A Good Marriage

Scheduled to hit the big screen on October 3rd in the US, A Good Marriage is the 46th story written by Stephen King to be made into a movie. This story was originally published in 2010 as a short story in the Full Dark, No Stars collection. As I listened to the short audiobook (just 3 cds), I thought it sounded somewhat familiar, but it was still very enjoyable a second time (4) years later.

In this story Darcy and Bob Anderson are empty-nesters, a couple who have enjoyed a reasonably happy marriage for almost 30 years. Bob is an accountant and coin collector and is away from home from time time.

One day while Bob's away on business, Darcy is searching for batteries and stumbles upon something in their garage, neatly tucked away, that shake her to her core. She suspects that her husband has been hiding some dark secrets. First she tries to brush it off, but later she does her homework and is pretty positive that her worst fears are reality. She isn’t sure what she will do and she certainly doesn’t want to act like anything is amiss when Bob returns. Bob is a pretty smart guy and can read his wife pretty well and he knows immediately that she has uncovered his secret. Honestly, how could Darcy possibly keep a straight face after just learning that her husband is a monster and has led a double life?

This is a King story that starts out strong and the tension continues to builds. Darcy's a great character and her voice and reactions fit the story well. A Good Marriage is about the dark side of humans and explores the capacity of one to do evil things. The audio book narrator, Jessica Hecht, did a great job with this story, and even though the ending fizzled a bit for me, I still recommend this one to readers who enjoy a good nail-biter without the blood and lots of gore.