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    If It Bleeds
    If It Bleeds
    If It Bleeds
    Audiobook15 hours

    If It Bleeds

    Written by Stephen King

    Narrated by Will Patton, Danny Burstein and Steven Weber

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    *#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

    Includes “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone”—now a Netflix original film starring Donald Sutherland and Jaeden Martell!

    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).

    The four brilliant tales in If It Bleeds prove as iconic as their predecessors. In the title story, reader 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.

    “An adroit vehicle to showcase the…nature of evil” (The Boston Globe), If It Bleeds is “exactly what I wanted to read right now,” says Ruth Franklin in The New York Times Book Review.

    Editor's Note

    Frighteningly good…

    Stephen King’s latest release is a collection of four frighteningly good novellas. Escape into these enthralling stories by the, well, king of short fiction. You’ve probably heard of “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (adapted into the movie “Shawshank Redemption”) and “The Body” (aka “Stand By Me”), so you don’t want to miss his newest shorts in “If It Bleeds.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateApr 21, 2020
    ISBN9781797104805
    If It Bleeds
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for If It Bleeds

    4/5

    1,256 ratings74 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Excellent King!!! That first story was the creepiest!! Narrators are excellent!

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      You will need to read The Outsider for the title story to really work. Lucky for you, that book is awesome, as is this collection of short stories!

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Excellent.. intriguing and fun..but in a scary kinda way..I loved if it bleeds..fans of Holly Gibney will approve ❤️

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Classic Stephen King. His words have always painted such clear pictures. And if it bleeds doesn't disappoint.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed the stories, especially “If It Bleeds.” Yet, I really agree that people should read “The Outsider” first, then read this story. The others are great! : D

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Love me some Steven King !! Your short stories are great. But keep writing both, cause i love to listen and I also love the man that reads most of your books.Im handicapped and yr books help me by giving me s 9omething to do. Again thank you

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great Read.....keeps you on your toes!.as does all of King's books

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I loved every story in this book. Some more than others but if you're a King fan, you'll love these.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      As usual, Stephen King's newest release, If It Bleeds, was responsible for sleepless hours and minor heart attacks - I really do not understand why I read his books at night, living alone as I do. He is so very skilled at building atmosphere, and in dragging you down into stories where you should not be, and into states of mind that are not good for the generally anxious reader that I am. I particularly enjoyed (if that is the right word) the title story, which features Holly Gibney, Jerome Robinson, and several other of the characters from King's Mr. Mercedes trilogy. This story finds Holly the owner of a detective agency, Finders Keepers, on the trail of another Outsider and in terrible peril. The story that left me sleeping with my lights on was Mr. Harrigan's Phone, which tells the story of young Craig, who works for rich Mr. Harrigan in his mansion on the hill. When Mr. Harrigan dies - he is an elderly man and in ill health - Craig ensures that Mr. Harrigan is buried with his much-loved iPhone, a present from Craig on which Mr. Harrigan tracks the stock market. Burying the iPhone with his erstwhile boss is a mistake, a terrible, eerie mistake that had me reading through a crack in my cave of blankets, blinds drawn, all background noises making me jump and gasp for air. I put down the book for three days afterwards as I was scared to read more. The Life of Chuck was written backwards; that is, its beginning is at the end and vice versa. I thought it was very well done, particularly as the scary bits were in the beginning, and then the story got tamer as it went. It was cleverly done. This novella left me wanting to read Walt Whitman, which is an unusual outcome for a horror story! I didn't get a lot out of the final story, Rat, which is about a writer who goes to an isolated cabin in the woods to write a novel. As always, a volume of Stephen King's stories is time well-spent and eagerly anticipated. This book did not disappoint.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      As always King delivers. This time in four shorter novellas. Each was terrific and its own right.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      TABLE OF CONTENTS:
      CH.1 Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
      CH.5 Life of Chuck
      CH.8 If It Bleeds
      CH.21 Rat

      Big fan of these type of collections, especially Stephen Kings. However it’s poopy there’s no table of contents to find the specific story you might want to revisit. So I listed them above. Happy listening :D

      Ch.1 Mr Harrigans Phone
      Ch.5 Life of Chuck
      Ch.8 If It Bleeds
      Ch.21 Rat
    • 5/5
      Really nice short stories plus the Holly and Outsider continuation.
    • 5/5
      Amazing, as always. Steven King is a boss! Holly, I love you.
    • 4/5
      For audiobooks I believe the narrators are just as (if not more) important than the story itself. The narrators here were good except when the last one’s voice for Holly. It’s terrible. I understand how he’s trying to portray her character, but it definitely could have been done better. It’s like a cross between Chef John from Food Wishes and Donald Trump. Which aren’t so bad in their own respective ways, but when combined it’s not a good thing. The stories were nice though. Probably should read “The Outsider” first because I didn’t really have any idea what was going on. The first act of the second story was my favorite though. Fantastic imagery and I could feel the same emotions as the character just because it seemed so real.
    • 5/5
      Stephan King was at the top of his game. I loved this entire book. Can't recommend it more
    • 2/5
      The stories are good, but I cannot stand the voice, it makes Holly Gibney sound really damned annoying and weak and wavery, ugh
    • 5/5
      I love this one! Holly (my fave recirring SK character) is in it again! All four stories were written sooo good!
    • 5/5
      This, just like all the others, was SO good! I loved it! Im in awe of Stephen King every time.
    • 5/5
      Interesting little stories.. the one about the shape shifter I liked thed the best
    • 4/5
      Great book but the tracks on the first 3 stores are not correct and Rat it goes along with each chapter
    • 5/5
      This is a great audio book. Great Plot . .
    • 3/5
      Four extended short stories much like King’s “Elevated.” None of the four were especially outstanding. In fact, this book felt to me like Stephen King was merely cashing another paycheck. I’m not sure I understand the rave reviews. Maybe that’s just what readers and reviewers do automatically after they read a King book.
    • 4/5
      I respect Stephen King for always coming up with interesting twists to engage the reader. Although this was not one of my favorite collections of his, it whetted my appetite for more.
    • 4/5
      It’s best to go in knowing this is a collection of novellas. It took me a couple stories to realize they weren’t connected. The novellas themselves were interesting. I’d like to see some as novels.
    • 5/5
      I throughly enjoyed all of these stories.. on to my next Stephen King book!
    • 5/5
      very fast pace, interesting stories and I would recommend it
    • 5/5
      King knocks it out the park yet again, he is the master of short stories.
    • 2/5
      My fist Stephen King book and was not impressed. Of the four stories "If it bleeds" was the only decent one
    • 5/5
      Always excited to hear from holly. I get holly hope ?
    • 4/5
      The stories were great and the narration was brilliant except for the second story (Thanks Chuck), that one I didn't connect with at all.