If It Bleeds by Stephen King

If It Bleeds by Stephen King
Release: April 21st 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Scribner
Source: Amazon

Synopsis:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author, legendary storyteller, and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary collection of four new and compelling novellas —Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and the title story If It Bleeds— each pulling readers into intriguing and frightening places.

A collection of four uniquely wonderful long stories, including a stand-alone sequel to the No. 1 bestseller The Outsider.

News people have a saying: ‘If it bleeds, it leads’. And a bomb at Albert Macready Middle School is guaranteed to lead any bulletin.

Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is working on the case of a missing dog – and on her own need to be more assertive – when she sees the footage on TV. But when she tunes in again, to the late-night report, she realizes there is something not quite right about the correspondent who was first on the scene. So begins ‘If It Bleeds’ , a stand-alone sequel to the No. 1 bestselling The Outsider featuring the incomparable Holly on her first solo case – and also the riveting title story in Stephen King’s brilliant new collection.

Dancing alongside are three more wonderful long stories from this ‘formidably versatile author’ (The Sunday Times) – ‘Mr Harrigan’s Phone’, ‘The Life of Chuck’ and ‘Rat’ . All four display the richness of King’s storytelling with grace, humor, horror and breathtaking suspense. A fascinating Author’s Note gives us a wonderful insight into the origin of each story and the writer’s unparalleled imagination.

The novella is a form King has returned to over and over again in the course of his amazing career, and many have been made into iconic films, If It Bleeds is a uniquely satisfying collection of longer short fiction by an incomparably gifted writer.

My Video review:

If It Bleeds Review:

One thing which I always admire about Stephen King’s novellas is that each of them are different. Each tale that you read, makes you experience a different emotion than before. Even though the four stories have an underlying supernatural theme to it, some of them are eerie, some lighthearted, some emotional, and some make you open your mind to all the possibilities about our existence that you didn’t perceive before.

Before are my thoughts of each story, sorted from most favorite to least:

If It Bleeds – Even though I have not read the Outsider, I loved this story! The villain is extremely creepy and I loved Holly as the main character. She is down to earth and flawed so you can relate to her. This made me want to read the Outsider to see if it is equally good!
Rat – This has similarities to some of King’s previous stories like “Secret Window, Secret Garden” and the Shining. I really enjoyed this tale because you never know if the rat is real or a figment of Drew’s imagination.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone – This was a cute, creepy tale which I enjoyed reading. I liked some of the statements that Mr. Harrigan made of how technology would be man’s accomplishment as well as his downfall.
The Life of Chuck – Wow, this was a unique tale and unlike anything that I have ever read. I loved the theme of how we are all connected to each other and the universe in some manner. However, the story was just too odd, and left many things open ended. Moreover, the author throws random characters in and out of the story that you cannot connect with.