"Big Driver" in Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Stars, and it definitely triggered some hidden emotions within me that I didn’t like to see co“The Big Driver” is the second novella in Stephen King’s newest anthology, Full Dark, No me up after so many years. In other words the author struck a cord deep inside of me with this story.

The novella deals with a successful mystery writer named Tess (no last name), who does a book signing in a small town about sixty miles from her home. On the way back she drives over several boards in the road that have nails in them, causing her to get a flat tire. After she pulls over to the side of the road near an old, closed store, a vehicle comes along with a giant of a man inside of it, dressed in overalls and a gimme hat. At first she thinks the guy is there to help her, but that’s not the case at all. He’s there to rape and kill Tess. That she survives the ordeal is a miracle. The human predator leaves her for dead in a culvert and then takes off. Tess later wakes up only to find herself in the presence of other bodies that have been put there over the years. These are the bodies of dead women who were victims of the big driver. As Tess crawls out of the culvert and makes her way back to the store where her clothes are, she deals with an array of emotions, one of which is whether or not to call the police and report the crime. In time, however, she decides to take matters into her own hands and to seek revenge against the man who raped and attempted to murder her, not mention the other dead women who weren’t so lucky at the end. The rest of the story deals with how Tess goes about completing her mission in life and hopefully surviving the encounter because killing isn’t an easy thing and if anything can go wrong, it will when you least expect it and at the worse possible time.

I’ve driven across country several times in my life, and the one fear that has always stood out is of breaking down in the middle of nowhere and being murdered. Part of that fear was based on the fact that I had an old car which would break down on a regular basis. In fact, I did break down a number of times when traveling, but was always able to make it to a service station. Though I’m not a female, Stephen King still managed to trigger that old fear within me. Hell, I haven’t own a car in twenty years, yet the fear came right up and surrounded me like a shroud of blackness that made the palms of my hands sweat. I certainly found myself identifying with Tess's ordeal to the tenth degree. I also have an Old Testament sense of justice in that I usually believe in an eye for an eye. I’ve softened somewhat in my old age, but I definitely cheered Tess on as she began to make plans to kill the man who’d attacked her. Screw the police and the justice system. Let’s take care of this monster ourselves. Let’s get close enough to him and put a bullet right between his eyes so he never hurts another soul again. This is one of the great talents of the author. Stephen King is able to tap into our primal fears to create stories that pop right off the page in their realism with characters who remind you of yourself and situations you pray you’ll never find yourself in.

The novella of the “Big Driver” is dark and violent and in many ways true to life. It’s going to disturb some people, so read it at your own risk. It certainly left a vast emptiness in the pit of my stomach, not to mention a nightmare about breaking down on an empty road at night with no one to help you, but with someone who wants to murder you in the most gruesome ways. The Maestro has written a winner with “Big Driver” and I don’t think the readers of it will ever be the same.

Bravo, Stephen King!