Bag of Bones

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Stephen King

Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Even four years after the sudden death of his wife, best selling novelist Mike Noonan can't stop grieving, nor can he return to his writing. Now his nights are plagued by vivid nightmares of the house by the lake. Despite these dreams, or perhaps because of them, he decides to return to Sara Laughs, the Noonans' isolated summer home. In his beloved Yankee town, he finds himself falling in love with a widowed young mother, who struggles to keep custody of her 3-year-old daughter. He is also drawn into the mystery of Sara Laughs, now the site of ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the sudden recovery of his writing ability. What are the forces that have been unleashed here - and what do they want of Mike Noonan?

©1998 Stephen King, All Rights Reserved (P)1998 Simon & Schuster, Inc., All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

"The witty and obsessive voice of King's powerful imagination." (Amy Tan)
"What King lacks in professional polish he makes up for with an infectious enthusiasm that will lock in listeners for the long haul." (Publishers Weekly)

Best I've read by Stephen King.

I used to not like Stephen King, but lately I've gotten into some of his more character-driven works, and found that when he concentrates on the characters instead of the beasties, he's pretty darned good. Even with this new respect for him, I was surprised by the quality of this novel. Everything works in it, even King's reading of it.

The book is sad through much of it, as you will guess from the first line, so don't listen hoping for a cheerful experience. But the characters are complex and the presentation of the local town where most of the story happens is observant and detailed, and King takes his time developing the mystery. He doesn't even introduce the mystery until far longer than you'd think possible. Still, it will captivate you until he does, and throughout, and not just through the mystery, but through the character interactions and even the moral questions raised.

This book has several layers of story, from the horror story to the romance to the backstory that is slowly developed. Through it all there is a mythical and psychological element to have you working out how much King meant to be metaphor, not just story.

Excellent book. May just change your opinion of where Stephen King fits in the world of literature. This is the type of book that when you finish, you won't want to start another book for a while, because you won't want the taste to leave you.

No Bones unturned

Read by Steven King the way it was intended.Once you get into to it it just keeps giving. Unlike some of his other work that just dies at the end. The interconnection of events and the way he lays it out is great

His Best

Without doubt Stephen King's best! I have listened to it three times since it came out and enjoy it more with each experience. This is perhaps his most "autobiographical" book as he uses the character of a popular fiction writer to express what might well be some of his own deep-seated fears in life. Although his narration obviously lacks the polish of some of the truly great narrators, his voice gives the story an amazing authenticity that draws you into Western Maine and the lives of his characters. And, of course, it terrifies with his best.

My favorite audio book so far

A fascinating story, beautiful writing, and well performed by the author. This book kept me utterly distracted at the office and made me march extra blocks on my evening walks so I could just hear one more chapter. Definitely a must for a King fan.

Extra special with Mr King as the narrator!

This story has so many layers, great characters,surprise, scares, romance, imagination...This audible is made even better in the authors own voice. love the accents , especially the little girls voice. Don’t tackle your own wusrtermack! Thank you for many hours of great entertainment:)

Not his best, but a good yarn.

I enjoyed this book. I love King's novels and actually think he is the perfect narrator for anything he writes. I had a taped copy of the original Dark Tower series(the first 3 books) with King doing the narration. I came to love his way of telling a tale. The story is a good one and I really enjoyed the integration of the music into the tale. It is not as riveting as some of King's work, but it did keep me entertained.

Happy to return to King with this one

I had stepped away for from Stephen King for over 10 years, and I'm very glad this is the one that I decided to come back to him on. Really enjoyed it wonderful story great scary moments a pleasure

bag of bones

I really loved this story. I especially enjoyed listening to it with the author reading it. I'm from Maine, lived here since the day I was born and there are things about being a Mainer that this story touches on all of the way through. Sometimes about the combination of this story and Stephen King reading it made me feel "at home" The Maine slang that is used are sayings I heard my dad, and others as well say throughout my life. I don't know if that could even be captured by anyone other than a local.
I don't at all want to sound as though I only enjoyed this story because of its local relation. I do believe Stephen King is my favorite writer, but certainly not because he is from Maine. I started listening to Bag of bones in my car on short trips to town and within 2 trips I was hooked and continued listening every spare moment i had till the end. I think no matter where you might be from this story is likely to touch you on a personal level. 5 stars across the board, if you considering listening to Bag of Bones...stop thinking and start listening. ..oh and enjoy it will be time we'll spent

Finally finished

Always tried reading the text version, never could finish. Guess I needed Steve reading it 😃

AMAZING

There was a slight problem with editing but otherwise this was a great buy. I LOVE this book and it was made even better by being read by Stephen King himself.

The editors need to do a better job though. Words were cut off at the beginning and end of chapters. Not as bad as in a few other audiobooks I have listened to lately, but enough to be annoying.