G. Jahn

I love King. I'd read his grocery lists; but listening to his books is difficult when the audio publisher will let just anybody narrate them.

This is a story about a young woman in real danger with her tiny son while her (also young) husband is off on a business trip.

The scary parts are about monsters and a big growly dog. Why, in the name of all that's sacred, is this book read by an old lady????? She should be reading Rosamund Pilcher novels or maybe Maeve Binchy but hearing her narrate sex and terror and emotions expressed by 30 somethings really misses the mark.

I can't finish it. Yuck

Sure. This one was just a total miss for both of them. Boring, unrelatable story and uneven narration.

Burned the manuscript

I don't know how old Wasson is but his voice certainly sounds MUCH older than the mid 30s of the character. A wonderful age-appropriate pairing as in Duma Key would have made it so much better.

I can't think of one. I'm the same age as King and as a lifelong fan have read his books at the pace which he wrote them. I've seen and understood his transitions in subject matter and style but this one leaves me in the dark. I can't imagine why he finished it never mind published it.

I haven't finished this book yet but since I bought it I am forcing myself to listen to the end. I listened to it during a two hour dentist appointment yesterday and that seemed appropriate. It was a toss-up which was the more painful experience. Well, the dentist DID give me Lidocaine.

As other critics of Raul Esparza have mentioned, he hasn't much of an ear for Maine (or French) accents. Moving on...

Stephen King's writing seems to reflect the arc of his life. He's a horror writer who's simply not afraid of the same things he was afraid of 25 years ago.

From the social horrors of a young person in Carrie through the absolute terror of losing a child in Cujo and Pet Sematary he's traveled through a cultural panic in The Stand and now has arrived in his 60's facing retirement in Duma Key and now in UTD is just satisfied to have survived.

Those of us who are longtime King fans and have had to wait a year (or so) between novels come fresh to the feast each time and have tasted them one by one. Later readers can hippity hop from one to the other and sort of get too many flavors at once.

Sorry, folks. Stephen King is entitled to change his focus and his voice. Vote with your dollar but keep in mind that if you're in your 50's or 60's like King (and me) you're likely to re-read some of his earlier (scarier?) work with a sense of indulgent amusement and ask yourself "Can this really have scared the crap out of me the first time I read it?"

While I can only picture Billy Crystal when I hear John Slattery read, he certainly conveys Stephen King's literary voice. Except for King himself, I don't think any reader thus far has done justice to SK's stories in terms of emphasis and timing. After wading through "Cell" I thought I wouldn't read any more Stephen King but this book shows promise that he might still have something.

Endless whining from terrorists, FBI agents, Marines, supervisors, friends, relatives - basically - everyone. Any "adventure" in this story jumps around so much that one would consider Clancy himself was looking for any excuse to get away. My DH (longtime Clancy fan) and I listened to over half of this on a car trip and simply couldn't finish it. UGH!!!

Tom, time to put away your word processor and take a loooooooooong vacation.