Product Description

In the emotional aftermath of her baby's sudden death, Em starts running. Soon she runs from her husband, to the airport, down to the Florida Gulf and out to the loneliest stretch of Vermillion Key, where her father has offered the use of a conch shack he has kept there for years. Em keeps up her running -- barefoot on the beach, sneakers on the road -- and sees virtually no one. This is doing her all kinds of good, until one day she makes the mistake of looking into the driveway of a man named Pickering. Pickering also enjoys the privacy of Vermillion Key, but the young women he brings there suffer the consequences. Will Em be next?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40319 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-06
• Formats: Audiobook, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio CD

Features

• ISBN13: 9780743571180
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Em has become a runner. Maybe it's to get away from her unheroic and all-too-sensitive husband, the memory of her baby, who died, or maybe even her passive life. Inevitably, her training provides the endurance she needs to escape the sadistic and psychopathic tendencies of the man named Pickering. While not venturing into new territory, King's novella has all of his trademark tension, violence and catharsis with a spackling of misogyny. Mare Winningham's determined tone adds to Em's strong character, and she also provides good pacing and tension that flows well with King's style. Her straightforward reading doesn't overdramatize the intense moments; instead, she lets King's words create those anxious moments. Her matter-of-fact vocalization of Pickering makes the villain even more chilling than King's text. Winningham's portrayal of this character will stick with listeners long after the end.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"Winningham relates the story with honesty and sincerity, capturing the melancholy and sadness that abounds in Em's mind. Her gripping delivery is the stuff that great performances are made of. Winningham brings the protagonist to life while still managing to capture the strong sense of foreboding that so often permeates King's tales....The result is a captivating experience sure to ignite the senses of the listener." - AudioFile, on The Gingerbread Girl

About the Author
Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are Under the Dome, Just After Sunset, the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Lisey's Story and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, is also a bestseller. He was the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Mare Winningham has appeared in more than fifty film and television projects, garnering an Academy Award nomination for Georgia and Emmy Awards for the telefilms George Wallace and Amber Waves. She is also an accomplished singer-songwriter.

Customer Reviews

Definitely worth a listen!!
Very tight story.. leaves little time to catch your breath, but still has those bits of King humor that keep it from being unbearable. If you are a fan of his recent short stories, you are going to love this one too!

Another plus - Mare Winningham has such an amazing voice... she does an incredible job (as usual)!

I highly recommend - and I bet you can't keep from listening to the whole thing in one sitting (or run)!!!

All the best,

Jay

Running for her life

This novella from Stephen King is available only in audio, read very effectively by Mare Winningham. We already know that King can do amazing things with the novella and short story formats, and here he delivers his usual stylish writing. If you are willing to accept terror rather than horror as the genre, then The Gingerbread Girl will keep you absorbed for its two-hour running time.

The title character, Emily, runs to get away from the pain of a dead baby and a failing marriage. She leaves her home with nothing but a credit card and the clothes she has on. Taking refuge in her father's beach house in the Florida Keys, she runs in the off-season solitude. One day she finds a house occupied, sees a dead girl in the trunk of a car - and is abducted by a mad serial killer. Em winds up running for her life.

Em, the killer, and the steamy beauty of the island are the main elements in this tale. The plot may not be full of surprises but it parlays a somewhat predictable story into two hours of tension. Neither Em nor the knife-wielding stalker are as fully developed as a novel would permit, but when Stephen King's in charge, you know you're in for some good stuff. Like the gingerbread man who jumped off the pan and ran out the door, Em is running to save her life. Will she meet the same tragic end as the gingerbread man? You'll have to listen for yourself to find out.

[ETA: I've been advised that this novella IS available in print, in the anthology JUST AFTER SUNSET, first published by Scribner in December 2008 and reprinted by Pocket in September 2009. Thanks to my commenters for the tip. LB]

Linda Bulger, 2008

Missed Opportunities
I loved Stephen King before it was cool to love Stephen King. I've ridden this roller coaster from _Carrie_ to the present. There have been high points, and there have been low points, but like any charter member of the "constant reader" club, I stay strapped in, waiting for the next big hill. _The Gingerbread Girl_ isn't it.

This is a short novel of a young woman, Em, who takes up running after the loss of a child. Once again, Stephen King excels at creating believable and fleshed-out characters, but once again it falls short on the "horror factor". This novel is very similar to _Lizey's Story_, another woman who is pursued by a psycho following the unexpected death of a loved one. At one point, and sadly, only one, when said psycho begins speaking to an invisible accomplice, and it looks like we're going to get a touch of _Blaze_ blended in as well. It looks like we're going to have a psycho who isn't just nuts. However, like the demon in the closet early in _Cujo_, Psycho's inner voice is never referred to again, the haunting presence as well as a wonderful opportunity to kick the horror up a notch, is discarded.


Not to be prudish, but while I understand the need for colorful language in dialogue, because that's just the way some people speak, I am really at a loss why a description of a setting needs the same treatment. It seems lazy. Like the right word is out there somewhere, but this one will do.


That being said, King is still capable of occasionally leaving you speechless. "Donning wax wings on a sunny day" is masterful writing, and there are jewels like this peppered throughout the novel. He can make you laugh or cry or scare the "hoohaa" out of you. It's just been such a long time since he's done the latter. It's a good story, and he does a good job telling it, but if you want to read great Stephen King, pick up _It_ or _The Stand_.