Riding the Bullet

Rating:
Summary: Ranked #77/100 of Essential Stephen King Works
Review:
Simply put, "Riding the Bullet" is a powerful story, packing a considerable wallop in its 67 pages; for the record, it was ranked #77 out of 100 by King expert Stephen Spignesi in THE ESSENTIAL STEPHEN KING, which looks at King's entire canon--fiction and nonfiction. Spignesi ought to know; my disagreement is a trifling one--I would have ranked it higher than #77. Though King is best known for his novel length work, he shines and sparkles at shorter lengths--his short stories, and particularly his novellas are striking; in fact, to my mind, the best of them have an impact like a well-placed blow from a boxer, striking fast and hard to leave an indelible impression.
This story is just such a swift blow. Drawing on his real-world experience of watching his mother die slowly of cancer, and tapping into that fear, he transmutes it into a palpable fear that intrudes in the world of the protagonist, a college student who gets the word that his mother is dying at a Maine hospital.
He hitches a ride to the hospital, but the driver isn't what he seems . . . and the story takes a supernatural twist that takes it veering off the road into one of those dark roads to which only King as the writer has the road-map: He knows where he's going, but you, the reader, do not. Trust him, reader; he will see you safely home.
At the heart of this story is the ugly reality that the protagonist must face: He makes a decision that, indeed, is monstrous; he is, as he hates to admit to himself, a bit of a monster himself. No boogeyman here; just ordinary human frailty, the kind that plagues you . . . and me.
As a long-time reader of King's fiction, I have found some of his stories more to my liking than others, but make no mistake -- he's never failed to deliver, as some of these "reviewers" assert. In this story, King delivers the goods.
For a measly $..., King delivers a satisfying story that deserves inclusion in his next short fiction collection -- it's THAT good, as opposed to the well-intentioned but small-minded, and uninformed, reviews (i.e.,opinions) that the other "reviewers" have posted here.

Rating:
Summary: My Two Cents
Review: Again, King has impressed me with ability to tell those tales. I found this story to be eerie,which is unusual for me as I read a lot of horror. And as Bram Stoker stated in Dracula,
"Denn die Todten reiten Schnell" (For the dead "travel" fast)

Rating:
Summary: My Two Cents
Review: Again, King has impressed me with ability to tell those tales. I found this story to be eerie,which is unusual for me as I read a lot of horror. And as Bram Stoker stated in Dracula,
"Denn die Todten reiten Schnell" (For the dead "travel" fast)

Rating:
Summary: My Two Cents
Review: Again, King has impressed me with ability to tell those tales. I found this story to be eerie,which is unusual for me as I read a lot of horror. And as Bram Stoker stated in Dracula,
"Denn die Todten reiten Schnell" (For the dead "travel" fast)

Rating:
Summary: Nice little story that can give some nasty bites
Review: Alan Parker, a junior at the University of Maine, gets a call from Mrs. McCurdy, the neighbor of his mother. "Twas a stroke," she told him, so no reason to hurry. But Alan gets an awful premonition that his mother is in real danger. So he decides to go visit his mother in the hospital that same night. One small problem: his car is broken. The cheapest solution: hitchhiking. Ignoring all good advice he sets on a trip that will change his life in more than one way.

The biggest problem with short stories is that they are... short. So as a writer you are forced the put forward strong characters in but a few lines of prose. One would not say at first sight that Stephen King would be good at this, looking at the enormous size of his recent works. But the contrary is true! Riding the Bullet is only one example. The story grabs you by the throat from the first lines, because it has such a true feel to it. Stephen succeeds in giving Alan Parker such a believable background, that when the hammer hits the pain is extremely powerful. At the end the story struggles a bit, but since it gives you something nasty to think about it still stays bearable.

Rating:
Summary: Nice little story that can give some nasty bites
Review: Alan Parker, a junior at the University of Maine, gets a call from Mrs. McCurdy, the neighbor of his mother. "Twas a stroke," she told him, so no reason to hurry. But Alan gets an awful premonition that his mother is in real danger. So he decides to go visit his mother in the hospital that same night. One small problem: his car is broken. The cheapest solution: hitchhiking. Ignoring all good advice he sets on a trip that will change his life in more than one way.

The biggest problem with short stories is that they are... short. So as a writer you are forced the put forward strong characters in but a few lines of prose. One would not say at first sight that Stephen King would be good at this, looking at the enormous size of his recent works. But the contrary is true! Riding the Bullet is only one example. The story grabs you by the throat from the first lines, because it has such a true feel to it. Stephen succeeds in giving Alan Parker such a believable background, that when the hammer hits the pain is extremely powerful. At the end the story struggles a bit, but since it gives you something nasty to think about it still stays bearable.

Rating:
Summary: Riding Stephen King's fast and scary roller coaster
Review: An easy read in Stephen King's typical short-story style: quick, but still a thriller in every way! While not as gory or graphic as some of his other writing, this one goes more for the psychological scare than the gross-you-out kind. Wanna go for a ride with a dead man? Wanna take a walk through a cemetary in the dark? Wanna choose between life and death? How will you survive your roller coaster ride on the Bullet?

Rating:
Summary: FREE???
Review: I didn't read this but even I know it wasn't "FREE" as both reviewers seem to think, but was offered on an honor system, asking that each person pay the exorbitant sum of four quarters which can usually be found in the pocket of a pair of dirty jeans or at the bottom of your purse. The reason it's not "FREE" now, is that (BIG SURPRISE) no one paid a lousy buck but choose to believe it was "FREE". Some may recognize this "FREE" policy from museums and even various charitable organizations and their t-shirts and book bags. The mistake was not making sure everyone paid first. So if you "got this book free", don't make so much noise about it; you're part of the reason it "costs" 2$ today. For believing in human honesty, this book gets 5 stars from me.

Sincerely, Someone who pays for what she uses, even if it isn't the best thing in the universe.

Rating:
Summary: Not that good, and once it was free.
Review: I got it for free long ago, I read it long ago, was short and not that good. Later King released Dreamcatcher and I'm still reading it, but so far it's much better that Riding The Bullet, even though none of the both can compare themselves to It, The Shining and so many others when Mr.King used to write Stephen King books, now they are only books.

Rating:
Summary: Sadly Disappointed
Review: I have been an avid fan of stephen king ever since i read his first book. I had read the reviews of this book and felt i would judge it for myself since i love his work. I purchased this book and was completely disappointed with it. Its a weak story, not up to kings calibre and i can't believe i actually paid for it. If your a king fan, pass on this book, its not worth it.