If It Bleeds

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Will Patton, Danny Burstein, Steven Weber

Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Number one New York Times best seller

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).

Four brilliant new tales in If It Bleeds are sure to prove as iconic as their predecessors. Once again, King’s remarkable range is on full display. In the title story, fan-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.

“Exactly what I wanted to read right now,” said Ruth Franklin in a rave on the cover of The New York Times Book Review. “Phenomenal," said Brian Truitt in USA Today. “King still owns the fright business like none other.”

©2020 Stephen King (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Audio

Another Amazing Collection from the King of Horror

Stephen King is one of the best authors in the world. He has written more than 100 books, short stories, and novellas in almost all genres out there. I experienced many of them as audiobooks and just yesterday the Pre-order came in on my Audible app for If It Bleeds, his latest release.

If It Bleeds is another amazing work of fiction from the master, from the King of Horror and Suspense, bringing together four brilliantly written novellas. He could have released each of them individually and would have gone away with that, because each of them is long enough and strong enough to stand on their own.

The audiobook version of If It Bleeds is narrated by three great actors and they are doing an excellent job of bringing all of these remarkable characters to life. Will Patton and Steven Weber are well known and loved by fans of Stephen King for their amazing performances of It, The Outsider, The Myst or the Mr. Mercedes series. The other actor is Danny Burstein, a relatively newcomer in the audiobook industry, but after his delivery in this collection he might get famous fast.

I'll end this review by saying this: I spent the last 24 hours listening to If It Bleeds for more than 15 of them, I slept 8 and in what was left of the other hour, I thought about the book... With stories like this, our forced isolation in these demanding times would pass much easier.

Thank you Mr. King for all the amazing journeys you take us on everytime we read or listen to one of your works!

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Thank you & stay safe,
Victor

Classic King

Highly recommended for any fan of very good story telling.
High level readers combined with one of the best novella storytellers is the reason I gave it 5 stars.

Great collection of stories

My biggest problem is with the narrations. Having someone with a drawl narrating a story that took place in New England was a bit annoying. Also it would be nice if more female narrator s would do the voices of the women. Patton trying to sound like Like Holly Gibney is just awful and distracting

Fabulous

The stories were masterfully written and the narration was engaging and warm. The inflection used by the voice over readers was just right.

A great collection of 4 stories.

Story 1 is good all about a mysterious phone.
Story 2 is ok and kinda hard to follow in my opinion.
Story 3 is amazing and is about an evil shapeshifter.
Story 4 is also great and is about a struggling writer.

Great stories!

I’m so happy we got to meet Holly again in if it bleeds, she is one of my favorite Stephen king characters. Although some stories were much more interesting than others, I think overall they were all good and the performance is well done.

Long live the King

....having said that this is by no means his best work. But oh how I waited for it during this covid 19 period to let me escape the daily drudgery. And that it did.

Fabulous, everything you expect from Mr. King.

As a "constant reader," I'm biased but I truly think that this is an amazing set of stories and the layout keeps you wanting more the entire way through. The moment it ended, I wanted to start it all over again.

Better than I imagined

each story was good on its own. The Life of Chuck was my favorite.

4 stories, all good to great

I love King in novella form. I enjoyed all 4 of these. Great storytelling from King and narration from all three actors. I recommend!