Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The 14th Day of Christmas - Full Dark, No Stars

He might the the master of the macabre, but he can tell some incredible crime stories with a twist.

Eerie twists of fate drive the four longish stories in King's first collection since Just After Sunset (2008). In "1922," a farmer murders his wife to retain the family land she hopes to sell, then watches his life unravel hideously as the consequences of the killing suggest a near-supernatural revenge. "Big Driver" tells of an otherwise ordinary woman who discovers her extraordinary capacity for retribution after she is raped and left for dead. "A Good Marriage" explores the aftermath of a wife's discovery of her milquetoast husband's sinister secret life, while "Fair Extension," the book's most disturbing story, follows the relationship between a man and the best friend on whom he preternaturally shifts all his bad luck and misfortune.
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3 comments:

  1. Jodi MacArthurDecember 17, 2010 at 2:01 AM

    I'm reading this right now. Just started "fair Extension". I think this antho is WAY better than Just After Sunset. Novellas are so great. They don't take forever to read and yet they are more than a spoonful of plot.

    This book has def blown me away. The plots are so simple and familiar like a pair of worn jeans, and yet the psychology of the characters he takes you through is just so skillful and emotion evoking.

    How did you like that "When you think about it, murderers are the gateway to heaven." Line in the first story. Priceless.

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  2. Dan FlemingDecember 17, 2010 at 8:58 AM

    Loved that opening line. Talk about setting the tone.

    I've always been a bigger fan of Kings novellas and shorts, and I don't think it's coincidence that the better movies all come from them. I love how King can build a town and populate it with so many fascinating characters, but when he goes epic the endings tend to let me down.

    His shorts always seem just the right length.

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  3. Jodi MacArthurDecember 21, 2010 at 11:35 AM

    I agree. The ending on his longer works just aren't satisfying. I was so angry at the end of the Dark Tower Series!

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