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)

Mastercraftsman, back at work.

The tales in this collection lean more towards Dolores Claiborne than Carrie, but King's gift is in making sure we understand how horrifically humans can act and think, even without any supernatural help. The shortest of these 4 shorts, however, does feature a low-overhead demon with a special deal to offer, and the first tale, a real gorefest, mixes bad luck and bad brains with plenty of beyond-the-grave juju. We also get to see how other, not-so-evil, humans go about surviving their encounters with frighteningly believable monsters - well, at least half the time.

Not one of Kings best

What made the experience of listening to Full Dark, No Stars the most enjoyable?

The narrators did a fine job, if not for them I would have put this one aside.

What could Stephen King have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

He could have laid off of the bleak just a bit. These stories were just depressing in my mind.

the best dark stories i've heard in a long time

Would you listen to Full Dark, No Stars again? Why?

yes. Especially Big Driver. what a great story.

What other book might you compare Full Dark, No Stars to and why?

other Stephen king books

What about Craig Wasson and Jessica Hecht ’s performance did you like?

Both story tellers were able to bring the characters to life. they both have great voices.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Remorse

Any additional comments?

These are the best short stories i've listened too/read in a long time. The understanding and realness of the characters thoughts are outstanding, and frightening. "Bid Driver" and "A Good Marriage" were my favorites (in that order), however all four were terrific. I've listened to quite a few Stephen King books and this has easily been my favorite.

Riveting listen

I have loved Stephen King far longer than I have loved even my own husband for half my life so far. But these stories - while engaging in their own - were surely brought to a more three dimensional life because of the two readers. I hated to stop listening. Fantastic!

Deep and suspenseful

Stephen King holds no punches. Dark and twisted and completely mesmerizing. I would read this again or refer to a friend

Fun stories, ruined by narration

I read the other reviews and thought 'the woman's performance cannot possibly be that bad!' So I gave this a shot. After all, it's Stephen King. I was wrong. I am actively making a note to never, ever, in my life listen to another book narrated by Jessica Hecht. Craig Wasson, on the other hand, did a wonderful job.

Great Stories

The writing is excellent, as is Craig Wasson's reading. Jessica Hecht is not quite as good. She has an odd way of speaking that sounds like she's smiling really largely all the time. It's not quite an accent; it sounds like an affectation. It's distracting.

Another fantastic read!

Would you consider the audio edition of Full Dark, No Stars to be better than the print version?

I love to read books but i'm an extremely slow reader... So, although yes, i'd love the print version, I find audible very convenient and great for my work commute.

What did you like best about this story?

All stories were great.... I had heard of "a good marriage" before so it was fun to hear this one read. I really enjoyed the first story, felt it was really captivating.

If you could rename Full Dark, No Stars, what would you call it?

not sure if i'd ever want to change anything Mr King does... He just rocks in all I've read/listen to. :)

Excellent

The only complaint I have is that it ended, I know I’ll revisit this as I do most of Stephen Kings books

Dark, terrible, painful, beautiful, real.

It is extremely dark, and at times very hard to listen to. As someone whose life has brushed around the edges of some of these dark topics it was a very emotional read which highlighted the thing which I think Mr. King does best: Capture the essence of real people.