From a Buick 8

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: James Rebhorn, Bruce Davison, Becky Ann Baker

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

The state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret in Shed B out back of the barracks ever since 1979, when Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox answered a call from a gas station just down the road and came back with an abandoned Buick Roadmaster. Curt Wilcox knew old cars, and he knew immediately that this one was...wrong, just wrong. A few hours later, when Rafferty vanished, Wilcox and his fellow troopers knew the car was worse than dangerous.

Curt's avid curiosity took the lead, and they investigated as best they could, as much as they dared. Over the years, the troop absorbed the mystery as part of the background to their work, the Buick 8 sitting out there like a still-life painting that breathes - inhaling a little bit of this world, exhaling a little bit of whatever world it came from.

In the fall of 2001, a few months after Curt Wilcox is killed in a gruesome auto accident, his 18-year-old boy, Ned, starts coming by the barracks. Sandy Dearborn, Sergeant Commanding, knows it's the boy's way of holding onto his father, and Ned is allowed to become part of the Troop D family. One day he looks in the window of Shed B and discovers the family secret. Like his father, Ned wants answers...

From a Buick 8 is an audiobook about our fascination with deadly things, about our insistence on answers when there are none, about terror and courage in the face of the unknowable.

©2002 Stephen King, All Rights Reserved (P)2002 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

"Nearly flawless and one terrific entertainment." (Publishers Weekly)
"A wonderful example of how much King's plotting skills and literary finesse have matured over his long career. And, most of all, it's a darn creepy book." (Amazon.com)

Curious, intriguing! Could NOT put it down!

Life-like characters immersed in an everyday setting with a twisted mystery (but NOT an ordinary mystery)! Impossible, but so believable!

NOT a sequel to Christine

A frightfully good story all its own! The retelling of events last by some Pennsylvania state troopers on the edge of a huge mystery...prepare to be left with questions.

A bit slow

Good overall concept but tends to drag. Would have done much better as a short story.

My Precious

This is my fav, from my fav (albeit vicarious) mentor, lullaby monger and waking-time counselor. I read this gem every other Autumn. This is my precious! 'My Precious!' I find no wonder that it still remains unadapted from the archive of the KING's New York Times Best Sellers into the medium of film. Its simply too unique, sympathetically layered, too Big in potential and digestible scope, structured in dominating prose and character-rich: Aspects with which film is so unfamiliar with. This is his masterpiece. No one will ever adapt it to the screen. (Unless it is me. "My Precious!") Ode to the King!

a Stephen King great

a lot of times, when i finish one of mr King's [epic] novels, im left sitting stunned. thinking, just wow. this is one of those times. i owned the book, but didn't get to finish reading it before fire destroyed our house, and everything in it, including my collection of mr King's books. almost all of them hardback. i finally decided to give this one a listen, and im glad i did. all the voice actors were on point, and they each brought this book to life. a sometimes eerie life, but just the same.
just. wow.

King plus H.P. Lovecraft

Once again King touches on a dimension where the very sight of the creatures from Beyond can bend, if not outright break, the minds of those that see them. From A Buick 8 is a story where the unknowable touches and alters the lives of those who face the mystery in Shed B and, yet, they are left with no solid answers, just conjecture, and their souls are forever stained with the taint of the abyss, not looking back, but simply brushing against them. This is a story of loss, creeping dread, the unknown and unknowable, and acceptance. Enjoy!

you'll love this book

love this book. the readers are amazing, the more I listened the more hooked I got.

as always

if you are a fan, you love them all. even the not so great. this one was great, and touching.

One of my favorites

I have read every single one of Mr Kings published works. I avoided this one until after I’d read most of his others because a story about a car did not seem like it would be my thing. How very wrong I was.

Mr King has always been excellent at character building and world development. His incredible insight into the nature of humanity shines through loud and clear here as well.

I genuinely loved all the characters and felt attached to them. Like most of his other works, he layers truly fascinating science fiction elements on top of the characters in a realistic manner.

I think that’s what makes his writings so great. Some authors do engaging characters well, some can do depth and existential meaning, some do romance, some do mind blowing horror and sci-fi concepts well. MMr King does all of those things exceptionally well and this book is a shining example of that.

The payoff in the end gives you a big enough peak into the mystery to be satisfying AND leaves your mind wondering through that portal for hours afterwards.

Read it. Do it. You won’t regret it.

Not always a logical reason

I LOVED both this book, and the performances of the actors, especially the main guy that played Sandy Dearborn. I would say this is sort of Dark Tower adjacent as it involves a strange, inexplicable object and an alternate dimension. The take away from this story is that you don’t always get to know the “why” or have every situation you encounter wrapped up in a neat little bow. That being said, the way the story is told and the characters are super satisfying. Absolutely worth the time it takes to listen.