If It Bleeds, Stephen King
If It Bleeds, Stephen King
140 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

If It Bleeds
Mr. Harrigan's Phone, The Life of Chuck, If It Bleeds, Rat

Bestseller

Author: Stephen King

Narrator: Will Patton, Danny Burstein, Steven Weber

Unabridged: 15 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/21/2020


Synopsis

*#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.

About Stephen King

Stephen Edwin King was born in 1947 in the city of Portland, Maine. He attended the University of Maine, where he received a B.A. degree in English in 1970. He married his present wife, Tabitha, in 1971, and they have three children. King is an American author of contemporary horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. His novels have sold more than 350 million copies. Many have been made into films, television movies, and comics. He has published 54 novels using a pen name (Richard Bachman) for a few of them. Many of his stories take place in his home state of Maine.

He has won about every possible literary award beginning with his 1980 novella, The Way Station. His most notable literary award was in 2007 for the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.King has had the common human weaknesses including alcoholism and drug addiction. His health during that period was so bad that he barely remembered writing the novel, Cujo. The first novel written after he quit all dependent drugs and alcohol was Needful Things.Stephen King's wife, Tabitha, has published nine of her own novels along with both sons being published writers. His daughter is a Unitarian Universalism Church minister with her same sex partner.

A life altering happening beset King in June of 1999. King was walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine, when a driver, who was distracted by an unrestrained dog, struck him from behind. His severe injuries kept him in the hospital until July 9. His lawyer purchased the van that hit him to prevent it from being sold on eBay. It was crushed at a junkyard. King thought that he would not write again, but did resume writing with this caveat, "I'm writing, but I'm writing at a slower pace".

His most notable novels are: Carrie, The Shining, The Stand, Misery, It, The Dark Tower, Under the Dome, and The Shawshank Redemption.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on October 18, 2021

I missed to read Stephen King’s stories a lot! You may know that most of his short stories including Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, The Body from “Different Season”, Mist from “Skeleton Crew”, Lawnmower Man, Children of the Corn from “Graveyard Shift”, 1408 from ”Everything’s Eventual” adap......more

Goodreads review by Justin on May 02, 2020

1. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone This opening novella rocked my world. With signature Stephen King finesse, he introduces characters so vivid they could be standing next to you. I’m particularly impressed by his ability to deliver the millennial youth experience as effectively as he writes about being a boome......more

Goodreads review by Mario the lone bookwolf on July 06, 2023

Again, King is reflecting about life, work, and death in 2 of the stories, something he is already dealing with in The Bazaar of bad dreams, a topic sadly coming irreversibly coming closer to everyone with each breath and second, each book read a flip closer to death, each heartbeat a metronome lead......more

Goodreads review by Peter on May 21, 2020

Stephen King did it again and came up with a brilliant set of four stories! In "Mr Harrigan's Phone" you'll learn never to bury a mobile phone with a dead person. Why? Sometimes communication can go beyond the realms of death. "The Life of Chuck" started a bit strange, with Act III to be precise. At......more

Goodreads review by Chelsea on May 02, 2020

Really enjoyed stories #1 and #3, snoozed through stories #2 and #4. Middle ground 3 star rating from me! Highly recommend the audio, as the cast of narrators are a few of my favorites.......more


Quotes

"Stephen King's latest audiobook has four exceptional novellas that are each masterfully narrated. 'Mr. Harrigan's Phone,' narrated by Will Patton in a wistful tenor, is a meditative coming-of-age tale dotted with technophobia and communications from beyond the grave. 'The Life of Chuck' is King's most imaginative work in years. Narrator Danny Burstein expertly captures the surreal story's shifting tones, which range from pure joy to abject despair. 'If It Bleeds,' a sequel to THE OUTSIDER, is also narrated by Patton, who provides a unique and compelling voice for King's recent favorite protagonist, private investigator Holly Gibney. 'Rat,' about a struggling writer's descent into darkness, is riveting, thanks to narrator Steven Weber's focused intensity. For longtime King listeners and newcomers alike, this collection is essential listening."