrated by the stupid number of typos I took upon myself to highlight every mistake I noticed in the course of reading (and now the progress bar at the bottom of my screen is practically black with the number of marks I've made).I've encouraged Amazon customer service to open up "Insomnia" and look over the sheer number of mistakes I've highlighted, but just for fun, here's another bullet-point list of stupid-crap-I-found-in-my-book-that-I-paid-money-for (with locations!):

*COMER(S) shows up 51 times! Enough said. Man! Just do a search within the the text for the word "COMER" and see what happens. I dare you.

*(Loc 552, among others): the numeral 1 in place of the capital letter I.In the same place there is an example of incorrect use of hyphen length.

*(Loc 615): "delivery-track" instead of "delivery-truck"

*(Loc 622, among many, many others): "...at . 4:15 a.m., anything seems..." -- Randomly placed period. See it? It's like a zit in the middle of that sentence, as conspicuous behind the time of morning as a big white popper is beneath the lip of a high school cheerleader, and if that period is a zit, then this book has a helluva case of acne.These blemishes are sometimes in the middle of sentences, sometimes dropped in front of sentences AFTER the preceding sentence has already been punctuated, and it sits there in the empty real estate like (pardon me for mixing my metaphors here) a dog deuce left carelessly on my front lawn.

*(Loc 647, among many, many others): "Up-Mile Hill" -- Randomized bolding of words.If the misplaced periods are zits, then I don't know what to call these... reminds me of a lady of the night wearing too much mascara -- it's tasteless and distracting.

*As I look through here I'm seeing more and COMERS and COMERS and COMERS and COMERS and COMERS.COMERS of people's mouths, COMERS of the street, COMERS things that get rounded off to becomes less COMERy.

*(Loc 771, among many, many others): "...petition, he thought..." -- Inconsistent use of italics making it difficult to distinguish between where the internal thoughts of a character end and where the words of the narrator begin.

*(Loc 837): This one is funny, I promise."Flow long are we going to sit on your porch...?"See it? SEE IT? "HOW" became "FLOW!" Like everything else, this jerks you right out of the text.

*(Loc 1203): There's a character named "McGovern".Here, he rounds the COMER and becomes "McGovem".This happens a few times.

*(Loc 1532): This is another funny one.I think "the Now-up" is supposed to be "the blow-up". I'm not sure. It's a stretch. I can see how the first vertical line and the intersecting diagonal of the capital N correspond to the vertical back and tiny belly of the lower case b.I guess. Sort of. Anyway...

*(Loc 1643): "Anyway" becomes "Ar y-way".Seriously. There's even a space in there.

*(Loc 1720): "Lopez" becomes "L6pez".

*(Loc 1883): "...what had happened..." becomes "...wha, had happened..."

*(Loc 2868): "...knew everything..." becomes "...knew e-erything..."

Anyway, look: this is exhausting, and it just goes ON and ON, much like this e-mail.Believe it or not, I skipped a lot of mistakes in between what you see above.

These errors are like that moment we've all seen in movies where the boom mike floats down into the frame or where the hand of a puppeteer can be seen manipulating what should be a spooky monster tentacle or where-- nevermind. I think two examples is enough. Point is, this stuff takes you out of the fantasy, and it does so violently. It's abortive, and it can sure as heck ruin the moment for the audience.

I wouldn't let the above mistakes dissuade you from purchasing a Kindle.Those mistakes certainly aren't present in ALL texts (although COMER always makes a guest appearance), but you should be aware of the drawbacks to Amazon's offered e-book library as it stands.

Once these problems are addressed? 5-star review for the kindle. It's sad, because until I downloaded this most recent book, I was fully ready to post a five star review for the Kindle, but this experience is enough to make me not want to use the thing anymore.

My review for Insomnia? Eh, my one star review stands since this thing looks like it was formatted by a half-blind chimp.Without the typos it'd only get 3-stars anyway. It's okay. For completists only.I'm only finishing it because of some supposed tie-ins to the Dark Tower series, which I'm trying to finish right now.

How many Stephen Kings are there?
This is my first review, and only because the book was tedious and boring beyond belief.

In the past, I have eagerly devoured King's works.Salem's Lot, Carrie, Thinner, Dolores Claiborne, The Green Mile, Misery, Running Man, Rage, The Long Walk, Pet Sematary, Lawnmower Man -- real page-turners with spare, go-for-the-guts writing (in one tale a marooned man eats parts of himself).

But I bailed out on Bag of Bones and Insomnia, for the same reasons -- garrulous and self-indulgent story-telling (almost nothing happens in 200 pages), stupid cultural references, unnecessary similes and metaphors, clumsy, childish writing that makes me want to edit every other sentence...it makes me ask, does everything King writes automatically get published?Does he have a good editor sometimes and no editor other times?How can such vast gaps in quality come from the same brain?

Insomnia features boring things happening to boring people explained in excruciating detail -- and not even that new or interesting: people see auras, there are little aliens with stupid names, not nearly as complex as the ones in his book about little gray men.The writing seemed to get worse the farther I went, until I gave up.

Disappointed
I love Stephen King. I have mostly stuck to the classics and the familiar but wanted to try something new. This book bored me unfortunately. It was too unlike other books I have read of his and seemed to last forever. I did complete the book but I wasn't moved, scared, or very interested in this story. Read a sample first and choose your book wisely.

Is this seriously a King book??
You would think that a novel titled 'Insomnia' would at least keep you up at night reading or be maybe even a little exciting. Nope. This book drags you along tediously through it's neverending pages. The characters are always wandering about in such a state of confusion and bewilderment, that you begin to wonder if even King knows wheres he's going with the bizarre plot.

When I first read the description of the book, I thought it would be something classic and frighening like I've seen King do so many times before. Instead, the only thing mildly unsettling about Insomnia is the thought that you're going to possibly die of boredom before finishing the book. What's sad is that this horribly slow novel is centered around two elderly people. Maybe King was trying to send some kind of message like "old folks are people too," but these characters are given no substance. They're 70 years old, but we're supposed to expect that nothing of interest happened in their lives before the events in 'Insomnia'? My favorite thing about King has always been the intricate web of characters and relationships he spins that create a whole other world. This world of the town Derry is just flat and two-dimensional. I really don't know what else to say.

Now the plot. It never ends. Ever. It keeps trying to lead you on and is always not telling you something. But this gets old about 200 pages in. Eventually you tire of the game of "keep-the-REAL-meaning-of-the-story-away-from-the-reader." I simply cannot get over how flat out, for lack of a better word, BORING this was. Even The Stand held up oh so much better than this.

What starts out as a simple (Stephen King? Simple? Haha) story about a lonely old man, turns into an elaborate and random journey about alternate universes and more hidden religious meanings. King has a wonderful imagination, but this isn't imgination, this just sounds like a bit too much LSD.

The twists and turns become meaningless by the end, making you wonder why you're still reading. Funny enough, that, my dear friends, is probably the only reason I'm giving this 2 stars. Although 'Insomnia' took many weeks, I had to keep coming back to it, even just to see if it would improve slightly. Unfortunately, it didn't.

to many errors in type
I love Stephen King novels.This Kindle edition has serious errors throughout the book.I read page after page with errors, it was getting annoying after awhile.
Not simple mis spellings, but incorect words.

The town is Derry, at one point the name is Deny.
The word me where the word obviously was meant to be the.
Corndor for corridor.
Then instead of the, that one I forgive.

My problelm that there are so many errors throughout the book, most are in the first quarter through middle of the book.It was just annoying to read.

Generally the errors are the incorrect word than mis spellings.I'm not trying to be an editor, this is just bad proof reading if any proofing was done at all.

If a book is going to be released this way for Kindle I feel that 6.99 is too much to pay.I think a partial refund is in order.

I like the story, maybe not as much as other of King's stories, but still I enjoyed the ride.

... Read more

Product Description

Once upon a time, in the haunted city of Derry, four boys stood together and did a brave thing. It was something that changed them in ways they could never begin to understand.

Dreamcatcher

Twenty-five years after saving a Down's-syndrome kid from bullies, Beav, Henry, Pete, and Jonesy -- now men with separate lives and separate problems -- reunite in the woods of Maine for their annual hunting trip. But when a stranger stumbles into their camp, disoriented and mumbling something about lights in the sky, chaos erupts. Soon, the four friends are plunged into a horrifying struggle with a creature from another world where their only chance of survival is locked in their shared past -- and in the Dreamcatcher.

