Big Driver

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Jessica Hecht

Serving as the basis for a Lifetime original movie, Stephen King's haunting story about an author of a series of mystery novels who tries to reconcile her old life with her life after a horrific attack and the one thing that can save her: Revenge.

Tess Thorne, a famous mystery writer, faces a long drive home following a book signing engagement. Advised to take a shortcut at the suggestion of the event’s planner, Tess sets out for home, well after dark. On a lonely stretch of New England road, her tire blows out, and when a man in a pick up stops, it is not to help her, but to repeatedly assault her and leave her for dead. Tess survives, and she plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself, capable of gruesome violence.

This story was originally published in Stephen King’s acclaimed collection, Full Dark, No Stars.

Scarey

A classic justice and revenge story. The main character, Tess, is assaulted and left for dead. She arrives at a plan that carries the book through to the end. In the meantime, the GPS and the cat become integral characters in the revenge plot. It's a tense story and worth the short read.

Very great book from start to finish!!

Enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Job well done as expected by Stephen King

LOVE BIG DRIVER

At first I thought I wasn’t going to like the narrator. But she is perfect for this role! Her very sweet voice portrays a woman that we’d seldom see in King’s books. I almost didn’t buy it because it’s such a short novel. More of a novella. But I’ve listened to it three times over the last three years and it’s still a go-to for a satisfying read!

disturbing and riveting

Stephen King hasn't lost the ability to creep a reader out. Rape, murder, abandonment, revenge, mistaken identities - if it's horrible, this story has it. And a protagonist to root for, which is necessary to hold my interest. I was hoping for a bit more from the ending, but otherwise this is quite a satisfying listen.

big driver

anothe stephen king excellent book. rings true for so many reasons to me. revenge is sweet.

LOVED IT!!!LOVED IT!!!LOVED IT!!!!

this book was so good. i first saw the movie on lifetime and loved the movie so much i wanted to check it out. I really enjoyed this book. and i am getting ready to read it again. i suggest anyone that likes a good thriller, read this book

wonderfully written and read!

I truly love king books and audio is even better. King is as u a ual awesome!

Good for a long ride

This was a good story overall but the narrator left me a little wanting. It was a one note performance and Kung stories need someone with more range, especially to build suspense.

Worth a listen.

True Horror

I've long been amazed at the diversity of Stephen King 's work. While he stays in the genre of Horror, his books cover a wide range of horror from supernatural, to 'blood and gore', science fiction, and the evil that lurks inside human beings. This book fits in the last category. The main character has horror inflicted upon her by a twisted monster-person, and while carrying out revenge she confronts the evil inside herself. The narrator was great at getting across the presence, personality, and essence of the main character. She did such a good job I forgot I was reading Stephen King. I admit to becoming s little confused towards the last part of the story. I'm not sure if it was because I was tired or if the story itself was unclear. I had to listen to parts of the narrative twice. Overall this book is entertaining and thoughtful. I listened to the audible version which is probably a totally different experience from reading version. The story was performed more than read.

Swift and Brutal

Some Stephen King works are best in a certain media. "Storm of the Century" (1999), always a screenplay, is best on a small screen television, at home, underneath a big quilt with a cup of hot tea. "Different Seasons: The Body - Fall from Innocence" (1982) is a good story, but Rob Reiner's 1986 movie adaptation, "Stand by Me" is a gem. And Frank Darabont's adaptation "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), from the same collection of novellas? Brilliant, and widely recognized as one of the greatest films of all times. Add Jessica Hecht's Audible to the list of adaptations of King stories better than the original writing. Unfortunately, as good as Hecht's performance is and as horror-story scary as the premise of "Big Driver" (2010) is, it's just a so-so story/listen.

"Big Driver" is a relatively short listen - it's just 4 hours and 20 minutes. It's also brutal. King can be elegant, but his foreshadowing in this story is a sucker punch to the gut. Our heroine, Tess, is living a carefully plotted, planned and well ordered life as a moderately successful cozy mystery writer. She accepts an invitation to speak to a reading group, and thanks to a shortcut to avoid I-84, her life becomes a horror. Tess's shortcut wasn't one of those, "When you're in a horror movie, you might make poor decisions" moments (2014 GEICO Commercial, The Martin Agency). It was an "I would have done the same thing" and "There's no way anyone could have known" situation, which makes it scary. Tess evens the score, though, in a cold, calculating way victims of real crimes probably dream of. Cynical French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord (1754-1838) - who coined what became the trope "Revenge is a dish best served cold" - would approve.

The novella is from "Full Dark, No Stars" (2010). There's another story in that, "A Good Marriage" (2010) that was so humdrum in print that I completely forgot reading it, even though I'd even purchased a first run hardback and read it immediately. I got the Audible performance several months ago by mistake, and Hecht's performance made that a memorable scare. This time, I remembered "Big Driver" so the buy was on purpose - and better than the original.

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