"Full Dark, No Stars"

Why I picked it up:  I've read a good many Stephen King short stories and have liked them, so I was pretty excited when I heard there was a new one to be released.  Plus I really liked the cover design and the title itself told me to expect no sunshine here.

Why it kept me interested:  To be honest some stories kept me more interested than others.  The first, "1922" was interesting in that a husband forces his son to become an accomplice to the murder of his mother.  The consequences lead to a madness that reminded me of the narrator's sufferings in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-tale Heart".  After a point, it began to follow too closely to that story line for me but it was still a pretty good variation.  The second story, "Big Driver", was probably my favorite.  A tale of an author (and rape victim) that discovers she was not the first to fall for her roadside rapist's trap and so seeks revenge in a very bloody way.  The murder is sort of rush both plot and in writing and ended flat but it was bearable.  "Fair Extension" was an rehash of guy-makes-deal-with-devil storyline so to me, it wasn't all that interesting.  Finally, "A Good Marriage" gave the reader a good end to the collection.  A woman is married to a serial killer and just happens upon his secret one day.  Her subsequent reaction is what she feels is just and necessary for his punishment.  It was interesting to think what I would do if I were in her position and felt that she did right.  Quite the predicament!

To whom would I recommend this book:  The stories pass quick enough but for a Stephen King collection I have to say that I'm a little disappointed.  I would still recommend Stephen King fans take a peak at it, if only for the sake of argument.  Perhaps I would recommend this book to someone who has never read Stephen King.  The tales are dark, just not dark enough for me.  I guess I expected too much.