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Joyland  By  cover art

Joyland

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Michael Kelly
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Publisher's summary

"Joyland is a breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking book.... Even the most hardboiled readers will find themselves moved."
—Charles Ardai, Edgar- and Shamus Award-winning editor of Hard Case Crime.

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever. Joyland is a brand-new novel and has never previously been published.

©2013 Stephen King. All rights reserved. (P)2013 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Featured Article: Stephen King’s 20 Best Audiobooks—The Definitive List


Stephen King is one of the most prolific American authors of all time. He has published 61 novels, more than 200 short stories, and six nonfiction books—and he shows no sign of stopping. His most recent novel, The Institute, was published in September of 2019, and we’ve already pre-ordered his novella anthology If It Bleeds, which is set to be released in 2020. With such a large portfolio, choosing one listen to start with can be daunting.

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What listeners say about Joyland

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A new slice of the King...

I really enjoyed this book, and Michael Kelly's narration of it. I especially enjoyed the voice he used for the female characters (a tricky feat!), which always sounded consistent to the character and never like an overblown falsetto drama. "Wearing the fur", indeed! While I have read pretty much everything he has written, I am always gobsmacked by Stephen King's ability to portray people of different ages, especially adolescents and children, in vivid emotional states that feel as if he crawled into my head and recorded my life at some point. No matter the topic, his books are always full of humor and so much wisdom on the human psyche and condition. The carny lifestyle was well researched and accurate...I got curious after reading this book about it and read so many interesting side stories, articles and interviews. I also liked this book because it was yet another side of King that felt fresh and new to me. I could not figure out who the murderer was, which is rare. Wonderful listen!

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Fantastic matching of artists

In this narration I found two of my favorite artists converging and creating a world that brings me right back to the curious carnival of my youth. Joyland was a ride just dark enough.

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interesting story

loved the story. not typical Stephen king. kept me interested and is such a great way to enjoy a book

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Love the talk...

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Stellar character development. I love the people SK creates and how he gets us to care about them so. Very much worth a credit.

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Love the book, loved the narrator

Joyland is a joy to listen to, made even better by Michael Kelly's narration. Suspense, very human characters and touching scenes . I highly recommend this Audiblebook.

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Wonderful!!!

Well written and well narrated. The flow was masterful with chilling suspense. I enjoyed the carnival aspect of the story. Thank you!

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Another great Stephen King

At first I wasn't sure about the person reading it, but he really captured the youth of the storyteller!

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Enjoyable

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Sure - I am a huge Stephen King fan and although I felt this fell short of his normal perfection, it was still an enjoyable listen to this summer.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Joyland?

Although the end was somewhat predictable, still had a bit of a twist.

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one of my favorites

one of my favorite Stephen King novels; one of my all-time favorite books that I ever read.

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Great coming of age book!

I really enjoyed this one by Stephen King. It’s a lot like 11/22/63 and both are more thriller than horror.

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