Misery is the story of a writer named Paul Sheldon whose car upturned in the middle of a blizzard in the remote Colorado mountains and who has been rescued by an ex-nurse named Annie Wilkes. Annie insists she is Paul's biggest fan. Paul is famous for his historical romance novels featuring a heroine named Misery Chastain.
His legs are shattered in the car crash and Annie is nursing her favorite author back to health. Soon after his accident and in between a narcotic induced haze, Paul begins to realize that Annie has him hooked on the pain killers and that she is insane. He also realizes they are in the middle of nowhere and that nobody knows where he is.
The house becomes a prison for Paul and he soon realizes that Annie is not planning on letting him leave until he writes a new Misery book just for her.

I have plenty of unread King books sitting on my bookshelves since I have slight OCD when it comes to his books and I must collect them, even if it will take me a lifetime to read them all, especially the Dark Tower series. So what made me re-read a King book? I loved it so much the first time around. Plain and simple. I found that the second time around was better.

I must also mention that the movie version of Misery is one of my favorite King book to film adaptations. I think Paul and Annie were cast perfectly. The film does differ a bit from the novel, but it was well done nonetheless.
The novel really showcases Annie's lack of sanity as well as Paul's fear of her. She often 'zones out' while speaking, leaving Paul terrified and waiting for her to come back to reality.

"Everything she said was a little strange, a little offbeat. Listening to Annie was like listening to a song played in the wrong key." p.11, Misery


Here you have classic King at his best, this is a great scary story and I found myself unable to put this book down. Misery has been referred to as King's love letter to his fans.

There's plenty of horror and nail biting suspense within these pages but there are also glimpses of hope for Paul. I cheered him on as he devised plans on freeing himself from Annie's clutches. The writing in the story is wonderfully descriptive and I felt like I was in the same room with Paul as I read. I wanted him to escape so badly, but I knew the odds were against him.

Annie is a psychopath and you see that very early on in the book. King wastes no time beating around the bush here. I think she is one of his best villains. He does a great job at giving this wicked nurse a background story. She's also quirky, using bizarre old fashioned language, words like 'dirty birdie' and 'Mr. Man' when she's angry.

There's plenty of OMG and cringe worthy moments in Misery and that is just what I have come to expect from a scary King novel.

What made this book even scarier for me is that there's no supernatural forces at work here, no dark magic being used, this is plain and simply realistically terrifying. Technically speaking, in real life a crazy lunatic can hold a person hostage and torture them. I think that's what makes Annie so scary, it seems like someone could really do what she does to Paul.
If you are in the mood for a scary suspenseful story that will get under your skin and have you jumping at the slightest sound, look no further than Misery. When I was done reading this book, I wanted to turn to the first page and read it all over again.

read my full review here
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/201...