If It Bleeds

The Holly Gibney Series - Book 2

If It Bleeds

By Stephen King
Unabridged
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“Showcases King’s gift for crafting personas…and exploring themes such as mortality and friendship.”

USA Today

A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice of the Week

An Audible Pick of Listeners' Favorites of the Month

Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award

#1 New York Times bestseller

New York Times Bestseller in Audio

*#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

Featuring the novella “The Life of Chuck,” now a feature film adapted for the screen and directed by Mike Flanagan (The Fall of the House of Usher, Doctor Sleep) and starring Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Karen Gillan—a Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Award winner!

From the legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary collection of four new “exceptionally compelling novellas that reaffirm [King’s] mastery of the form” (The Washington Post).

Readers adore Stephen King’s novels, and his novellas are their own dark treat, briefer but just as impactful and enduring as his longer fiction. Many of his novellas have been made into iconic films, including “The Body” (Stand by Me) and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (Shawshank Redemption).

The four brilliant tales in If It Bleeds prove as iconic as their predecessors. In the title story, reader favorite Holly Gibney (from the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and The Outsider) must face her fears, and possibly another outsider—this time on her own. In “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” an intergenerational friendship has a disturbing afterlife. “The Life of Chuck” explores, beautifully, how each of us contains multitudes. And in “Rat,” a struggling writer must contend with the darker side of ambition.

If these novellas show King’s range, they also prove that certain themes endure. One of King’s great concerns is evil, and in If It Bleeds, there’s plenty of it. There is also evil’s opposite, which in King’s fiction often manifests as friendship. Holly is reminded that friendship is not only life-affirming but can be life-saving. Young Craig befriends Mr. Harrigan, and the sweetness of this late-in-life connection is its own reward.

“An adroit vehicle to showcase the…nature of evil” (The Boston Globe), If It Bleeds is “exactly what I wanted to read right now,” says Ruth Franklin in The New York Times Book Review.

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  1. Michael
    Overall Liked it
    Verified listener

    Very Enjoyable Book

    As a King constant reader, I'm no stranger to his books of novellas and short stories. I love them as much as his novels. Overall, this was another good collection. My rankings which follow is by no means a negative to the my least favorite. I liked them all, just like some more than others. So, in order of the book . . . Mr. Harrigan's Phone is my second favorite of this collection. I loved the relationship between Mr. Harrigan and Craig. This story flowed easily from beginning to end, and I found myself wanting more. The Life of Chuck is my third favorite. I'd had a heads-up about it before that it was many people's least favorite. I can understand why, but when I finished that story, I found that I liked it. If It Bleeds was my favorite. Stephen King said he loves Holly, and so do I. Some people cringed when she showed up in The Outsider, and some cringed when finding out she was in this book. Not me. The more Holly the better in my opinion. It would be interesting if HBO turns this story into a second season of The Outsider. Rat was my least favorite story. I enjoyed it, but not as much as other readers seemed to have. It was ok. I wanted to know more about the rat. It was more interesting to me than the main character. I'm weird that way, I guess. Overall, another great success by Mr. King. I don't know how much gas he has left in the tank as far as writing goes. Hopefully a full tank, as he has been my favorite author since I was about 9 or 10 years old, and I'm 51 now. I grew up with this man's work. Going forward, as a wish list of sorts, I would like to read another great horror novel by him, as well as another short story collection. Also, I'm hoping for another Dark Tower novel, one which fleshes out the Jericho Hill story. We will see. This book is highly recommended.

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