Book Review: Full Dark No Stars
“I believe there is another man inside every man, a stranger…”
I read my first Stephen King book last year, but it was his non-fiction book On Writing (review). While reading On Writing I heard about Full Dark No Stars, a collection of four short stories, and my interest was piqued. I wasn’t sure I would be interested in a full-length science fiction or scary novel, so the short story collection seemed like a way to sample some of King’s writing without overcommitting.
Each story in Full Dark No Stars was a fast read. King certainly has a way of telling a story so that it pulls you in from sometimes the first sentence. He uses lots and lots of foreshadowing, which I usually like but that I was actually kind of tired of by the time I finished the last story.
The stories are very dark, but then it is Stephen King. At one point I questioned if I should finish reading it, but then I honestly was “hooked” and had to see how the story/stories finished. While the crimes in the stories are shocking, King’s look into the inner person was intriguing. In each story the reader sees the outer person battling with the inner person, an inner person capable of unspeakable things that shocks even themselves. King speaks of the unspeakable and shines light on those inner conflicts which I think happen more often than we know or than people let on.