Never before has Stephen King contended so frankly with the heart of darkness. Dreamcatcher, his first full-length novel since Bag of Bones, is a powerful story of astonishing range that will satisfy fans both new and old.Amazon.com Review
Stephen King fans, rejoice! The bodysnatching-aliens tale Dreamcatcher is his first book in years that slakes our hunger for horror the way he used to. A throwback to It, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers, Dreamcatcher is also an interesting new wrinkle in his fiction.

Four boyhood pals in Derry, Maine, get together for a pilgrimage to their favorite deep-woods cabin, Hole in the Wall. The four have been telepathically linked since childhood, thanks to a searing experience involving a Down syndrome neighbor--a human dreamcatcher. They've all got midlife crises: clownish Beav has love problems; the intellectual shrink, Henry, is slowly succumbing to the siren song of suicide; Pete is losing a war with beer; Jonesy has had weird premonitions ever since he got hit by a car.

Then comes worse trouble: an old man named McCarthy (a nod to the star of the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers) turns up at Hole in the Wall. His body is erupting with space aliens resembling furry moray eels: their mouths open to reveal nests of hatpin-like teeth. Poor Pete tries to remove one that just bit his ankle: "Blood flew in splattery fans as Pete tried to shake it off, stippling the snow and the sawdusty tarp and the dead woman's parka. Droplets flew into the fire and hissed like fat in a hot skillet."

For all its nicely described mayhem, Dreamcatcher is mostly a psychological drama. Typically, body snatchers turn humans into zombies, but these aliens must share their host's mind, fighting for control. Jonesy is especially vulnerable to invasion, thanks to his hospital bed near-death transformation, but he's also great at messing with the alien's head. While his invading alien, Mr. Gray, is distracted by puppeteering Jonesy's body as he's driving an Arctic Cat through a Maine snowstorm, Jonesy constructs a mental warehouse along the lines of The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. Jonesy physically feels as if he's inside a warehouse, locked behind a door with the alien rattling the doorknob and trying to trick him into letting him in. It's creepy from the alien's view, too. As he infiltrates Jonesy, experiencing sugar buzz, endorphins, and emotions for the first time, Jonesy's influence is seeping into the alien: "A terrible thought occurred to Mr. Gray: what if it was his concepts that had no meaning?"

King renders the mental fight marvelously, and telepathy is a handy way to make cutting back and forth between the campers' various alien battlefronts crisp and cinematic. The physical naturalism of the Maine setting is matched by the psychological realism of the interior struggle. Deftly, King incorporates the real-life mental horrors of his own near-fatal accident and dramatizes the way drugs tug at your consciousness. Like the Tommyknockers, the aliens are partly symbols of King's (vanquished) cocaine and alcohol addiction. Mainly, though, they're just plain scary. Dreamcatcher is a comeback and an infusion of rich new blood into King's body of work. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (692)

The rose in the dreamcatcher
When the four guys come up and find the older kids abusing douglas it sounds like a subtil reference to the Dark Tower/Rose.
Douglas is in a vacant lot and the description of this lot sounds so much like the vacant lot in NYC where Jake finds the rose. In both books the good guys want to protect the object in question. The Rose calms Jakes duality and allows him to regain sanity. Douglas has a similiar effect and serves the purpose of maintaning order in the Dreamcatcher world not unlike the rose and dark tower.
Opinions?

A Worthy Effort, If Not His Best
3.5 stars, round to 4

Reading Dreamcatcher is like watching a whole season of X-Files all at once, except without Fox and Dana.And with some scenes thrown in that would be too gory for television; and all wrapped up in the psychological suspense that Stephen King does so well.

The monsters and gore don't do much for me, but the psychological suspense and depth of characters make the book worth reading. I was especially intrigued that King chose a person with Down's Syndrome as one of the main characters, the one around which the entire story revolves. Perhaps the best passage of the book is a short one that is told from this character's point of view. It is fascinating how differently Duddit's mind works from the way he comes across to others - how much more "normal" he is inside his own mind. It shows a great deal of insight on King's part, and accords with current medical knowledge about Down's Syndrome.

The high level of suspense keeps you reading and makes this easier and quicker to read than you might expect for a book of such length. It isn't really a mystery, in which a big surprise answer is revealed at the end. Instead, there is a constant turnover between revelations of pieces of the puzzle along with new questions that are always arising. This keeps the tension level consistently high pretty much throughout the entire book. It does drag a bit towards the end, though. The final chase scene goes on too long and in too much detail. The book's length could have been significantly shortened if the chase had been pared down to only those parts of it that added important information. However, fans of action and adventure might consider the chase the best part of the book.

Dreamcatcher is highly atmospheric. The vivid depiction of the wild and bitterly cold Maine woods during a big blizzard, together with the culture of the hunters and fishermen who make up the small and mostly transient local population, is one of the strong points of the book. In fact, for me the spookiest part was towards the beginning, where the hunters become increasingly aware of their isolation and remote location as things begin to go wrong. The realism of this part made it much scarier to me than the later sections with the monsters.

I also found it both interesting and moving that Stephen King wrote this book while recovering from critical injuries following a car accident that very nearly killed him. One story line in the novel closely resembles King's own experience. The autobiographical quality of that thread adds to the realism of the story and the way that King is able to almost make the reader feel the character's pain.

The "voices" of the characters are authentic and consistent. Although some readers may find the crude language of some objectionable, there is no question that it is part of the authenticity of those characters.

Although horror novels aren't really my thing, Stephen King's intelligence as well as his experience and competency as a writer are quite evident in Dreamcatcher. His books are the best in the genré.

(882 pages)


Quotes from Dreamcatcher:

"You can't make yourself be lucky."

". . . men . . . When you thought about it, it was sort of a blue-eyed wonder that women could love the best of them, let alone the rest of them."

A good effort
Dreamcatcher is a good effort by King, but its not a great book. But before I get to my issues with it I want to say that Dreamcatcher has a lot of things going for it. The characters are interesting, the plot moves at its own steady rate, and I really liked how the military was involved.

However, Dreamcatcher is a unnecessarily lengthy book, and even though it develops its characters that doesn't justify the books length. In all honestly I got sick of it around the 400 page mark and literally skipped 200 pages, and I didn't really miss a single thing. (And I don't typically skip pages in books, I read Under the Dome without skipping a single page)

Aside from the books length though I don't really have too many qualms with Dreamcatcher, and its not one of his worst books or anything its just not as good as his others. It started well, but it slowly went downhill.

Not King's best, but entertaining
For me, this book probably ranks right about in the middle between King's best and worst books.It's entertaining, and you can get into the characters, but I guess the book is more of a "downer" than most of his.I won't say and spoil it for anybody.

As far as the audiobook goes, the reader takes a little getting used to.He reads in kind of this matter-of-fact "Mr Rogers Neighborhood" kind of voice, which at first seems really odd given the subject matter.Eventually you get used to it though, and it's not so bad.

An Average, Unsatisfying King Effort
Just an average read. Not worse than some of his others, but certainly not among my favorites from him. The first book he completed after his life-threatening / -altering accident, this tale combines the worst parts of "The Tommyknockers" with some of the comfy, reliable parts of "The Body" and "The Dead Zone." About 4 childhood friends, one who suffers a car accident very similar to King's own, and a camping trip that turns into disaster, culminating in aliens, a retarded boy with "a gift" and other ridiculous, who-cares? climactic elements. Too long a book for the little bit that's actually interesting. A good editor could have probably shaped this into a shorter, tighter, more enjoyable read. Oh, well. ... Read more

Product Description

For the first time on CD! Vintage Stephen King at a great low price!

Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. An all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.

An infamous house in Castle Rock takes on a life of its own in It Grows on You. In The Fifth Quarter, a crook seeks to avenge his friend's death and to piece together a map to stolen treasure that his buddy died trying to claim. A nightly free rock-androll concert carries a hidden price in You Know They Got a Hell of a Band. And a tabloid reporter's pursuit of a brutal killer could turn deadly in in The Night Flier.

Stephen King, Gary Sinise, Grace Slick and Frank Muller lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Decent stories, and all VERY well read.
IT GROWS ON YOU contains audio versions of four Stephen King stories.The readings are pretty solid all around.The stories vary somewhat in quality.

First up is the title story."It Grows On You" is vintage King, sent in Maine and mostly involving a bunch of old guys with thick accents sitting around and remember past events involving an unusual haunted house.It would seem the house literally has a life of its own, and its owners keep adding strange and unneeded expansions to the property (and going insane).For me, the story was more atmosphere than content.There is little payoff to it, and the ending is needlessly squalid. (SPOILER:do we NEED to finish up with hearing about an old man having a wet dream and then dying in his sleep?)King is the narrator here, and he does his usual serviceable job of reading his own work.He isn't the greatest reader in history, but he certainly gets the pacing and inflections that he intended.Occasionally, the dialogue rings a little false...I always wonder if when King reads his work out loud for these audiobooks if he wishes he could go back and tweak a little.

