A Face in the Crowd

Written by Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan

Narrated by Craig Wasson

From the bestselling writing team comes a short fiction eBook original: What if you were watching your favourite sport on television and the camera swung to a familiar face in the crowd? Someone who couldn't possibly be there . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Aug 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781444767797

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. 

Reviews for A Face in the Crowd

[thanesh_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book 59. Quick and short story from King, while it is very effective in this format, can't help but feel that there is an opportunity to take the story onto a boarder novel version. Certainly is an interesting concept to explore further and deeper.

[ralphd00d-325171 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was a bit disappointed with this story. I was hoping to settle down into a regular King novel, but was left hanging as this is nothing more than a short story. Though I felt there was a bit of the Stephen King freakishness about it, the story just didn't grab me as most of them do. Needless to say, I was a bit put out that it had ended so abruptly, and I was left wanting more.

[stephanie_m-868484 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What a strange short story by Stephen King. It wasn't long, and in my Ebook is ended at 57%. The rest of the Ebook was padded with previews of Black House, and Talisman, by Peter Straub and King.
A solid, albeit very short story. 3 stars.

[feeroberts64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Face in the Crowd was written by Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan. Dean Evers is a widower who sits alone and watches baseball, then notices familiar faces in the crowd. Faces of people who should be dead.A great collaboration that was quick and fun to read. What can I say? It's Stephen King!

[thefallingalice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dean Evers führt ein einsames und zurückgezogenes Leben. Nach dem Tod seiner Frau hat er kaum noch Kontakt zur Außenwelt. Was ihm bleibt ist der Alkohol und der Baseball.Eines Tages winkt ihm aus dem Fernseher sein ehemaliger Zahnarzt zu. Doch dieser müsste schon seit langer Zeit tot sein. Als am nächsten Abend sein Geschäftspartner seinen Gruß aus der Röhre direkt in Evers Wohnzimmer sendet, wird Dean immer unwohler: denn er war Gast auf dessen Beerdigung.Und noch mehr Menschen erscheinen. Menschen, die Dean in seinem Leben nicht ausstehen konnte und denen er das Leben zur Hölle gemacht hat. Solange, bis Evers endlich begreift.Als eBook konzipiert, hat dieses „Buch“ in seiner gedruckten Form einen Umfang von lediglich 59 Seiten.Eine Kurzgeschichte.Über einen Mann am Ende seines Lebens angekommen, von allen gemieden, einsam und verlassen. Er flüchtet sich in eine Welt aus Erinnerungen, versucht mit seinem Leben klar zu kommen und kann es doch nicht.Doch die Geister der Vergangenheit lassen einen niemals los. Das muss Evers am eigenen Leib erfahren.Eine Geschichte mit viel Moral.Für ein Hardcover Buch mit weniger als 70 Seiten einen Preis von 8 Euro zu bezahlen, ist ziemlich heftig. Der Name des Autors rechtfertigt noch lange nicht den Preis.Auch für hartgesottene Fans eine bittere Pille.Wie bereits erwähnt war diese Geschichte ein eBook, das durch die großen Namen eine Art Zugpferd darstellen sollte.Der Inhalt an sich ist in Ordnung, durchaus einer Kurzgeschichte würdig, aber hätte ebenso gut einen Platz in einer Novellensammlung gefunden.

[carol420 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dean Evers sees all his old friends and enemies at the baseball game as he watches on his big screen TV. Not unusual you say? Well it wouldn't be if they weren't all dead. The story is short, it's succinct and to the point. Dean leaves New England and his beloved Red Sox and moves to Florida, the land of the Devil Rays. The story takes place over just a couple of days but embraces the entire lifetime of Dean Evers as he watches baseball on TV and is haunted by Faces in the Crowd, faces of those he has wounded or who have injured him, faces that logic says just couldn't be there. Stephen King fans will love it, as it was definitely a creepy Stephen King ending.

[steadfastreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Clever. Enjoyable, even if you're not a baseball fan. Not his best work, but ultimately readable and fun.

[wearylibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dean Evers is a lonely man since his wife died. He spends a lot of time watching the Rays play ball. When he begins seeing friends sitting in the stands behind home plate he doesn't get excited like most people would-he gets scared. That's because the old friends are dead. Each game is a new old face. Only Stephen King can turn a baseball game into a scary story. A quick and easy read.

[hana.dooren.richter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Only read the first short story, having been familiar with the other two books for a while. It was nice and melancholic, very well written.

[beentsy_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The feel of a cautionary tale. Live a good life, be kind to others, and don't screw people over. It will come back and bite you. Possibly in a creepy King manner.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A very short, short story for the Kindle about baseball and death. Well-written, but I feel like I've read it before. I detect King's style all over it, but can't find O'nan, except maybe for the baseball references.Also, the story is only 50% of the content and the rest is a "preview" of Stephen King and Peter Straub's Black House -- kind of a weird thing to preview, as it was published in 2001.

[frankerrington · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A new collaboration from Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan who worked together chronicling the Red Sox improbable 2004 season in Faithful.Where Faithful was non-fiction, this new novella, A Face In the Crowd, is definitely pure fiction.Ever since the death of his wife, Dean Evers spends a lot of time watching Tampa Bay baseball on TV and lately he's been seeing a number of familiar faces behind home-plate. Problem is, the faces are of people who should be dead.A quick read and an enjoyable story. Kind of like watching an old episode of the original Twilight Zone TV series.A Face In the Crowd is available as both an audio-book and an e-book from most of the major retailers. A must read for the Constant Reader as King refers to his fans. Even if you're not among the King faithful, there's a pretty good chance you'll enjoy this one.