Thinner

The "extraordinary" ( Booklist ) novel of one man's quest to find the source of his nightmare and to reverse it before he becomes...nothing at all. This #1 national bestseller from Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, "pulsates with evil...it will have you on the edge of your seat" ( Publishers Weekly ). Billy Halleck, good husband, loving father, is both beneficiary and victim of the American Good Life: he has an expensive home, a nice family, and a rewarding career. But his is also fifty pounds overweight, heading, as his doctor says, into heart attack territory. One day, in a moment of carelessness, Billy sideswipes an old gypsy woman as she is crossing the street. The woman dies, but Billy has connections and gets off with a mere slap on the wrist. After the trial, the victim's ancient father curses him with a single word: "Thinner." Shedding weight by the week, Halleck is desperate enough for one last gamble...one that will lead him to a nightmare showdown with the forces of evil melting his flesh away. Beginning in suburban Connecticut and climaxing in rural Maine, this is a novel of unrelenting terror and growing horror as well as a nightmarish allegory about what lies beyond the limits of American complacency-and the responsibilities of human actions. With an introduction by Stephen King on "The Importance of Being Bachman," Thinner oozes "undeniable suspense" ( The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ) and "genuine chills" ( Kirkus Reviews ).