2nd is "The Fifth Quarter," a non-horror story.It's written in the "hard-boiled" style of someone like John D. MacDonald, and tells a story of revenge and reminds us that there's "no honor among thieves."It is very well read by Gary Sinese, and moves briskly.It's not a great story, particularly if you're looking for King-style horror...but it's vivid & evocative of the era King is clearly trying to hearken to.Over the years, King has proven a master of fashioning stories in other styles:EYE OF THE DRAGON ready like C.S. Lewis without religion, "The Breathing Method" like Conan Doyle, etc.

Next up is "You Know They Got A Hell of a Band," perhaps the best written of the bunch.It tells the story of a young couple making a trip through Oregon by car.They take the "scenic route" and after much arguing and misadventure, stumble across a little town in the middle of nowhere that may just be too good to be true.King's dialogue and relationship between the two is sharp and believable...he's often so good at quickly sketching convincing marriages and putting them in peril.He did similarly solid work with "Children of the Corn."(Forget the movies...the short story puts them all to deep, deep shame.)This story is, surprisingly, read by Grace Slick.I have no idea who thought of having her do this...but it was a GREAT idea.Her manner is a bit unpolished, but she is a clear, intelligent interpreter...and it's nice to hear a King story in a female voice.I'd gladly hear her again.

The final story is read by the legendary Frank Muller...probably the greatest interpreter of King.He's very "unflashy" in his style...but he simply reads the stories with perfect pitch, pace and emphasis.He gets out of the way of the story, and almost seems like the voice you would hear in your own head when reading a book in bed at night."The Night Flier" is a vampire story, about a journalist who believes he's discovered a killer who flies his own plane from airport to airport at night and is snacking on the workers there.It reads a bit hard-boiled as well, and also something like a procedural.But it has moments of pure horror, and the ending is classic gory King.

Overall, while I wish the collection had two stronger stories to lead off, this is very solidly done stuff, and makes a wonderful listen while driving.If you're a King fan, you should be well pleased.

Slick!
"It Grows on You" Was a read by Sk and well developed and as Maine as Maine can be, Well Done! "The Fifth Quarter: read by Gary Sinise was Great and I would Love to see more read by GS! Grace Slick was surprising as a reader and perfect for "You Know You They Got a Hell of a Band" ROCK ON! And of coarse Frank Muller (a Master) read "The Night Flier" prefectly and the story left you feeling that the world was as Dark as a Wood Chucks #&$*#@ is Black! So to this "Constant Reader" It lived up to or maybe better said, "It was as good as the Undead gets"!

Vintage Frank Muller
I bought this collection just to hear an older recording of Frank Muller reading Night Flyer.Wonderful to hear him read something I hadn't heard yet, and the story was certainly entertaining.The other stories are certainly a step down.King's reading of the title story was O.K. but he is not a professional reader, lacking the subtle inflections and timing that are needed; the story was populated with interesting characters, then everything just faded into oblivion.Grace Slick was surprisingly good in her performance and the story--though weakly concluded--was fun.The Fifth Quarter was a hoot and queerly off-beat for King, and the reader (Gary Sinise) pulled off this noir detective story with just the right flavor. ... Read more

Product Description
John Smith awakens from an interminable coma with an accursed power-the power to see the future and the terrible fate awaiting mankind in...the dead zone.Amazon.com Review
In the St.James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, Gary Westfahlpredicts that "King has already earned himself a place in the historyof literature.... At the very least, he will enjoy the status of alatter-day AnthonyTrollope, an author respected for his popularity and socialcommentary.... More likely, he will be enshrined as the CharlesDickens of the late 20th century, the writer who perfectlyreflected, encapsulated, and expressed the characteristic concerns ofhis era."

If any of King's novels exemplifies his skill at portraying theconcerns of his generation, it's The Dead Zone (1979). Althoughit contains a horrific subplot about a serial killer, it isn'tstrictly a horror novel. It's the story of an unassuming high schoolteacher, an Everyman, who suffers a gap in time--like a Rip Van Winklewho blacks out during the years 1970-75--and thus becomes acutelyconscious of the way that American society is rapidly changing. Hewakes up as well with a gap in his brain, the "dead zone" of thetitle. The zone gives him crippling headaches, but also grants himsecond sight, a talent he doesn't want and is reluctant to use. Thecrux of the novel concerns whether he will use that talent to alterthe course of history.

The Dead Zone is a tight, well-crafted book. When asked in 1983which of his novels so far was "the best," Stephen King answered, "Theone that I think works the best is Dead Zone.It's the onethat [has] the most story." --Fiona Webster ... Read more

Customer Reviews (205)

Above average in relation to SKing novels
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very well paced and creepy. The character development wasn't as complete as other King books i.e. It, The Stand, etc but enough was put into them to make each one real and believable. Every time the book seemed to tail off something exciting happened to grab my attention back. While The Dead Zone is not as scary/creepy as a lot of his other novels, it has just enough to fit into the horror genre. I would rate this book as a 4.5 out of 5.

Disappointing
This novel was great until the ending. Very well done. But, I was surprised the character did what he did at the end, even though I recognized his reasoning. Yes, some people deserve to be taken out, but that doesn't mean we should do it.Okay, it's just a novel, but one of King's iconic ones at that.I guess I just have to remind myself that we live in a barbaric world.I just thought King's main character had more character than that.I wonder if King ever regretted he didn't write it differently. Perhaps there are some interviews with him on YouTube ....

One of his best books
I had read this book a while ago and just read it again, years later, and have to say this is still one of Stephen King's best books.I highly suggest this book.If you've never read one of his books before, start with this one!

King's most complete novel
In his book "On Writing" King mentions at one point his disdain for plotting. He cites "The Dead Zone" as one of the few novels he has actually plotted and liked. The evidence that he has plotted is strong in this book as it is his most well written and adequately paced. For the first time ever reading a King novel I didn't feel like the book was 200 pages too long. He does very little of the needless rambling and description here that he does in many of his other novels. There was also another first for me while reading King...I didn't have to skip pages! While the actual concept of the story itself isn't as interesting as some of his other novels like "The Stand" or "IT", it is much better written and cuts the fat to a minimum. I can only imagine if he had taken a little extra time to plot the stories I previously mentioned how much more amazing they would be.

Another great one from Stephen King
What can I say that has not already been said about this book or Stephen King? Fast paced story, great characters, and creepy story telling. Well worth the money and an excellent read! ... Read more

Product Description
It was love at first sight. From the moment seventeen-year-old Arnie Cunningham saw Christine, he knew he would do anything to possess her. But Christine is no lady. She is Stephen King's ultimate vehicle of terror. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (203)

Reading with Tequila
I saw the movie version of Christine at least a decade ago and I absolutely hated it. It was dull and honestly, I don't think I understood what was really going on. I just kept thinking, if you'd just stop putting gas in that car all of your problems would be solved.

Finally mustering up the courage to read the book, I found Christine to be a wonderful surprise. It was long and detailed, but these details made up the back story that was sorely missing from the movie. This was well done, well explained supernatural horror. Even with all the car talk, something I know nothing about, I still found myself embroiled in the story.

Dennis, the narrator in Christine, comes across as a very sympathetic character. I found myself caring about him and his well being - far beyond Arnie, Christine's owner and the obvious focal point of the story. With Arnie, there was always the question of how conflicted he was. How much of his actions and personality was really him and how much was Christine's influence?

There were some great surprises in Christine, but I truly loved the focus on being a teenager in high school in the late seventies. The young love, angst, isolation and insecurity that drives teens to do unpredictable things. That's what made Arnie actions so hard to decipher.

Christine is much, much better than its movie adaption and quite a bit more scary as well. Even if you disliked the movie as I did, I would wholeheartedly recommend giving the book a try.

My first and favorite King book
First I have to tell you how I came to read Christine.I was probably around 14 years old, and had never read anything by Stephen King.I don't like scary stuff: have never liked scary movies, and don't like scary books in general.I was visiting my grandparents, and found this book on a bookshelf in their house.This is especially ironic since my Grandparents were a preacher and preacher's wife, and finding this book in their home is about as odd as finding a sno-cone in the middle of the desert.The copy was a Book Club copy and thus explained it's presence in my grandparent's home.Anyway....I was bored out of my skull since my grandparent's live in a rural area, and there is only so much a young person can do to entertain themselves in a town with less than 1,000 people and 12 churches. So, one night I pulled this book off the bookshelf, and decided to give it a whirl.You get sucked in right away by the characters.The opening pages are Dennis describing Arnie, and you can't get a better lesson on a character study than this one.Once I got reading, I could not put this book down, and finished it in just a two or three nightly reading sessions.This book was plenty scary for me, but in the good Supernatural way I like (It's the same reason I love the movie 'Poltergeist' but abhor stuff like Friday the 13th movies). I agree with the other reviewers who state that the characters are what make this such a strong tale.Arnie is just such an amazingly well crafted and tragic character.And while you are bummed out by the ending of the book, you have to admit that it really shouldn't have ended in any other way.Sometimes there are no happy endings. I have found myself coming back to this book over the years.On a slow TV night, I will start perusing my own bookshelf, and pick up this copy I filched from my Grandma and read it again, and again, and enjoy it every time.

