Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King

Genre:                Short stories
Year:                   2010
Pages:                 368
Publisher:           Scribner
Preceded by:     Just After Sunset
Stories:               

• 1922
• Big Driver
• Fair Extension 
• A Good  Marriage

A new collection of four never-before-published stories from Stephen King.

1922
The story opens with the confession of Wilfred James to the murder of his wife, Arlette, following their move to Hemingford, Nebraska onto land willed to Arlette by her father.

Big Driver
Mystery writer, Tess, has been supplementing her writing income for years by doing speaking engagements with no problems. But following a last-minute invitation to a book club 60 miles away, she takes a shortcut home with dire consequences.

Fair Extension
Harry Streeter, who is suffering from cancer, decides to make a deal with the devil but, as always, there is a price to pay.

A Good Marriage
Darcy Anderson learns more about her husband of over twenty years than she would have liked to know when she stumbles literally upon a box under a worktable in their garage. (stephenking.com)

"Life is fair. We all get the same nine-month shake in the box, and then the dice roll. Some people get a run of sevens. Some people, unfortunately, get snake-eyes. Its just how the world is."

"He supposed that even in Hell, people got an occasional sip of water, if only so they could appreciate the full horror of unrequited thirst when it set in again."

There are 4 trailers, one for each story, and you can find them all on youtube. I included one to A Good Marriage because this is the story I liked the most!

We don't fully know anyone.

Least of all ourselves.

In his brand new set of never before published novellas, Stephen King skillfully performs a deeply disturbing vivisection of the human soul.

I am a HUGE Stephen King  fan. I read almost everything this brilliant man published so far (with few exceptions that are still on my TBR list). I love his writing style, his wittiness and darkness. I don't think I ever read anything by SK that I wouldn't enjoy. So be informed, that my review might not be fully objective. I will do my best, though, I promise. 

This being said, let's talk about Full Dark, No Stars.

I can honestly say that King's recently published stories are so far my favorite short stories ever. It's Stephen King at his best. You know these dark, shadowy places hidden deep in the human soul? Well, King finds them all, carefully examines them, pokes around and then drags them into light to share the findings with his readers. 

The novellas are dealing with the theme of retribution. These are stories of complicity. Skillfully crafted, with just a tasteful pinch of paranormal, enough to keep us interested, but not as much as to distract us from the core of the story - humans and their crimes, their good and bad decisions and the consequences that follow.

King plays with the idea that everyone of us has an "outside me", the face we put on like a mask, to live through yet another day without revealing our true selves and whatever lies underneath. He digs deep, in search of the ugly, nasty and often horrifying truth that we try so hard to keep from others. He then brings whatever he dug up, holds it up to our eyes in a palm of his hand and says with a crooked smile: "look what I found... What do YOU think about it?"

I loved it. I enjoyed it a LOT, I had a huge kick out of reading it. 

The cover might not be the best I've ever seen, but the title reflects the content of the book in 100%. When you pick up this book and start reading, the night is very dark, and there are definitely no stars that could lighten it up.