Let me get this straight. I have read a lot of Stephen King books. He's one of my favourite authors and his particular brand of weird just appeals to me. I can honestly say that Gerald's Game is the one book of his that has actually managed to scare me and I mean, really scare me.
I'm not entirely sure why this is. On the surface, this is a simple tale. A woman gets handcuffed to a bed during sexytimes but things quickly go awry when her husband dies, leaving her trapped and alone. What follows is tense survival mixed with psychological horror and a dash of the supernatural. Along with trying to escape, the protagonist Jessie must also cope with trauma from her past and a mysterious figure who visits her at night.
This book made me tense in a way I rarely feel with books. I read almost half of it in one sitting it was that engaging, and the only thing that made me put it down was sleep. There's not really much else to say about this book. It's told in King's usual style and there are a lot of his trademarks present so if you like his work then you'll probably like this. One thing to warn you about though is how brutal this book is. It deals with a very sensitive topic in a graphic way which could make it hard to read for some people. There is also a very graphic violent scene near the end which I actually had to read in chunks it was so disturbing. These parts only add to the book for me (horror should be horrifying after all) but it is worse than most of King's stuff and it might be too much for some people. If you're not into that sort of thing then I suggest looking up spoilers before reading to make sure you can stomach it.
My only other comment is that the ending does drag somewhat. I'm very glad for the bit after the main story and the light it casts on the plot but I guess for some people it might 'ruin' the horror a bit. Overall though I found it very hard to find fault with this story. One of King's best.
Overall Score:
.5
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