Hooked me on Stephen King
This was the first Stephen King story I ever read and it hooked me on his story telling.I must say as a storyteller he just keeps getting better and better.I read in a review of one of his books that "his is an imagination to be jealous of" and I have to agree.I am jealous and inspired.

I was concerned when I got it at first.
Christine was a book that I was nervous about getting because I got it from the library for about a $1.00. I was worried that my deal was too good to be true, and that this story would be as cheesy as its premise sounds I mean a killer car, really? But I as really taken back at how good this book is. Its less about Christine or a killer car and deals more with obsession, love, betrayal and hatred. The love triangle in this book felt real and so did the characters. The book also was violently detailed but not too violent to the point where it turned me off from reading it. While I do like Christine, I thought it could have been edited down a little (but hey what King book can't)

My Review
Christine is not one of Stephen King's greatest works by any means, but it is still a good story with moments of real suspense and terror. I feel that one of King's biggest short-comings with this novel was having the tale told by a future Dennis. To me, this takes away a lot of suspense from some of the most tense scenes in the book because the reader is being told the tale by a character who is involved in a near-death experience, therefore revealing that the narrator survived his experience. As far as I'm concerned, one of the things that makes reading a King novel so compelling is that as a reader one can never be entirely sure which characters (if any) will survive whatever ordeal they happen to be faced with. By having one of the main characters narrate the tale, King has taken away the uncertainty about whether or not Dennis will survive.

Other than that qualm, the only other nit that I have to pick with Christine is that at times the narrative gets a bit long winded. In my opinion, this novel is perhaps 100 to 150 pages longer than it really should have been. I enjoy Kings rambling style and long winding road to the climax, but some smart editing here and there could have tightened this tale up considerably and really improved the vehicle (pun intended) of building up the sheer terror of the story.

All in all, though, this is a really good tale about friendship, love and the forces of evil that appear to shatter all that is good. ... Read more

Product Description
The scary story has never been the same since. An extraordinary quartet of full-length novellas: The Langoliers, Secret Window, Secret Garden, The Library Policeman, and The Sun Dog. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (99)

Four Spine-Tingling Tales
This story collection contains four tales spun from the "colorful" mind of Stephen King:

The Langoliers: Probably the most innovative and mind-boggling of the four, dealing with a plane-load of passengers that starts to experience some strange phenomena.Very unique, exciting, and not unlike an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Secret Window, Secret Garden: Today's generation will know this title from the Johnny Depp film of roughly the same name, about a solitary writer visted by a strange man claiming to have "stole his story".Contains a mind-blowing ending that you won't see coming.

The Library Policeman: Easily the strangest story in the binding, about a library patron who has been around a lot longer than she lets one.One of those stories that really digs deep into the abscesses of King's mind.

The Sun Dog: Perhaps the weakest story of the bunch, yet still engrossing enough to keep you turning pages as a Polaroid photograph shows of glimpse of something far beyond darkroom chemicals.

Overall, this is a top-notch story collection that will compell you to keep reading at every chapter break.What more can one ask for?!

Just a good read
I bought this book just for "secret window, secret garden", but was shown some great stories along the way. These stories are just long enough to hold you in and make you be just on the edge of your seat. I saw the movie Secret Window and after needed to read the book. All four of these stories lived up to expectation and for $6 on the kindle you are crazy not to pick this book up.

The Langoliers
"The Langoliers" is one in four novellas from Stephen King in his "Four Past Midnight" book.The other novellas don't stack up to this one and should be considered a stand alone piece of work against Stephen King's other masterpieces.
King's ability to climb inside of the minds of so many personalities and describe them to you, the reader, is second to none.Combine that with his wild imagination and you have the formula for all of King's work.
As an avid fan of King's storytelling and mesmerizing tales I was absorbed, once again, into his world.This time he took thirteen passengers aboard a 767 jetliner all heading to a faraway destination, and sent them further than ever before.Through time and space itself.King lends his talent to the time aged speculative which is time travel.But instead of sending these unwilling participants into the future or the past he has them trekking around in between times as they witness how the past catches up with the present.He reveals the main characters as they experience their journey instead of setting them up in the beginning of the story.This form of writing makes the story hard to put down.
As in most of his works he tantalizes us with things yet to come and dangles key turning points in front of us like shiny keys to an infant.His foreshadowing is well known and often imitated but never mastered.This excerpt is a prime example:

"He watched Melanie Trevor patiently as she pointed out the exit doors, demonstrated how to use the little gold cup if there was a pressure loss (a procedure Brian had been reviewing in his own mind, and with some urgency , not long ago), and how to inflate the life vest under the seat.When the plane was airborne, she came by his seat and asked him again if she could get him something to drink.Brian shook his head, thanked her, then pushed the button which caused his seat to recline.He closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.
He never saw Melanie Trevor again."

Here he gives us a taste of what is to come, but only a taste.The chapter ends after that loaded sentence and you can't help but wonder what happens to her, or better yet what happens to him?King writes this story with a ferocity that hurls you through the story at a break-neck speed and when you're done you'll want more and you won't realize that it was 234 pages long.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

Stephen Kings finishes the book off in grand style with a journey to the future and has the remaining characters rematerializing in the main terminal of LAX as the present catches up with them, like members of the enterprise on an "away mission".

!!END SPOILER!!

If you enjoyed King's other books like "It", "The Stand", and "Pet Sematary", then you'll definitely want to pick this up and you won't be able to put it down till the end.

Toomy! Craig toomy!
This book is worth reading/buying for the langoliers and the sundog on it's own. The two other storys (library policeman and secret window, secret garden) i didn't care for much. I was blown away by the langoliers and one of king's best written and craziest characters craig toomy and his hatred and dismay for his late, strict moraled and equally as crazy overbearing father richard who no doubt turned him into the monster he had become in this story. The sun dog is ALMOST equally as good. A master is at work here.

Oh what? You wanted to sleep tonight? Natch!
I like short story novels - they seem to go pretty fast and I adore Stephen King. I always wonder what goes on inside his head when he's writing, ya know? I love that each of these stories has a note from him telling about how the story came about. It was very interesting how one single image or thought can transform itself!

The Langoliers - I remember seeing this on TV a while back and it was pretty well done, but the book, as usual, puts it to shame. Very interesting story. I like reading about time travel, but most of it falls into sci-fi, which I don't care for, so this was my kind of story!

Secret Window, Secret Garden - I saw this movie a while back. Johnny Depp played the main character (yum!). I thought the movie was very well done and it successfully creeped me out - even though I knew the "twist" - it wasn't hard to figure out. The story was well done as well. What I loved about this story was how King is able to bring these characters to life. You SEE Shooter and can HEAR him...

The Library Policeman - Stephen King has made me a little leery of clowns and those cars that you can start with your keyring... now, I may never go to the library again... dude, if I see some old woman who is obsessed with me getting my books back in time, I'm high-tailing it out of there. Great story!

The Sun Dog - Good premise, but I didn't like Cujo or any of those other "attack of the wild animals" books, so it just didn't do it for me... oh well... ... Read more

Product Description
STEPHEN KING STORM OF THE CENTURY BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB EDITION 1999 LIKE NEW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Storm of the Century
This was a very quick transaction. The Seller communication was good; packaging was fine and I received it in about a week. The only thing I would have complaint with- I would have preferred to know that this was a book club edition. This was not in the description. That said, the book otherwise was as described. Would purchase from this seller again.

I have not even recieved this book that I purchased since July 09 and the person I bought it from won't return my emails!
I wouldn't know since I have yet to recieve this book that I purchased since July 2009 and the person I purchased it from has yet to return my emails...

Great Stephen King Read
Reading a book in screen play form was a first for me, but nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. It's a classic King tale of an evil being coming to an isolated island town off the coast of Maine during a winter storm.

Storm of the Century
xcellent purchase, fast delivery also; btw, I'm also a Stephen King die-hard Constant Reader -;).

