A Face in the Crowd

By: Stephen King, Stewart O'Nan

Narrated by: Craig Wasson

Length: 1 hr and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

The writing team that delivered the bestselling Faithful, about the 2004 Red Sox championship season, takes listeners to the ballpark again, and to a world beyond.

Dean Evers, an elderly widower, sits in front of the television with nothing better to do than waste his leftover evenings watching baseball. It’s Rays/Mariners, and David Price is breezing through the line-up. Suddenly, in a seat a few rows up beyond the batter, Evers sees the face of someone from decades past, someone who shouldn’t be at the ballgame, shouldn’t be on the planet. And so begins a parade of people from Evers’s past, all of them occupying that seat behind home plate. Until one day Dean Evers sees someone even eerier….

©2012 Stephen King and Stewart Nan (P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio

Great Short Story

This was an interesting little short story, a surprising ending to an old mans life, written beautifully, and narrated well.

A Face in the Crowd

A very good short story by my favourite author a
Stephen King. This is one I had not read yet.

Seventh Inning Stretch of Horror

I ran across Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's "A Face in the Crowd" (2012) while I was looking for King's more recent release "Joyland" (2013).

King and O'Nan are true baseball fans (they collaborated on 2004's "Faithful", the story of the Red Sox 2004 season) and catch the nuances of baseball fandom perfectly. Not baseball itself, but the diehard park going fan who wears the annoying foam finger and drinks watery beer at the park - and the diehard tv watching fan that times dinner preparation to the start of a game, and drinks a six pack in front of the television.

What if one if those at-home viewers was a not-so-nice old retired man living in Florida, who watches a game on tv and sees a loathed person far from his past sitting behind home plate, looking like he hasn't aged in the 60+ years since the old man last saw him? What if the next game, the old man sees a hated business rival buried years ago - and the rival is wearing the same suit he was buried in?

I suppose there is an argument to made that "A Face in the Crowd" is a morality tale, but I'd hate to reduce it to the level of a lesson: "A Face in the Crowd" is, to me, the story of a well-deserved haunting.

The plot was a little too predictable, which is why my rating is a 3. The narration was serviceable and not too memorable.

At the time I wrote this review, the story was only available as an e-book or on Audible. I am glad I found it and listened.

Good, but not great

Unfortunately I have come to expect a lot from Steve. And make no mistake, this is a good story, just not a great one.

Another Home Run

As always, SK delivers again on the short story! Face in the Crowd reminds me of his wonderful early stories in Skeleton Crew.

Good and Quick!

Listened to this (earbuds) on a night flight while staring out the window. Excellent! I felt like I was at the movies. I'm sure I made some noises and other passengers thought I was losing it, since they couldn't see my earbuds nor any device. Great Performance!

Short and Though Provoking, Disappointing Ending..

Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan combine to create a haunting tale of baseball and ghosts in A Face in the Crowd. Have you ever watched a game of baseball and paid attention to the people in the crowd sitting behind home plate? Probably not, but after listening to this story you might look a little bit closer.

Dean Evers is a baseball fan, newly moved from New England to Florida. While watching baseball on his new HDTV, he starts to notice people from his past sitting behind home plate. He sees his childhood dentist, a kid he used to make fun of in school, his deceased wife, his business partner. Through these characters we explore Dean's life and learn his story. His story is haunted and interesting. I was genuinely excited to see who would show up behind home plate next, and what this character would teach us about Dean.

This setup is very well done, but unfortunately it doesn't follow through to the end of the story. The ending was a major disappointment. It's so abrupt, that I honestly thought my iPhone hadn't downloaded the complete audiobook or something. There was a lot of potential in this story, and I think I'd have a much higher opinion of it with a stronger ending.

Craig Wasson's performance is excellent, and fits the style of this novella very well.

We're talking Baseball

As always, Stephen King (this time with Stewart O' Nan) can create a great character, and he does so once again here. The premise is the main character Dean Evers is seeing faces from his life in the crowd of a televised baseball game. Many of them are deceased and it doesn't seem possible. He is determined to get to the bottom of it. There is a nice surprise in here and its a fun quick listen with Craig Wassen giving a very strong performance. As is sometimes the case with a Stephen King book, the ending is a bit anti climactic, but overall I found it enjoyable.

Typical King

It's Stephen King.....what more needs to be said? Does he ever write something less than good?

King Fan

This is my first audio book and it was great for my 2 hour commute to work! I love books (hard/soft cover) but I think this will be my new commuting routine!