Gerald’s Game is a suspense\/terror novel, written in 1992.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is set to coincide with a full solar eclipse in Maine in that year \u00a0 He wrote 2 books (Dolores Claiborne is the other) and the two books are connected by the eclipse and similar themes (abuse).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This book will challenge the reader at several levels.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is similar to Misery and perhaps Cujo, but may be more scary and may be distressing, horrifying, and unsettling.<\/p>\n
The story starts with a married couple at a remote cabin in the off-season.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The husband (Gerald) wants to play a sex game involving bondage.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He buys regulation handcuffs and uses them, but at the last moment, the wife\u00a0 (Jessie) doesn’t want to participate, so she objects, and kicks her husband where it hurts, stimulating a triggering of intense pain, followed by a heart attack.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He dies beside the bed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The keys are across the room and there is no one around.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jessie is trapped.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over a couple of days she faces thirst, pain, distress, and a bit of a mental collapse.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many voices arise in Jessie’s head and she finds herself reliving traumatic events of the past.\u00a0\u00a0 To complicate matters, a feral hungry dog and a grotesque stranger come to observe her. \u00a0 Much of the book follows Jessie’s efforts to free herself and to rail against the demons in her head. \u00a0\u00a0 She suffers and becomes delirious, with a similar feel to parts of Duma Key.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If the reader can get past all the suffering (including the reader’s), there is a story of resilience and redemption.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The ending of the book is very strange, but it serves to explain events that may or may not have been real.<\/p>\n
It is a very good book, but the topics are not for everyone.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephen King always provides fine writing, outstanding characterization, and creative story-lines.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gerald’s Game is not an easy book to read, but it is a fine one.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rating – 4.6\/5 stars.<\/p>\n