Good Read
Another very good book by Mr. King. Took a little while to get used to the screenplay format. ... Read more

Product Description

Set in the 1930s at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary's death-row facility, The Green Mile is the riveting and tragic story of John Coffey, a giant, preternaturally gentle inmate condemned to death for the rape and murder of twin nine-year-old girls. It is a story narrated years later by Paul Edgecomb, the ward superintendent compelled to help every prisoner spend his last days peacefully and every man walk the green mile to execution with his humanity intact.

Edgecomb has sent seventy-eight inmates to their date with "old sparky," but he's never encountered one like Coffey -- a man who wants to die, yet has the power to heal. And in this place of ultimate retribution, Edgecomb discovers the terrible truth about Coffey's gift, a truth that challenges his most cherished beliefs -- and ours.

Originally published in 1996 in six self-contained monthly installments, The Green Mile is an astonishingly rich and complex novel that delivers over and over again. Each individual volume became a huge success when first published, and all six were on the New York Times bestseller list simultaneously. Three years later, when Frank Darabont made The Green Mile into an award-winning movie starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan, the book returned to the bestseller list -- and stayed there for months.

And now -- with a new introduction by King's foreign agent Ralph Vicinanza, as well as the author's own foreword -- we have the first hardcover edition of this magnificent novel in which "King surpasses our expectations, leaves us spellbound and hungry for the next twist of plot" (The Boston Globe).

With illustrations and a new frontispiece for this edition by Mark Geyer.Amazon.com Review
When Stephen King originally wrote The Green Mile as aseries of six novellas, he didn't even know how the story would turnout. And it turned out to be of his finest yarns, tapping into what hedoes best: character-driven storytelling. The setting is the small"death house" of a Southern prison in 1932. The Green Mile is the hallwith a floor "the color of tired old limes" that leads to "Old Sparky"(the electric chair). The charming narrator is an old man, a prisonguard, looking back on the events decades later.

Maybe it's a little too cute (there's a smart prison mouse named Mr.Jingles), maybe the pathos is laid on a little thick, but it's hard toresist the colorful personalities and simple wonders of thissupernatural tale. And it's not a bad choice for giving to someone whodoesn't understand the appeal of Stephen King, because the one scenethat is out-and-out gruesome (it involves "Old Sparky") can be easilyskipped by the squeamish.

The Green Mile won a 1997 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel; andTom Hanks stars in a film of the novel by Frank Darabont, the directorof The ShawshankRedemption (from King's collection DifferentSeasons). --Fiona Webster ... Read more

Customer Reviews (825)

Painful read
SPOILER
Indeed it was a painful read. This exceptional Stephen King's novel is far from his typical genre which is 'horror'. It tells about a magical, rather rare human experience.

It has a very sad ending that almost brought me to tears. The last pages were just outstanding. One, for example, when Paul's wife was dying in his hand after the accident, Paul was shouting at John Coffee to bring her back to life, but afterwhat? After putting John Coffee to death? Ofcourse Paul was imagining that he saw Coffee walking by.

This part was so sad, I don't know why it wasn't in the movie. And the ultimate surprise in the end, where Paul (in the nursery home) confesses that he is very, very old as well as the poor mouse! (I don't remember the number now), and that was a punishment from God making him live long and see all his loved ones die around him because Paul didn't save Coffee from the murder he was innocent from.

Enjoyable read from the beginning till the very ending sentence. It is indeed one of the greatest books I will ever live to read and appreciate.

The best I've ever read!
I'm an avid King fan and I can honestly say that I've read almost everything he has written.Yes, Stephen King is an amazing author for thr horror genre, but I feel that The Green Mile tops them all.It's compelling and it will grip onto your heart and dig it's fingers in until the very last page.A must read for all.

Outstanding
I started reading the Green Mile when it first became available, in the "mini-series".I absolutely could not wait to get the next book.The story was exceptional, I felt like I was an inhabitant of "the mile".When I found out that they were making a Movie, I was immediately disapointed, becasue I felt there was no way that it would do the book justice (like so many of King's books).I could have been more wrong, I loved the movie almost as much as the book, Michael Clark Duncan was born to play John.Whether you read the book(s), or watch the movie, do not miss this one!

once captured, you don't want to escape
After "Needful Things," and the destruction of Castle Rock, Maine, I wondered where Stephen King would find another setting to lock his loyal legionsin, and turn up the voltage.He found it, in a '30s Georgia prison.The book is only about a million times better than the movie--nothing new for a King novel. The narrator, head guard on Death Row, and his henchmen are, with one exception, kinder and gentler guards than the monsters of "Shawshank Redemption" fame.We all could do well to follow the values of the narrator, who clearly loved his wife, and put his future in peril to save the life of his boss's wife, in the only way possible, using the powers of a convicted killer. As always, the characters are memorable--they are even in King's worst books. But here, as in his very best books, the plot and characters together create a novel from which you wouldn't want a reprieve.

Good, but misrepresented
The picture shows a thumbnail of the cover of one of the six original installments.I was therefore expecting the six separate books, and instead recieved a single copy with a big picture of Tom Hanks' face on the cover.I know it's just personal preference, but I HATE getting the books that have the movie cover on them.Again, just a personal thing, but I do wish that representation had been more straightforward.Also, the cover had a relatively large tear in it, which is obviously not very cool.On the other side of things, I absolutely loved the book itself, but that's a given. ... Read more

Product Description
The #1 bestseller that raises the price of greed...

A new store has opened in the little town of Castle Rock. It has just what you want. But you won't discover just how high the price is until it's too late. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (206)

Too Many Typos!
This is one of my favorite Stephen King novels.Unfortunately the number of typos in this electronic edition take away from the enjoyment of reading it.

Needful Things
Stephen King has done it again! "I loved this book kept me involved page by page." Each of the towns people have their own hangups as well as dark desires. But their desires come with a terrible price to pay! As you will find out in Needful Things. "A must read for all you horror fans out there." Another classic example of good verses evil, but which one truly wins? Find out the answer, purchase it today! Yours truly Garry E. Lewis Author of The Rileyville Mystery, Rileyville The Harvest Season, and The Curse of the Devil's Wolf Strap.

Another King hit.
Another King hit.I know I'm late to the show with this book, seeing how it was published in 1991, and there that has been a movie made of it but I promised my wife I would read all of my hardcover's when I'm home and I need to get through them before I hit that Kindle list.

As with most King books the plot is great...there are many ties to other books, people and current events that keep you in suspense the whole time.

I created an image of Mr. Gaunt as I read the book and once I found out who actually played him in the movie it was dead on!!

Manipulation of people can come in many forms and while this has the mystical form there are those more subtle ones that come by way of commercials and political ads.Can we ever do anything without causing another person some issue?Is it possible that we all jump to conclusions about those we suspect before looking at the facts?King plays on these simple human instincts and adds his own brand of evil to the mix.

As always...well written and I would most definitely recommend this to a friend to read.

Didd not think that this book would be as good as it was
When I started reading this book went started out a little slow but you wanted to find find out what was going to happen, which can be very hard to find in a book that may start slow. As I kept on reading I got more and more indulged in this book and it is now one of my favorites. I highly recommend you read this hypnotic novel. It has plenty of characters, surprise turns, and even some trips down memory lane.

Good deal
Book came exactly as described. Arrived in good condition, and arrived quickly, always good to have a new book to read through. All told, a good purchase ... Read more

Product Description
The end is near.
Start at the beginning.

The Dark Tower saga builds to an explosive climax...
In November 2003, the fifth Dark Tower book hits stores for the first time-followed by books six and seven.

This #1 bestseller heralds the beginning of the end.Amazon.com Review
Frank Muller, the recognized virtuoso of audiobook narration(The GreenMile, TheShawshank Redemption), takes on Stephen King's Goliath tale ofsorcerers, time travelers, and sci-fi love. Totaling more than 27hours and spanning 18 cassettes, Wizard and Glass requires thelistener to love Muller's Hannibal Lecter-like voice--either that orsuffer in audio hell for the equivalent of three full workingdays. While some might find his breathy staccatos irritating at best,others will find his voice the perfect accompaniment to King's creepycharacters and nightmarish plots. (Running time: 27 hours, 18cassettes) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (691)

The Best of the Dark Tower Series
I have read the Dark Tower series many times, and it is one of my favorite series. Of all the books in the series, Wizard and Glass is the best. It gives you the details of the Gunslinger's youth and what shaped him. Normally, around the fourth book in any long series, the story starts to get a bit stale, but King did his best work here. I strongly recommend this book and series.

