Rose Madder
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4.3 • 189 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The #1 national bestseller about a woman who escapes an abusive marriage is “one of Stephen King’s most engrossing horror novels. Relentlessly paced and brilliantly orchestrated...fueled by an air of danger immediate and overwhelming” (Publishers Weekly).
Rosie Daniels leaves her husband, Norman, after fourteen years in an abusive marriage. She is determined to lose herself in a place where he won’t find her. She’ll worry about all the rest later.
Alone in a strange city, she begins to make a new life, and good things finally start to happen. Meeting Bill is one; and getting an apartment is another. Still, it’s hard for Rosie not to keep looking over her shoulder, and with good reason. Norman is a cop, with the instincts of a predator. He’s very good at finding people, even if he is losing his mind.
Fixed on revenge, Norman Daniels becomes a force of relentless terror and savageness, a man almost mythic in his monstrosity. For Rosie to survive, she must enter her own myth and become a woman she never knew she could be: Rose Madder.
“Riveting, engrossing...packed with suspense” (People), Stephen King infuses this novel with an edge-of-your-seat, chilling atmosphere. Rose Madder is “an eerie, remarkably mature and moving novel” (The Washington Post).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Relentlessly paced and brilliantly orchestrated, this cat-and-mouse game of a novel is one of King's most engrossing and topical horror stories. At the center of the action is heroine Rose McClendon, a battered wife who starts life anew by leaving her police officer husband, a consummately cruel man depicted by King as a paragon of evil. Crowded with character and incident, the novel builds to a nearly apocalyptic conclusion that combines the best of King's long novels--the breadth of vision of The Stand, for example--with the focused plot and careful psychological portraiture of Dolores Claiborne. The story of Rose's joyous growth from tortured wife (her persecution gruesomely but realistically portrayed) to independent woman alternates with the terrifying details of her husband's deliberate pursuit to create unflagging tension. The book is a phantasmagorical roller-coaster ride, peopled by a broad array of indelibly characterized men and women and fueled by an air of danger that is immediate and overwhelming. 1.75 million first printing; BOMC main selection; simultaneous Penguin Audio; paperback sale to Signet.
Customer Reviews
Great book about a marriage that becomes a nightmare!
I’ve read better books by Stephen King, but this is an enjoyable, terrifying story! When Rose Daniels sees a single drop of blood on the bedsheets, she realizes that her life depends on her courage to leave her vicious, abusive husband, a cop named Norman. But, after leaving and starting a new life, Rose finds that staying safe from Norman’s wrath is easier said than done. Her one refuge proves to be a place of strength, but it can also be as fearsome as her husband’s temper. Strangely enough, it’s a painting she bought. This painting is supernatural, providing a place of safety and strength for Rose, but, at the same time, proving to be Norman’s worst nightmare. This is a wonderful, terrifying horror story for King’s fans!
Among my favorite Stephen King novels
Terrifying and unpredictable. How this hasn’t been adapted to film yet is beyond me. Rosie is a powerful character and Norman is one of the best villains Stephen King had conjured to date. This is the anthem for powerful, free women that was conspicuously missing from it’s predecessor, “Insomnia” (although that’s a must read for anyone interest in the Tower and Ka. This makes my Stephen King top 10 list.
Not terrifying, but still interesting
A really good novel by Stephen King should be spine tingling. The storyline should lead you on, rather than feeling like you have to push through it to get to the good parts. This story had the elements of a really good King novel; but they just didn’t come together with the gusto needed to make it great. This might be a reasonably good novel for someone new to the King genre. For experienced King fans, we will understand and accept that you don’t get the knockout model with every dance.