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Thinner

from No. 1 bestseller Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman

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Thinner

By: Richard Bachman, Stephen King
Narrated by: Joe Mantegna
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'Thinner' - the old gypsy man barely whispers the word. Billy feels the touch of a withered hand on his cheek.

Billy Halleck, prosperous if overweight citizen, happily married, shuddered then turned angrily away. The old woman's death had been none of his fault. The courts had cleared him. She'd just stumbled in front of his car. Now he simply wanted to forget the whole messy business.

Later, when the scales told him he was losing weight, it was what the doctor ordered. His wife was pleased - as she should have been. But . . .

'Thinner' - the word, the old man's curse, has lodged in Billy's mind like a fattening worm, eating at his flesh, at his reason. And with his despair, comes violence.

(P) 2011 Penguin Audio USA©1996 Stephen King Genre Fiction Horror Metaphysical & Visionary Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Thriller & Suspense Scary
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Critic reviews

An incredibly gifted writer, whose writing, like Truman Capote's, is so fluid that you often forget that you're reading
Astonishingly good...honourable, deeply felt and almost wonderful
All stars
Most relevant
This is a great listen. Excellent, threatening narration from Joe Mantegna and the unusual addition of unsettling music. Revenge is such a powerful and compelling theme in literature and interest in this novel is really driven by waiting for the results of the clash between the two main protagonists.



I enjoyed this novel much more than I anticipated and it is much better than 11.22.63 which has much better reviews.

Thoroughly satisfying yarn

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Sometimes Stephen King stories are overly descriptive which can make them difficult to follow.

I loved this. The tale was so straightforward - somebody did something wrong and revenge was taken.

Joe Mantegna is a great narrator but I couldn't get Fat Tony out of my head.

Intriguing

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What made the experience of listening to Thinner the most enjoyable?

A brilliant story which is hard to put down, the characters were very realistic; a not very likeable main character Billy Halleck, with a even less likeable wife, however their characters were subtly portrayed by the author, and I have to admit, that I tended to start to feel empathy for the family and their sad ending. I had read the book many years ago and just had to listen to it again

What did you like best about this story?

The best part of the book was when Ginelli came into his own, superb planning and execution.

What does Joe Mantegna bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narrative was excellent.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Keep your eyes on the road!

What a good read!

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the music cuts in and out randomly, its super loud and sonetines drowns out the narrator. im slightly hardbof hearing so need the volume up tp hear the narrator and when the music suddenly kicks in it made my ear drums pop! VERY irritating! Try find an alternative narration or read it. it really ruined a perfectly good story for me unfortunately.

good story - irritating cheesy LOUD music

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What a pleasant surprise to be met with the dulcet tones of Fat Tony from The Simpsons when I started this audiobook!

After having listened to another of SK’s audiobooks that James Franco narrated I was dubious of listening to a known voice narrating as I found it a bit distracting with Franco but Joe Mantegna’s voice suits the story he tells here fantastically. I thoroughly enjoyed him from start to finish, and in his usual style Stephen King never fails to entertain.

Fat Tony!

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