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  • Desperation

  • By: Stephen King
  • Narrated by: Stephen King
  • Length: 21 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,212 ratings)
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Desperation cover art

Desperation

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Stephen King
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Summary

Welcome to Desperation.

Once a thriving copper-mining town in the middle of the Nevada desert, Desperation is now eerily abandoned. It's the last place that travellers like the Carver family, bound for vacation, and writer Johnny Marinville, astride his Harley, would expect to be stopped and charged. But Desperation still has a local cop - a unique regulator who patrols the wilderness highway.

The secrets buried in Desperation are as terrifying as the forces summoned to encounter them. A terrifying transformation is taking place, and the travellers will soon discover the true meaning of desperation....

©1996 Stephen King (P)2016 Simon & Schuster Audio

What listeners say about Desperation

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

AMAZING

such an amazing book by an amazing author.
He reads it with such passion and really paints the picture in your mind.
I have listens to this 3 times now and it still hasn't got boring. pick up extra bits of emotion every listen

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Why

Why does Stephen King do his own narration ? He has such a nasally voice it ends up with every character sounding the same . Stick to writing Mr King I'm sure you can afford a decent narrator

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Chilling and grizzly

Beautifully read by the author. A twisting, turning tale that will keep you totally riveted.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

God is cruel.


This was the second time I tried to read this book, the first time I found it to violent and relentless in its gore and suffering; it still is but compared to the news we read every day it has lost some of the horror and that is a very sad reflection on our times.
The plot is a kind of revelation come commentary on environmental issues and racist abuse, but do not worry it just plows all that under a ton of bodies and blood , the characters are well drawn and the evil ones are also well described and put to some horrific use, this is the period where King was talking a lot about alcoholism and probably confronting his mortality, lots of references to middle age aches and pains, also his confusing religious expositions, still a very Christian mix of ideas ( unlike in his last books where god is closer to a god from the Necronomicon).
I can not describe it as fun but it certainly kept me interested and worried for the people in the story.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Blood soaked joy

Loved every second of this brutal classic. Read it when I was a teenager and it's as powerful now as it was then.
Only problem I had with reading are SK's glottal 'Ls'!. There's a glot of times that gletter is used. Gloved it tho!

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z

Usually love Stephen King novels, this one was a snooze feature. Narration added nothing to experience.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Stephen King at his best

This is my favourite type of King story. Supernatural elements forming the basis for an evolving mystery but also a character drama where relationships shift and change under pressure!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Just a gentle road trip!!?

What a fantastic tale. The interwoven spiritual theme intertwined with the violence that unfolds is absolutely brilliant. It makes you shudder but unable to resist the next passage.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
  • Jo
  • 15-02-18

I usually love anything by Stephen King.....

Desperation was a struggle. I couldn't really get into it at all which is unusual for me.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome!!!

I love King! He always takes me with him and I never fail to understand.

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6 people found this helpful