Needful Things

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Stephen King

Master storyteller Stephen King presents the classic #1 New York Times bestseller about a mysterious store than can sell you whatever you desire—but not without exacting a terrible price in return.

The town of Castle Rock, Maine has seen its fair share of oddities over the years, but nothing is as peculiar as the little curio shop that’s just opened for business here. Its mysterious proprietor, Leland Gaunt, seems to have something for everyone out on display at Needful Things…interesting items that run the gamut from worthless to priceless. Nothing has a price tag in this place, but everything is certainly for sale. The heart’s desire for any resident of Castle Rock can easily be found among the curiosities…in exchange for a little money and—at the specific request of Leland Gaunt—a whole lot of menace against their fellow neighbors. Everyone in town seems willing to make a deal at Needful Things, but the devil is in the details. And no one takes heed of the little sign hanging on the wall: Caveat emptor. In other words, let the buyer beware…

Amazing!

This book was phenomenal. The best depiction of human selfishness clouding reality. No one is spared the consequences of their selfish actions. Evil uses this to its advantage. Love this one. One of my favorite SK novels.

A World-Building Cornerstone

If you're a King fan, this one is a "must." As a story set in Castle Rock, it's nearly a cornerstone of the world King has built. There are plenty of fun easter eggs and references to other stories within the chapters, plus it gives you more of a base if you've been watching "Castle Rock" on Hulu. While this was not his greatest work, it's enjoyable from start to finish. King does a great job with the narration; it's always fun hearing a real New England accent in the narration.

What's up with....

....the awful synthesized "music" (and I use the term lightly) played off and on throughout? At best it was a distraction, at worst an awful nonsequitur

Enjoyable, long but sorry the time.

Needful things is a favourite of mine. Having read the book some years ago and remember the movie I was interested in the audible book read by Mr King himself. This is a long book and is well described, great characters and twists.

This had me listening for hours each day which to me is more than I would for many books. So that tells the book is interesting and teasing you to listen for what's next.

Mr. king's narration is good and I hear his eagerness to tell his story. So sit back, zone out and listen to how human nature desires what it wants but forgets the repercussions of their needs.

Loved the story -- Sounds and Music almost ruined

I really did like this book but when the violence really kicked in it was very detailed and very violent. The book is long enough that you get to know several of the characters and their deaths hit you very hard and no one character is really safe in this book.

Leland Gaunt is one of the most intriguing of villains and I love the differences between him and Alan Pangborn, a simple small county sheriff. Stephen King not only created the small town of Castle Rock but was able to actually bring it to life in my mind. I could see the streets and buildings and how each of the scenes looked based on the descriptions in the book.

I know some reviewers have had issues with Stephen King’s narration but honestly it didn’t bother me at all. Granted, there wasn’t very much differentiation in the sounds of each character but with Mr. King it was all in the tone, speed and vocabulary of each character that helped me know the characters.

I’ve listened to a lot of audio books and in some the music and noises are a nuisance but nothing is as annoying as the music and sounds on this version. It sounds like a bad high school 80s rock cover band who only have synthesizers. The sound effects are too random and there is no consistency to when they are used and I admit I docked it a star because YES it is that annoying.