Gerald's Game

SUMMARY: Stephen King cranks up the suspense in a different kind of bedtime story. A game of seduction between a husband and wife goes horribly awry when the husband suddenly dies. But the wife's nightmare has just begun. Gerald and Jessie Burlingame have gone to their summer home on a warm weekday in October for a romantic interlude. After being handcuffed to her bedposts, Jessie tires of her husband's games, but when Gerald refuses to stop she lashes out at him with deadly consequences. Still handcuffed, she is trapped and alone. Painful memories from her childhood bedevil her. Her only company is a hungry stray dog and the sundry voices that populate her mind. As night comes, she is unsure whether it is her imagination or if she has another companion: someone watching her from the corner of her dark bedroom. ([source][1]) [1]: https://www.stephenking.com/library/novel/gerald_s_game.html

Stephen King cranks up the suspense in a different kind of bedtime story. A game of seduction between a husband and wife goes horribly awry when the husband dies. But the nightmare has just begun...

New York Times - Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Gerald's Game is a work of psychological terror, except for one significant detail, and whether this detail is actually an exception becomes an important part of the story. Oddly enough, it is on balance optimistic about human nature, if not very kind to the male sex. But it should be read by very bright light, with friendly people nearby. And with no hungry dogs around.

When rough sex between Jessie and Gerald Burlingame turns deadly, leaving Gerald dead and Jessie handcuffed to the bed, it sets in motion a terrifying and psychologically twisted twenty-eight hours. A different kind of bedtime story from Stephen King, as a game of seduction between a husband and wife ends in death. But the nightmare has only just begun... Jessie could hear the back door banging lightly, randomly, in the October breeze blowing around the house.