Worst book I've ever read?
I love Stephen King books.I devour them.This book, however, has shown me that they can't all be winners.As others have noted it was in desperate need of some serious editing.The entire flashback to the past section that lasted literally hundreds of pages could have all been summed up in one single chapter.What was so extremely frustrating about it was that so much time was spent on characters feelings and emotions.Ok, so Susan is a hot innocent teenage girl, promised to someone else, and Roland and one of his buddies both fall in love with her, causing a rift in their "ka-tet."Everything ends badly, and the girl dies.There, you can skip this book and move on with the series without missing out on ANYTHING THAT IS IMPORTANT to the story!If King was going to spend so much time on a background story I really wish he would have spent some more time on developing Roland's world instead of focusing on a bunch of characters that do not have any part in the rest of the story.I don't know that I have ever skipped so much as a single word in a book before, but this had me paging ahead, skimming paragraphs, and downright forcing myself to finish it.I think I picked it up and took it back to the library 3 times before I finally was able to stomach all of it.If Stephen King gets 4.5 stars for his entire body of work, this book would be the one solely responsible for him not getting 5.I'm not sure I will finish the series now simply because this was so terrible.

Good, but a little too lengthy for the tail it contains
While I did enjoy this novel, it has been my least favorite in the Dark Tower series thus far (I have just finished book 5). At the beginning of the story, Roland and his band are doing riddle battle with Blaine the mono, and find themselves in a alt-Topeka. This part of the story, as well as the ending, were great. The middle of the novel, however, was a little less compelling to me. I thought that when we finally got Roland's back-story, I would be pleased beyond belief to learn what made him who he is and what compels him to hunt for the tower. Instead, I got a love story that, while informing Roland's personality, doesn't do much else for me. It is by all means greatly written, and there were some great characters and situations, but I felt that this story could have easily been chopped in half and it would have been better for it. It was just too long and at many points uninteresting. The mystery surrounding oil tankers and Conoco signs in a seemingly technology devoid Mexican/western village loses it's luster after a while. The end, after Roland's tragic love story has been told, is so wacky and great that I found myself wondering why there wasn't more of this and less of the back-story. It was an enjoyable story, if not a little too lengthy and slow at points. It helped flesh out who Roland is, and I guess that was the point.

Excellent
Received the book in just a few days in good condition.Greatly appreciate such great service!

Wizards and Glass Book
I was very pleased with the item I had purchased.It was just as advertised and shiping was super quick.I collect Stephen King novels in hardback and always read the paperback version and this was perfect for that.

5 stars to this vendor.I would use them again. ... Read more

Product Description

Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. Stephen King and an all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.

Mysterious machinery begins to take over The House on Maple Street. A private detective finds out that he is merely the character in crime novel in Umney's Last Case. In the non-fiction piece Head Down, King chronicles the 1989 season of his son Owen's little league baseball team and their journey to the Maine State Championships. And as a companion to Head Down, Brooklyn August takes a nostalgic look back on the glory days of professional baseball.

Stephen King, Tabitha King, Robert Parker, and Stephen J. Gould lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Stephen King on disc
I like it. Was thinking it was all Stephen Kings on the disc. However they are not all Stephen King.. Still great deal for the money.

If you like to listen to Stehan King buy this.
I liked most of the CD.But baseball isn't my thing and the last entry is nothing but his baseball story.I didn't read it in the book and gave up listening to it too.I just think sports are very dull.

Stephen King
As usual, I loved this book, but then again - I really love Stephen King. The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because the last two CDs are an essay that King wrote about his son's little league season. I personally liked it, but if you are looking for typical Stephen King, then you may not like this one as much.

I would definately recommend buying it to any Stephen King fan. Also, the price is very good for a 5 CD set.

Stephen and his wife tell the tales
For a road trip, there is nothing like a good book.... on audio.Stephen and his wife, and other narrators, read the text with the appropriate nuances.... excellent product.
And no one else can scare the heck out of you like Stephen King! ... Read more

Product Description
When the full moon shines, a paralysing fear descends on the isolated Maine town of Tarker Mills. No one knows who will be attacked next, but snarls that sound like human words can be heard and all around are the footprints of a monster whose hunger cannot be sated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (103)

cute
A cute take on the werewolf genreWild Evolution, book I of the Wild Series

Cycle of the Werewolf
What can you say - Stephen is the King
Good copy, fast delivery, this book is also know as the movie titled "silver bullet"

Gift
This was a gift for a friend.She was very glad to get it for her collection.It was in great shape.Thanks.

My Review
Cycle of the Werewolf is a fun, quick read that can easily be finished in just a couple of hours. Each chapter is only a few pages long and covers the supposed moon cycle for one month in a year of terror. The story centers around a small New England town that is being terrorized by the savage and violent attacks of a werewolf. Each vignette centers on the werewolf's activity for the full moon of htat month. King acknowledges that he manipulated the fall of the full moon to fit his own scheme of what dates he wanted to have events fall on and that he knows that his moon cycle is in no way accurate, but accuracy doesn't really matter in the course of the tale itself.

This story is very choppy as you might imagine with all of the time in between events, but overall, the storyline itself is fairly well thought out. The idea itself is very fun and the artwork for each chapter really enhances the tale and gives an almost comic book feel to it. In some ways, this is a sort of prequel to King's later works in continuing the Dark Tower series in graphic novel form with Marvel.

On a side note, it may be fairly cheesy (especially by today's standards) but I do also own and enjoy the film version of this book, Silver Bullet, starring Corey Haim and Gary (A)Busey.

Worth getting for the illustrations alone
Story about the small Maine town of Tanker Mills.Inexplicably it's attacked by a werewolf once a month when the full moon is out.Young Marty Coslaw finds out who the werewolf is...but nobody will believe him.

Stephen King is a great writer but this story is pretty thin.The plot is predictable, the characters familar and it's completely by the numbers.The only reason I give this four stars is for the incredible illustrations by Berni Wrightson.Each month is introduced with a two page black and white drawing and inside each month there's a one page color drawing. The artwork is just great--it brings the paper thin story and characters to life.So get it for the illustrations.It was also made into the justly forgotten 1980s horror film "Silver Bullet". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (63)

commuter listening
Purchased the audio cd for listening to while commuting back and forth to work.....better than being on the cell phone.Not sure if I enjoyed Stephen King's voice narrating as this was my first audio cd.Have been a big Stephen King fan forever....just wanted to get the stories,and the only way was on this audio cd.Although the one story room 1408 sounded familiar as maybe it was published in another book before. Short story format was good for commute since it took about a week to listen to....25 minutes each way, every day

Great for a short ride or commute to work
As a pretty big fan of Stephen King, it was nice to find an audio book version of three short stories, making each the perfect companion for a long commute to work or short day trip.The three stories are as follows:

"1408" - The most famous of the stories is about Mike Enslin, a bestselling horror author who doesn't believe in his own profession.He goes from haunted gravesite to hotel to amusement park (inserted for Scooby Doo fans) to disprove the notion that there are spirits, ghosts, poltergeists, or hauntings.He's completely cynical about his job until he makes his way to room 1408 in an upscale NY hotel.While staying the night, Enslin is scared senseless, as the room comes alive and attempts to kill him.

"In The Deathroom" - I think I enjoyed this story the most out of the three.In it, a reporter named Fletcher must deal with Central American interrogators who have no qualms about torturing him and/or killing him.So much so, in fact, that one member of the interrogation room has created a crude electrocution device from which he delivers pain to his patients as he asks, "How did that feel?"Even though there is a near probability that Fletcher will be tortured to death, especially if he holds out, it's up to him to outwit the handful of EVIL puppets doing the bidding of a dictator.

"Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" - Perhaps the most terrifying of the three stories - because of the believability - the fear in this story comes from a likely scenario: a divorce settlement hearing.Although, it's not nearly what one would expect.Steven Davis' wife Diana has just left him unexpectedly, and he quit smoking, so his life is in shambles.He'd like reconciliation, but his wife hates him, and she has finished with the relationship.

Along with her lawyer, Diane meets up with Steven at fancy restaurant, the Gotham Cafe.Upon arrival, the two are at each other's throats, and Steven is trying to keep a semblance of control.In no time at all, Diane's lawyer is attempting to douse the emotional fire, but he soon has something more to be concerned about: the wait staff.Apparently, life as a NYC maitre d' is incredibly stressful, and the entire restaurant is about deal with the repercussions.

King's reading is fair, not overpowering or at a HIGH VOLUME, like so many audio books; it's the perfect tone and accent for each story.It should be after all, he wrote each tale of desperation and suspense.Overall the 3-CD set is quick, entertaining, and perfect for driving.Even if not on a trip, the stories were engaging enough to make me want to get back into rush-hour traffic.If that's not high enough praise, I don't know what is.

