I'm a huge Stephen King fan, and although I've read heaps of his books, I have a lot yet to read. So this year I've decided to add a new SK book to my TBR pile every time I finish one.
When Gerald and Jessie Burlingame go to their summer house after the season is over, the married couple start to play the kinky game Gerald enjoys--including handcuffs.
But this time, Jessie isn't into it and even after she tells her husband, he doesn't stop. That's when she strikes out and Gerald ends up dead on the floor, while Jessie is chained to the bedpost.
With the cuff keys too far away and the constant torment of the voices inside her head, Jessie is left to face an awful nightmare that gets worse by the hour...
Wow.
Yikes.
This book is insane! So nerve-racking.
I honestly didn't know what to expect. I mean, I've known about the main plot for ages but didn't expect it to actually turn out the way it did. The twists and turns are unpredictable and totally crazy, plus pretty gory. I won't go into it, but the initial (awful) dog scene was so unexpected, yikes!
The way Stephen King can take one character left alone and tied to a bed for most of the book, and turn it into a suspenseful story that keeps the reader glued to the page, is amazing. Even the way she gets lost in her surreal memories, eventually revealing the horrid event that fucked her up for life is done in such a way that I didn't want to stop.
But this is an emotionally heavy book, and I needed to take breaks. That eclipse scene is SO disturbing and very uncomfortable to read. When added to the rest of Jessie's ordeal, everything totally fits.
This is definitely going to be one of those books that the more I think about, the more I will remember its brilliance. I mean, the frustration of going through her ordeal is so claustrophobic and well written that you start to feel like you're stuck in there with her.
Something else I need to mention is Jessie. She's a very well-written character. Someone who doesn't shy away from her opinions, doesn't take any shit, yet is haunted by her past. And her strength and determination to keep going even when everything gets bleak, really kept me cheering for her.
There's a certain fragmented quality to this story that solidifies as you near The End.
And who the hell can ever listen to the Space Cowboy song without remembering how this book ends? OMFG.
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