Review – Big Driver by Stephen King

The second story in the Full Dark, No Stars collection and the grittiest I’ve read from King in a while. A wonderfully written character but an awful scenario combine into a gripping, and dark, tale of revenge.



Whilst I’m not a fan of books that reference films as a way to signpost ideas, what King has produced in Big Driver is a meta fiction worthy of praise. Taking the collective consciousness around horror stories and, rather than using it as a crutch, using it as a framework, he displays an insightful connection between reality and fiction and that liminal space where imagination rests. What unfolds is a fascinating look into the mind of someone forced to endure and solve a terrible situation.



A cosy mystery writer, Tess subsidises her income with speaking events. Offered a short notice gig, not far from home, that meets her criteria, she accepts. A particular but pleasant woman, Tess does everything with honesty from her meet and greets to making sure her cat, Fritzy, isn’t left alone too long. When her host offers to show her a shortcut home, she readily accepts, a fact upon which everything turns.



The backroad she travels is quiet and the debris in the road causes her to suffer a flat tyre. It’s here that Tess’ imagination begins to wander and when one of the biggest men she’s ever seen arrives to help her, she’s suddenly gripped by a fear she derides herself for feeling, worrying her overactive mind has snagged on a horror movie theme. It’s not unfounded.



Tess survives. What King then does with the story is intriguing. A tale of a woman’s perspective including shame and guilt but also privacy and self-preservation, there’s a cold logic about Tess’ point of view that is both maddeningly and sadly real. It’s also one of an unravelling and that’s to be expected; the incident is a changing point with out the option to return. Tess displays a strength and character that’s immense and it’s less the revenge and more about how she goes about it that is so compelling.



Not an easy read but a gripping work of fiction, Big Driver is all about character and, yet, whilst the collection is titled Full Dark, No Stars there is some light at the end of this one despite its source.



My copy



Published by Hodder & Stoughton