Being Mislead
I think some of you may be being mislead.All three of these short stories have been published in the book Everything's Eventual : 14 Dark Tales.It is a good collection of short stories but the site's review and some reader reviews seem to be saying the only way you can get these stories is to buy the expensive audio version which just is not true.

When King Reads, You Better Listen Boy!
Stephen King writes short stories that are made for reading outloud, and no one reads them better than King does himself. The audio recording of "1408" outdoes the movie of the same name, while "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe" is bloody entertaining. If you enjoy King's readings, you need to check out the audiobook of King's Bag of Bones, also read by the author.

Smokin'!!
You just can not beat the author reading his own work.Loved it!! Three superb chillers read by 'the king' himself.I highly recommend this to all Stephen King fans. ... Read more

Product Description
Stephen King cranks up the suspense in a different kind of bedtime story. A game of seduction between a husband and wife goes horribly awry when the husband suddenly dies. But the wife's nightmare has just begun. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (259)

Geralds Game
It is very well written and you can really believe the story line.. It is a great book about womens issue and abuse...

A successful exception to King's usual style, but not an exceptional book. Moderately recommended
After her husband dies of a heart attack in the middle of a sex game, Jessie is left handcuffed to their bed, abandoned in an off-season summer home, with only his corpse for company. Without hope of rescue, she must free herself to survive--an effort which takes her back through her traumatic childhood memories. Gerald's Game is in many ways a deviation from King's usual novels. There's no sprawling, here: the bulk of the story is the events of a single character in a single location over a single day; the journeys into her memory also hold to a limited scope. As a result, the novel is comparably short--a mere 400 pages. Furthermore, Jessie's story is more personal than supernatural, with some exceptions (including the questionable inclusion of voices in her head, which repopulate the book with characters and dialog but feel more cliché than convincing, and the specter that haunts--and weakens--the conclusion). The local, personal, realistic story has the potential to do what many King novels do not: provide a tense, tight, and authentically frightening story. If King doesn't usually work for you (he doesn't for me), consider giving Gerald's Game a try.

That said, while Gerald's Game is a successful exception to King's usual style, it never becomes an exceptional book in its own right. Jessie's physical predicament is claustrophobic and convincing, which makes the book authentically frightening but also makes it uncomfortable, if not painful, to read. The many frustrations and flashbacks on her way towards escape slow the book's pacing, so it doesn't have the unputdownable suspense of a thriller. In short, there are moments when the reader wonders: Why exactly am I reading this? Perhaps more importantly--not to the process of reading, but to the reader's judgement upon conclusion--is that Jessie's struggles tie together a little too well. The neat knit of current quandary, past trauma, and the psychology bridging them creates a story of suffering and survival that, even though it avoids a cheap and easy conclusion, never feels entirely real. I often take issue with King's wordiness, huge casts, and excessive length, so Gerald's Game is for me a refreshing, and concurrently much more effective, change of pace. But at the same time, the book never quite satisfied me. It's authentically frightening, but fails to be authentically meaningful, and so I can give it only a halfhearted recommendation.

Should have been a novella
Gerald's Game is an interesting premise. A young woman named Jessie is handcuffed to her bed to partake in kinky love when her husband Gerald suffers from a heart attack and dies. We are left with Jessie trying to escape the handcuffs while struggling to survive through basic means like needing to eat and drink, and also have her sanity survive.

Gerald's Game is a book that I quickly tried to read, if only because I didn't want to lag through it. I was surprised at the book seemed to have finished earlier then I thought but the aftermath is about 40 pages. King should have cut the last 40 pages and just put it in one of his short story collections. Its not really a bad thing, but if your like me and you need to read anything done by King then you will probably read this just to be a completest.

First King novel I ever read
This was the first King novel I ever read. I wanted to get acquainted with King and see what the fuss is about. I came across a bunch of King's novels over a relative's house and they kindly let me have them. They aren't readers to begin with and with the amount of junk in their house I'm certain they didn't read them at all.

One of the first books I picked up was Gerald's Game. I found the plot-line intriguing. I wanted to find out what happened, so I set out to read it. The blurb on the book's jacket didn't say if Gerald died or not, so what happened to him was quite a shock. I was under the impression that the book was about Gerald's sick game but that was resolved early in the book. Now what would happen to Jessie? How would she get out of those handcuffs? That's what I wanted to find out and it kept me reading. The idea of a woman being handcuffed to a bed, and on the floor at the foot of that bed lay her dead husband and the key to those handcuffs in a bureau at the far end of the room, in a big empty house with the back door open so that anyone could walk in and torment her made for some intense reading. Unlike anything I've read before. And realistic. Something like this could very well happen in real life. To you. Scary thought.

It was a great read. It slowed in parts but not so much that I wanted to skip pages. This could have been much shorter though. As King said, it started out as a short story and ended up as a novel. I think it would have been better as a Novella.

Worth the read for King fans, and even newb fans like me.

3.5 stars

Stephen King at his finest; an unnerving and gripping horror/thriller!
Warning: Review may contain spoilers

When reading a Stephen King novel, it's easy to get caught up in all of his previous work, most of which deals in some way with supernatural horror; be it the psychokinetic abilities possessed by Carrie, or the terrifying youth and adulthood of 7 individuals in "It," King's ability to bring the reader characters and plots full of depth is unmatched in modern horror. Taking the basic premise of Gerald's Game, a novel about a wife handcuffed to the bed after her husband inexplicably dies in the middle of a sex act (Gerald's "Game"), it's easy to see why some people may think of this as one of his best AND one of his worst novels. Those that love his supernatural horror and expect it in every novel may not be the most pleased, while others that read King for suspense and horror, in general, consider this an overlooked gem. I find myself in the latter category; I've read 29 of Stephen King's novels (only two dark tower books), and this is, quite honestly, one of his scariest novels to date. What makes this novel so completely compelling, unnerving, and frightening is that the horror isn't of the supernatural variety.

The feeling that King produces in this novel is that of a strong claustrophobia, as he places the reader inside the bedroom with Jessie as she ponders both the precarious situation she finds herself in and some event that has haunted her from her youth (something involving an eclipse). Without giving anything away, the flashbacks about her youth and that particular day are the only instances of supernatural occurrences. The claustrophobic and unsettling feeling is so strong that thinking about the novel well after finishing it can still cause shivers to run down one's spine. The majority of the time, Jessie finds herself alone chained to her apparent death bed; she has no ability to get any food or water, and begins to find herself suffering from the effects of dehydration, including hallucination, adding more to the feeling that this is where Jessie is going to die and all hope is lost.

King shines brilliantly when he incorporates a new "character" into the novel, which may or may not be a member of Jessie's imagination. The terror is turned onto overdrive when it is discovered (by the reader only, not Jessie) that this specter may be the culprit in a recent string of crimes occurring in a nearby graveyard, and is indeed a real person. His description, from the look of his face to the look of his hands, sounds like something straight from our worst nightmares; from Jessie's perspective, it's enough to drive someone out of his/her mind and straight into panic mode.

Because of our ability to put ourselves in Jessie's situation (the fact that something like this COULD happen), this novel is rendered all the more terrifying and hard to forget well after completing the last page; the horror that Jessie experiences occur out of the realm of the supernatural and takes place in a setting as simple as Jessie's mind (in her flashbacks) and a simple bed that she finds herself chained to, awaiting whatever may come. In essence, Gerald's Game is an in depth character study, a novel about a woman's struggle against past and present demons; about how much one will endure to stay alive. For anyone looking for Stephen King at his finest, or a novel that is completely captivating, compelling, and scary from the first chapter, pick up Gerald's Game. You won't regret it.

... Read more

Product Description
Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. An all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places, including the tale Dolan's Cadillac: soon to be a feature film starring Christian Slater, Wes Bentley, and Emmanuelle Vaugier.

A widowed husband spends seven years plotting revenge for his wife's murder in Dolan's Cadillac. A school teacher discovers her students are not what they seem in Suffer the Little Children. In Crouch End, a woman fears that supernatural events may have led to her husband's disappearance. And in Rainy Season, a young couple is forced into the ultimate battle of Man vs. Nature when torrential rain turns deadly.

Rob Lowe, Whoopi Goldberg, Tim Curry, and Yeardley Smith lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

eerie tales from a KING
Even if you don't likeStephen King,you have to admit that he's a darn good storyteller
If you're wondering what MIGHT scare him you have but to read, or in my case listen to DOLAN'S CADILLAC.
The imagination of this man is boundless and as creepy as slugs and centipedesslithering up your legs in the dark.
DOLAN'S CADILLAC is written, in MY opinion, in his old psychological eerie RichardBachman style.
The Audio book includes Rob, Lowe, Whoopee Goldberg, Tim Curry and Yeardley Smith. KING himself includes a brief insight into his style and why he (like me) still thinks short stories are still his favorite form of writing.

