THE DARK HALF

At age 11, Thaddeus Beaumont has brain surgery to remove the remains of an “incompletely absorbed twin.” Years later, Beaumont, a successful writer who’s written several books in his own name and several potboilers under the pseudonym George Stark, admits to the Stark ruse. Beaumont then publicly “kills off” his alter ego, but after a series of brutal murders, he begins to suspect the impossible—that Stark is alive and real and capable of murder. AudioFile Golden Voice Grover Gardner makes the improbable terrifyingly real. As Beaumont begins to fall apart, Gardner remains coolly understated, allowing King’s artfully crafted story to unfold. First published in 1989, THE DARK HALF explores a writer's relation to and responsibility for his fictional creations. Gardner’s performance is word perfect. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]