The Dark Half [Hardcover]

Stephen King (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Viking; Flr Dsply edition (1989)
• ISBN-10: 0670778095
• ISBN-13: 978-0670778096
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (159 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,361,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was also a bestseller. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars King delivers another grand title...Or is it Bachman?, August 9, 2006

By 

Jeffrey B. Woods (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Half (Mass Market Paperback)

"I'm back from the dead and you don't seem glad to see my at all, you ungrateful son of a bi$ch." During a time when folks began to question Stephen King's story telling ability, the "Master of Horror" pulls yet another ace from the deck. The Dark Half is a strong novel, similar to a short novella, "Secret Window, Secret Garden" from another SK book, Four Past Midnight. However, after reading the first couple hundred pages the close association with that story ends and The Dark Half begins. This novel is a nice breath of fresh air compared to other work that King released during this time period such as: The Tommyknockers, Needful Things, Dolores Claiborne, etc. Its unique style screams Bachman and displays Steve King's uncanny ability to write beyond the "typical monster under the bed" yarn, while capitalizing on his untapped ability to write a great crime novel. With a little mythology and telepathy thrown in to boot, The Dark Half delivers a prominent yarn, that will keep the reader engaged from start to finish. The only major problem I had with the book was the short, abrupt ending, which always seems to plague most of King's work (as his fans love to point out).

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick-paced crime thriller, May 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Half (Mass Market Paperback)

Quick-paced crime thriller: That's the best description of this magnificent novel. Located of course in Maine, this time in Castle Rock. Both this book, and 'Needful Things' have several characters in common. Unlike another pair of novels, 'The Regulators' and 'Desperation', the characters in question preserve their personality and biographies throughout the novels. Although after finishing 'The Dark Half' you may have an impression that all is well that ends well, read its sibling novel to get to know that this isn't so at all. I have found the 'Half' colorful and enchanting. This novel bound me to itself, so that I felt compelled to finish reading at one shot. Chances are you will too. King often utilizes one writer's trick of emphasizing character's persistent thoughts in separated lines or special type. In 'Carrie' it was for instance "dirtypillows", in 'The Shining' it was "redrum", and here it's "the sparrows are flying again". These mantras remain rooted long after reading the book in question. The writing technique is very convincing, serving as a complement to sequential presentation of words spoken and thought. How many times a day you use one expression in your head's voice and quite another goes out of your mouth? Coming back to the main plot of the book, one can imagine how much pissed off King must have been when his Bachman pseudonym was revealed to the public. On the other hand, the book suggests that he had some bitter thoughts observing the divergence of the volume of sales of his Bachman books and the ones written under his proper name, respectively. Well, all is well that ends well at least in this respect. Years later, in 1995, he exhumed his Bachman pseudo to write a companion novel to 'Desperation'. It was very handy and King used it in a brilliant way, indeed. Hence, reading 'The Dark Half' in 2000, one can look at the bitter writer's experiences with some perspective. As for the book itself, I claim that few writers have King's talent to write books you can't put down, and at the same time be able to amaze the reader with both descriptions and dialogues. Let me use a cliché: we don't read King for blood or any other feature like this. We read him because virtually each book of his carries the stigma of good literature and uniqueness. We read his books because He wrote them, no matter what the book is about. Don't we? So what? Well, LONG LIVE THE KING!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Plot, March 20, 2006

By 

Neeshee Pandit (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Half (Mass Market Paperback)

The Dark Half is the first Stephen King novel I bought. For some reason the little paragraph summary on the inside flap of the book caught my attention, and the book undoubtedly carried it through.

The plot was very clever and well thought out. I was impressed to say the least. The concept in this book was a great one as well and it gave me a very good idea of Stephen King's style. It's not one of his strongest books, but its brilliant nonetheless. I was amazed by this book and it only made me want to go out and buy more King novels. The only thing lacking is the character development which really shows in King's later novels. This is one of his earliest works, so it lacks in areas where his latest don't. But its always fun to read an author's earlier books, even when they aren't as good as the new ones. It just gives you a nice perspective, Anyways, I highly recommend this book, its well worth your time and I hope you are as dumbfounded by it as I was.