I will not give away the plot, but if you know anything about SK you know that he uses every possible angle to lure you in then PUSH something awful, something frightening right in your face.

Dolan's Cadillac is four short stories ending with the Title tale which is the longest.
Whoopie Goldberg does a great job onSUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN, a small peek into the minds oflittlin's when their spirit might not be so little?
The always splendid Tim Curry with his deep English accented voice takes you on a journey the CROUCH END a town that has an undercurrent of something sinister.
Will you get out? can you get out?

Stephen King has a really dark humorous sidehe will use something as everyday as a simple innocentsamphibious creature to wreak havoc on a town every seven years and only whenNEWBIES come to live but are warned with the truth, and still they do not believe.
The 'oldsters' are typicalNew Englanders with theirEAH'S andCAAR, speech, butclearly accepting of a phenomenon that they have come to know as THE RAINY SEASON.

Since I am the queen of wanting to seethe bad guy get theirs, I am always interested in seeing how SK will do what he does when the antagonist is so self serving and non caring that he has no regard for human life.What does a simple man do for revenge?Well what would you doif the criminal rode in a specially made bullet proof almost invincible automobile? You have to read DOLAN'S CADILLAC and find out.

AWESOME
This is probably one of the best Steven King has written and it's a short story, Dolan's Cadillac.It was GREAT, I LOVED IT!Can't always say that as I do TRULY enjoy his books but THIS ONE was the best ever in my view.An Older one but Awesome.He is an amazing writer.This one is NOT creepy as some are, I say get it and make your own decision....

Vintage but good
Tidbits of King in short story format, plus a great intro by the author which for this reader gives added insight into this crazy creative gneius.Great for the road (audio format).

Classic Stephen King
If your a Stephen King fan then this book will not disappoint.A wonderful read, revenge is truely a dish best when served cold.

lisa simpson reads stephen king
I loved this collection of short stories.Every reader did an excellent job and really pulled me into the stories. ... Read more

Product Description
Una historia apocalíptica e hipnótica.
 
Es una soleada mañana de otoño en la pequeña ciudad de Chester’s Mill, Claudette Sanders disfruta de su clase de vuelo y Dale Barbara, hace autostop en las afueras. Ninguno de los dos llegará a su destino.

De la nada ha caído sobre la ciudad una barrera invisible como una burbuja cristalina inquebrantable. Al descender, ha cortado por la mitad a una marmota y ha amputado la mano a un jardinero. El avión que pilotaba Claudette ha chocado contra la cúpula y se ha precipitado al suelo envuelto en llamas. Dale Barbara, veterano de la guerra de Irak, debe regresar ahora a Chester’s Mill, el lugar que tanto deseaba abandonar.

El ejército pone a Dale al cargo de la situación pero Big Jim Rennie, el hombre que tiene un pie en todos los negocios sucios de la ciudad, no está de acuerdo; la cúpula podría ser la respuesta a sus plegarias.

A medida que la comida, la electricidad y el agua escasean, los niños comienzan a tener premoniciones escalofriantes. El tiempo se acaba para aquellos que viven bajo la cúpula. ¿Podrán averiguar qué ha creado tan terrorífica prisión antes de que sea demasiado tarde? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

La cupula
Excelente libro. Una historia que no vas a poder dejar de leer hasta llegar al final!
Muy recomendable.
... Read more

Product Description
Stephen King's unparalleled imagination is in full force in this collection of four unabridged short stories originally found in the classic, Nightmares & Dreamscapes. An all-star cast of readers bring to life these timeless stories from the darkest places.

A pair of metal teeth in a convenience store may prove to be more than a novelty in Chattery Teeth. In My Pretty Pony, an elderly man on his deathbed warns his young grandson against the dangers of letting time slip away. A music exec learns that his dream job may lead him to a dark and murderous past in Sneakers. And in Dedication, a maid working in a hotel uses black magic in the hopes of benefitting her unborn son.

Kathy Bates, Jerry Garcia, Daniel Cronenberg and Lindsay Crouse lend their voices to this haunting collection of classic stories that no Stephen King fan should be without. ... Read more

Product Description
The Man in Black is dead, and Roland is about to be hurled into 20th-century America, occupying the mind of a man running cocaine on the New York/Bermuda shuttle. A brilliant work of dark fantasy inspired by Browning's romantic poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (235)

King at his absolute BEST! The prime of his career.
This is Stephen King's second entry into his now legendary Dark Tower Series. The first book in this series, titled "The Gunslinger", was a highly imaginative story about the last gunslinger on earth, set sometime in the far future after the world has "moved on" (see King's "The Stand"). He is the last of his kind, and "The Dark Tower 1; The Gunslinger" chronicles his quest as he follows/chases a mysterious figure, known as "The Man in Black", across the desert with hopes that The Man in Black may have information that will lead Roland to "The Dark Tower". The gunslinger's name is Roland, and with the help of a few odd-ball characters that he encounters on his journey (most notably a young boy named Jake who is from a different "when" than Roland himself), the story ends with Roland finally catching up to The Man in Black (known also Walter O-Dim ~or~ Randall Flagg) and the two have a talk around a campfire. Walter gives The Gunslinger a tarot card reading & tells Roland a few secrets of life. The book ends with Roland waking up by the burned-out fire pit next to the remains of The Man in Black.

And there the story sat, for MANY years, until Stephen King finally picked up the story where it left off (King began writing Book 1 "The Gunslinger" when he was a senior in college - Book 2 wasn't released until 1987!). The second book "The Dark Tower 2; The Drawing of the Three" begins just a few short hours later in the story, and finds Roland stranded on a long stretch of beach. By the end of the 1st chapter, Roland has his trigger-fingers eaten off by some giant lobster-creatures that wash up onto the shore. He is in pain, sick from infection, and on a fast-track to dying when Roland encounters the first of three people (from other "whens") that he must bring (or DRAW, if you will) into his own world via three strange doors that he comes across as he makes his way down the beach (hence the name of the book, "The Drawing of the Three"). Roland enlists the help of these three characters to aid him on his quest to find The Dark Tower, which sits at the very center of the circle of life itself.

It should be noted that although the 1st book in this series is very good, it was written when King was very young. But, by the time the 2nd book was released King had been writing for years & had honed his craft. It is absolutely necessary to read the 1st book when approaching this series, but don't be put off if "The Gunslinger" doesn't have that famous Stephen King "flow" that we, "The Constant Readers" have grown to love. HANG IN THERE! The 1st book is a short read, and by the time you find yourself into the 2nd book, you will be glad that you stuck with this story. The Drawing of the Three (and ALL of the following books in this marvelous 7-book series) is an outstanding piece of fiction that ANY fan of "fantasy" stories will enjoy.

I have read (& loved) MANY fantasy stories over the years, from Tolkien's The Hobbit & LOTR trilogy, Herbert's Dune series,.... even Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern, and in my humble opinion, THE DARK TOWER series by Stephen King is the best fiction story/adventure that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. If you are looking for your standard Stephen King "horror" stories, look elsewhere. But if you want to take one of the most brilliant, inventive, & imaginative adventures that you're ever likely to take, then LOOK NO FURTHER! Join Roland, his friends, and millions of loyal readers on a quest that you will never likely forget. THE DARK TOWER SERIES is story-telling perfection.

BMIZ311

After A Bumpy Start...
Well at least now I'm hooked.I've read a lot of Stephen King.In fact, the only major hole in my King library is The Dark Tower.After The Gunslinger I didn't know if I'd make it; I probably will now.I can't say I think this is the guy at his best.It still feels like a very young writer attacking Big Ideas Through Horror Literature, but there are more than just a few flashes of excitement that make it all worthwhile.Even though the narrative is a bit . . . um . . . Too Too King-y at times, it's a Red Bull of a book, and goes down fast and hard (that sounds much dirtier than I meant...).So, I'll take a break and come back for Part 3 and just see what happens...

delviered as ordered!!!
I was very happy with this product. It was delivered as promised. No problems! They are very efficient and dependable!

Good Listening!
I make a lot of car trips and I love Stephen King, so I purchased the whole Gunslinger series.It is a great way to have the miles go by in a very entertaining way!Sometimes, I wished I had more miles to go because I wanted to hear more!

A wondeful book that preapres you for the rest of the series
Now this book does not have a ton of action in it like you might expect. This book more or less get all of the main characters together and helps get the plot set up. Now there is some action and suspense so please do not think that this is a boring book. With Kings amazing story telling it will leave you wanting more. ... Read more