The Gingerbread Girl | Stephen King | Stephen King keeps delivering

The Gingerbread Girl | Stephen King | For Stephen King an ok story

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The Gingerbread Girl

	The Gingerbread Girl Stephen King Simon & Schuster Audio, 2008 average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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In the emotional aftermath of her baby's sudden death, Em starts running. Soon she runs from her husband, to the airport, down to the Florida Gulf and out to the loneliest stretch of Vermillion Key, where her father has offered the use of a conch shack he has kept there for years. Em keeps up her running -- barefoot on the beach, sneakers on the road -- and sees virtually no one. This is doing her all kinds of good, until one day she makes the mistake of looking into the driveway of a man named Pickering. Pickering also enjoys the privacy of Vermillion Key, but the young women he brings there suffer the consequences. Will Em be next?

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Stephen King keeps delivering

This audio book was read by Mare Winningham, and she does a fine job. The story is the main draw, and you want this one. It is not really a horror story; it is a tale of terror, with more of a 'how badly do you want to survive?' theme. Lots of action, lots of clues as to what may happen next, with lots (and lots) of tension.

For Stephen King an ok story

As others have indicated this story/audio-book was good but not great. For a short story it was ok - it was a nice easy listen in the car to and from work, not something that required a great deal of concentration.

For those who prefer a good long meaty Stephen King story this will be a disappointment.

I did like the narrator - she did a really good job capturing the emotion and expression of the characters.

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Missed Opportunities

I loved Stephen King before it was cool to love Stephen King. I've ridden this roller coaster from _Carrie_ to the present. There have been high points, and there have been low points, but like any charter member of the "constant reader" club, I stay strapped in, waiting for the next big hill. _The Gingerbread Girl_ isn't it.

This is a short novel of a young woman, Em, who takes up running after the loss of a child. Once again, Stephen King excels at creating believable and fleshed-out characters, but once again it falls short on the "horror factor". This novel is very similar to _Lizey's Story_, another woman who is pursued by a psycho following the unexpected death of a loved one. At one point, and sadly, only one, when said psycho begins speaking to an invisible accomplice, and it looks like we're going to get a touch of _Blaze_ blended in as well. It looks like we're going to have a psycho who isn't just nuts. However, like the demon in the closet early in _Cujo_, Psycho's inner voice is never referred to again, the haunting presence as well as a wonderful opportunity to kick the horror up a notch, is discarded.

Not to be prudish, but while I understand the need for colorful language in dialogue, because that's just the way some people speak, I am really at a loss why a description of a setting needs the same treatment. It seems lazy. Like the right word is out there somewhere, but this one will do.

That being said, King is still capable of occasionally leaving you speechless. "Donning wax wings on a sunny day" is masterful writing, and there are jewels like this peppered throughout the novel. He can make you laugh or cry or scare the "hoohaa" out of you. It's just been such a long time since he's done the latter. It's a good story, and he does a good job telling it, but if you want to read great Stephen King, pick up _It_ or _The Stand_.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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