16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's all about choices, August 26, 2006
Stephen King first published "Riding the Bullet" as an online e-book in 2000. This was the first time a story by a top-selling author was first published electronically, and only later in traditional media, and because of this it got a lot of publicity at the time.
Since then "Riding the Bullet" has been released as an audio book on CD or cassette, and as an audio download. It is also included in "Everything's Eventual", a collection of 14 short stories in print form.
In his introduction to "Everything's Eventual" Stephen King bemoans the fact that "Riding the Bullet" got a lot of attention just because it was the first e-book-only publication by a major author, but absolutely no attention based on the merits of the story itself. So now I'll focus on the story, just in case Mr. King happens by - wouldn't want to disappoint him, right?
"Riding the Bullet" is a ghost story about a young guy who is hitchhiking home to visit his sick mother and gets picked up by a dead man driving a Ford Mustang. The dead man gives him a simple choice: either you or your mother die, and you get to choose which one!
The young guy in the story has to make a choice. You, the reader, also have to consider what you'd choose if you were in this situation. Come on, now, be honest, who would you choose?
There's a flashback to when the young guy was a 12-year-old boy visiting an amusement park together with his mother. He pestered his mother to stand in line with him to ride the scariest attraction, "The Bullet", but when they finally got to the head of the queue he chickened out. He made his choice then, not to ride The Bullet.
What will he choose now?
The story is not too complicated or sophisticated, but it is well told. In particular, the characters seem very real, even the ghost, and the story is told in a way that makes it believable and entertaining.
The audio version is read by Josh Hamilton who has just the right youthful voice to make it sound correct. It is only 1 hour and 33 minutes. (The cassette and CD versions say "approx. 2 hours" on the packaging, but this is deceptive marketing.)
Recommended, although the audio version is over-priced compared to buying "Everything's Eventual" as a book and getting an additional 13 stories.
Rennie Petersen
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading Item Description, May 11, 2010
This review is from: Riding the Bullet (Kindle Edition)
Although the story was enjoyable, I based my purchase of the Kindle edition on the Print Length of 400 pages listed in the item description and was disappointed to discover that, rather than a full-length novel, I had received a short story.
Amazon, please correct your misleading item description!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading item description, August 12, 2010
This review is from: Riding the Bullet (Kindle Edition)
As did some other reviewers, I decided to purchase this based on Amazon's description of it being 400 pages, and was surprised and disappointed when it ended just as I was settling in for a good read. I do enjoy Stephen King's short stories, but this one was just okay. Next time I'll actually READ the reviews before purchasing!
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