One of Stephen King’s rare straight novels – not an alien or monster in sight – Misery has a special place in the heart of every King fan, partly due to the chilling film with Kathy Burke. Paul Sheldon is a popular romantic novelist – only trouble is, he’s sick of ‘Misery’, his lead character. After a car accident he’s taken in by his biggest fan. Unable to move, at first he’s well cared for, until his nurse/captor discovers he has killed off Misery. Now Paul has to write a whole new book, with his biggest fan looking over his shoulder – and she’s got a big hammer….
You should read it because: every writer secretly wants to have a fan so devoted they might keep you prisoner until you write the book they want; it’s a brilliant thriller; it makes excellent use of a small, restricted location – Paul is bedbound for most of it; and it’s by turns terrifying and funny.
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