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Mile 81

An iconic chiller from the No. 1 bestseller

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Mile 81

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Craig Wasson, Edward Herrman, Thomas Sadoski
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A Stephen King eBook Original Short Story featuring an excerpt from his novel 11.22.63.

With the heart of Stand By Me and the genius horror of Christine, MILE 81 is Stephen King unleashing his imagination as he drives past one of those road signs . . .

At Mile 81 on the Maine Turnpike is a boarded up rest stop, a place where high school kids drink and get into the kind of trouble high school kids have always gotten into. It's the place where Pete Simmons goes when his older brother heads off to the gravel pit to play 'paratroopers over the side'.

Pete, armed with only the magnifying glass he got for his tenth birthday, finds a discarded bottle of vodka in the boarded up burger shack and drinks enough to pass out. That's why he doesn't notice a freshly mud-spattered station wagon (which is strange because there hadn't been any rain in New England for over a week) which veers into the Mile 81 rest area, ignoring the sign that reads 'closed, no services'.

The driver's door opens but nobody gets out . . .

In the bonus story The Dune, originally published in Granta's October 2011 horror issue, retired Florida Supreme Court Judge Harvey Beecher tells his lawyer about a mysterious sand dune on an unnamed island a short distance off the Gulf coastline of his family's property. Harvey first visited the island at the age of ten in 1932, after his grandfather, a scoundrel and land speculator who'd created the family fortune, told him Blackbeard's treasure might be buried there. Travelling to the island became a daily addiction for Harvey...and now his lawyer is about to discover the shocking reason why.

(P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio©2011 Stephen King Crime Fiction Horror Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Fiction Fantasy Scary
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Critic reviews

The reader reaps the benefit of King's master of the form . . . All 13 stories are wonderfully wicked and highlight what happens when, as one characters says, a "trapdoor opens between reality and the twilight zone" and "anything is possible"
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2 really good short story and would defo recommend for the price, both had excellent endings!

2 great short storys

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Sometimes you don't want that full three course steak meal and fruity bottle of red. You just want a pint and a packet of crisps and in the world of Stephen King that's just what Mile 81 is. A bit of a snack, and it's a reasonably tasty one. Two stories, a monster car tale and The Dune both well read by Thomas Sadoski and Edward Herrmann respectively.

Mile 81 is the highlight, and gives a brief dose of Stephen King creepiness and was more compelling than I expected while The Dune felt like an old fable brought up to date with an enjoyable though possibly predictable twist at the end. There is also an excerpt of about ten minutes or so from 11.22.63 at the end.

So if you fancy snacking on Mr King's work this is just fine.

Pint and a Packet of Crisps

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The fact that he creates the characters in so short a time is mesmerising and awe inspiring. The same KING just bite size.

So different from the usual 10_30hr books.

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I love Stephen King's short stories and these two are up to his usual high standard.

Very well read, especially by Edward Herrmann.

Usual excellence from Stephen King

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Loved it. Well read and as always I was completely drawn in. Great to have some shorter listens too.

Great short stories from the master

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