Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

When I brought the Sweet Valley Book I also picked up Stephen Kings "Full Dark, No Stars" as part of the 2 for £8 offer in Tesco. At first glance I misunderstood and thought it was just one story where the four teasers on the back all played part of one story but I soon realised that it was actually several stories which had a common theme; That of committing a crime. I've been a Stephen King fan for several years, (thanks to my Mum who liked to watch Horror Movies and would let me watch some of the less scary ones with her) and spent a lot of time reading his back catalogue. Well, he did start writing books five years before I was born and that was about twenty years before I started reading them!

I had sworn off Stephen King for a while after reading Cell and a couple of other stories that made me have very vivid nightmares, but it has been about a year and I figured that I would be able to cope with the stories in the book. I was right, the tales haven't haunted me in the same way as Cell did or even the way that Duma Key did when I refused to play with a tennis ball at the beach in case there was a ghost ship ready to moor just off the sandbank.

The stories can be read in other places which is annoying as it turned out that I had already read a couple of them although it's my own fault for not reading the back of the book properly. So here for you is the back of the book;

What tips someone over the edge to commit a crime?

For a Nebraska farmer, the turning point comes when his wife threatens to sell off the family homestead.

A cozy mystery writer plots a savage revenge after a brutal encounter with a stranger.

Harry Streeter gets the chance to cure himself from illness - if he agrees to impose misery on an old rival.

And Darcy Anderson discovers a box containing her husband's dark and terrifying secrets - he's not just the man who keeps his nails short and collects coins. And now he's heading home...

The stories are typical Stephen King to my mind and it was the two stories featuring women (the second and the fourth) that had me most involved because of the motivation for the crimes that they commit. The book was read quickly (again in a couple of days) and has an rrp of £7.99 but will keep Stephen King fans happy.