Full Dark, No Stars

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Craig Wasson, Jessica Hecht

Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

"I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger...." writes Wilfred Leland James in the early pages of the riveting confession that makes up "1922", the first in this pitch-black quartet of mesmerizing tales from Stephen King. For James, that stranger is awakened when his wife, Arlette, proposes selling off the family homestead and moving to Omaha, setting in motion a gruesome train of murder and madness.

In "Big Driver", a cozy-mystery writer named Tess encounters the stranger along a back road in Massachusetts when she takes a shortcut home after a book-club engagement. Violated and left for dead, Tess plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself.

"Fair Extension", the shortest of these tales, is perhaps the nastiest and certainly the funniest. Making a deal with the devil not only saves Dave Streeter from a fatal cancer but provides rich recompense for a lifetime of resentment.

When her husband of more than 20 years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It's a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage.

Like Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight, which generated such enduring films as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, Full Dark, No Stars proves Stephen King a master of the long story form.

©2010 Stephen King. All rights reserved. (P)2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved

Critic reviews

"[T]hese tales show how a skilled storyteller with a good tale to tell can make unsettling fiction compulsively readable." ( Publishers Weekly)

"King has gone on record saying he believes that American readers should pay more attention to the virtues of short fiction... if anyone can get reluctant short-story and novella readers into the swing, he certainly can with this book." ( Booklist)

4-for-4!

I enjoyed all 4 of these stories. A couple of them I lost track of a little bit while being preoccupied with work (imagine that! How dare they!?.) and almost gave up on, but I started them over and I was glad I did! They don't take long to grab ya either. So far this is DEF my fave short-story collection by Stevie. I suffered thru most of Everything is Eventual, and "Sunset" was a little better than that but not even close to this collection. Well worth it!

Exploring dark possibilities!

A very compelling listen. Entertained my husband and I thoroughly. Enjoyed it very much. The last chapter spoken by King himself was interesting.

First time user

loved it! Dark and excellent! Great first time Audible experience! Stephen King never disappoints. Looking forward to the next one.

King at his best.

Stephen King back in top form. I include these stories along with all of King's other top tier writings. Brilliant.

AWESOME BOOK!

This book is short stories of books hes already put out so if you want 1922 or a good marriage then get this one and save yourself a credit or two. the book starts off good and ends exceptionally great. Dont take my word for it but if your a Stephen King nut or even a fiction nut give it a try trust me when I say u wont be disappointed...

The worst narrator I have ever heard!!!

Any additional comments?

Jessica Hecht is the reader of two of these stories. I have never heard anybody so mismatched as a narrator. She is a fine narrator if she was reading a new age self-help book or reading to children, but horror????? Her inflections compared to the context are often comical. I never imagined a women could sound so gleeful as she is being raped and murdered!

pure king

hard to listen too in part because of the honesty. suspenseful and we'll paced. thoughtful.

Not Scary just Squalid

I generally enjoy King’s novels but this collection of short stories was very mediocre. Fair Extension is probably the best of the bunch. King needs an editor who asks him if the scene he is writing advances the narrative. There is a lot of exposition that doesn’t advance the narrative or build suspense. It just plods along. I understand that he is trying to examine the mundane and everyday nature of evil that lurks in the world. I just think the subject matter could be examined in a better and more interesting way.

Solid King as always

Solid stories and enjoyable as always with major exception of Hecht as narrator—she is awful as others have said. Almost nauseating with her chirpy lilt during interludes.

Great stories, but...

There's nothing worse than having a good book read by an awful narrator. The male reader does a great job but the female reader blows it. Especially on the last story where she chooses to read the story like a ditsy, 1950s sitcom housewife. So annoying and disappointing. It didn't ruin the book for me, it just emphasized how great the telling of it could have been had she made a different choice.