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    Insomnia
    Insomnia
    Insomnia
    Audiobook25 hours

    Insomnia

    Written by Stephen King

    Narrated by Eli Wallach

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    A #1 national bestseller—“A yarn so packed with suspense, romance, literary reference, fascinating miscellaneous knowledge, and heart that only Stephen King could have written it. Marvelous—that is, full of marvels” (Booklist).

    Since his wife died, Ralph Roberts has been having trouble sleeping. Each night he wakes up a bit earlier, until he’s barely sleeping at all. During his late night walks, he observes some strange things going on in Derry, Maine. He sees colored ribbons streaming from people’s heads, two strange little men wandering around town after dark, and more. He begins to suspect that these visions are something more than hallucinations brought on by lack of sleep.

    There’s a definite mean streak running through this small New England city; underneath its ordinary surface awesome and terrifying forces are at work. The dying has been going on in Derry for a long, long time. Now Ralph is part of it…and lack of sleep is the least of his worries.

    Returning to the same Maine town where It took place, a town that has haunted Stephen King for decades, Insomnia blends King’s trademark bone-chilling realism with supernatural terror to create yet another masterpiece of suspense.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2016
    ISBN9781508218258
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for Insomnia

    4.5/5

    498 ratings59 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Love the book. Narrator did a good job. The weird music was a bit unnerving, which might have been the goal - to make us as uncomfortable as Ralph. But the music was just too damn loud sometimes to hear the words. And I had my earbuds in so it was that much louder.

      6 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Great story, but the music between chapters is THE WORST.

      5 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Stephen king is brilliant as per the norm, but what is up with the insanely loud screeching music?? Worse than nails on a chalk board and ruined a lot of the book.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Love the book. HATE this recording due to the music. It is unnecessary and distracting, plus the music volume is louder than the text, so it is startling (not in the fun way) and often overpowers what is being said.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The story is great. It's a coming of age tale, but the age happens to be old age. Only reason it's not 5* is the horrible, annoying, music that plays intermittently.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      The story itself was entertaining enough. Yes it's long. But a Stephen King fan comes to expect or even seek out King's longer works and attention to detail.
      The issue I had was the actual reading/ recording of the novel. The narrator did a good job. His tone of voice was a good fit for the character. But certain chapters are cut short, maybe only a word or 2 but it does make it difficult to be certain you're getting everything. Some of the chapters are quite muffled. Also the weird screechy music that comes out of nowhere and doesn't seem to belong with what's being conveyed.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I liked the book. However, the ear splitting sound effects that were added to the audio track did not improve or add to the experience and made listening very unpleasant at times. Steven King’s writing is effective enough without the caterwauling. Leave it out!!

      3 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I didn’t like the music interrupting the narrative because it was hard to hear the words. But this book was amazing! One of my favorites by Stephen King for sure!

      3 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Absolutely love this book, but the music was too loud.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      get rid of the music in the audio book.
      it covers the narration and takes you right out of the story

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      One star for the music. I didn’t finish the book because I got tired of missing the beginning and ending of chapters due to music over the narration.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      An enjoyable read and a good narrator. However, I thoroughly disliked the intermittent music. I guess it's supposed to enhance the story, but I found it redundant and mostly far too loud.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      The music was annoying as hell and often louder than the actual narrator. The story line was very interesting. I really hope other audiobooks aren’t the same.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      A slow moving yet pretty story. The attempt at musical accentation is well intentioned but atrocious! Every time it comes in, it fully distracts from the story. Beyond annoying.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Entertaining book like all of Stephen King’s writings but I found the music was a major distraction.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Ok story, very slow to start but last 1/3 picked up speed. 2 star review due to the unbearable sound effects that were loud, discordant and made the narration impossible to hear for long portions of the book.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Such a shame ! This is a great book but the music that plays in the background is annoying!! It is loud and jarring- I have to turn the volume down because is it deafening and obnoxious- it also makes it so hard to hear the narration when the music plays in the background :( who ever approved this music for the audiobook should be fired!
      Can some one please re record this book for us die hard King fans !!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      The only good thing about the bizarre decision to include screaming instrumental music is that it drowns out a terrible voice actor narrating an uncharacteristically bad Stephen King book. What starts off as an interesting premise loses steam halfway through, building up to a very lackluster confrontation with an important Dark Tower villain. What should be an unexpected journey, complete with extensive Lord of the Rings references, turns into a race against time as everyone piddlefarts to the last minute. I cannot stress how bad the narrator is, nor how distracting the soundtrack is.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Good story but a horrible sound track that needs to be removed to make this story truly enjoyable.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I'm thoroughly enjoyed this story. While the dark tower and the Crimson King were but a small part of the story, it is an important part.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I had read the actual book, many years ago. The voice of the narrator is on point. I found the sound affects and music distracting.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Like the book, but the music is annoying as hell!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Different kind of fiction that I enjoyed. It was hard to stop reading as It kept you wanting to know what was going to happen next.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      I am a huge Stephen King fan but I could not get into this book at all. The storyline seemed like something that was thrown together over night and under pressure to just have something done. Add in the horrible high pitched sound effects in the audible recording and I couldn't even finish it, nor do I care to.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      One of his best long novels by far... I read it once in my teens, and once again in my 40’s, and I have to say I think I understand it better now that I’m older. But it’s a great book for anyone, truly special.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is my absolute favorite Stephen King book, and I think I've read them all. It's so under-valued and I don't know why. Maybe the abortion subject is too much for some people, but the story is soooo good. I loved the idea of the "little bald doctors" doing their job and affecting our lives, and how the insomnia allowed him to see auras and other things people who get sleep can't see.
      I don't want to give anything away, just read it. It's worth your time.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Thrilling book! Very vivid imagery and great narration on the audio side

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I am a Stephen King fan, because he plumbs the depths and scales the heights of the human heart.

      I don't usually finish his books in sweet sad tears, but this one opened the floodgates. In a good way.

      I will miss Ralph and Lois and Helen and Rosalie.

      Recommended wholeheartedly.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wonderful story. Great reader. The music is odd but you get used to it. This book is a MUST for all Dark Tower fans!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      King is by far my FAV author, the narrator was perfect for the voice of the main character and the concept behind everything was interesting but the story itself was waaaay too long. The first half absolutely dragged and the musical interludes were god awful. Unfortunately I found the book long and boring ?