Eerie twists of fate drive the four longish stories in King's first collection since Just After Sunset (2008). In "1922," a farmer murders his wife to retain the family land she hopes to sell, then watches his life unravel hideously as the consequences of the killing suggest a near-supernatural revenge. "Big Driver" tells of an otherwise ordinary woman who discovers her extraordinary capacity for retribution after she is raped and left for dead. "A Good Marriage" explores the aftermath of a wife's discovery of her milquetoast husband's sinister secret life, while "Fair Extension," the book's most disturbing story, follows the relationship between a man and the best friend on whom he preternaturally shifts all his bad luck and misfortune. As in Different Seasons (1982), King takes a mostly nonfantastic approach to grim themes. Now, as then, these tales show how a skilled storyteller with a good tale to tell can make unsettling fiction compulsively readable.
I loved all four stories, but I would have to say "Big Driver" was my favorite. Not only is the protagonist a woman, she's a writer. I found myself asking, "What would I do?, throughout her nightmarish experience with a serial rapist. A close second was "Fair Extension". About half way through I thought I knew exactly what the outcome would be, but I was pleasantly surprised from both a writer's and reader's standpoint.
This collection is raw and honest. Let it never be said that Mr. King doesn't tell it straight.
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