Thinner by Stephen King as Richard Bachman
New American Library - November 19, 1984
309 pages
An arrogant and obese lawyer named Billy Halleck was driving across town when he ran over an old Gypsy woman. Someone who he believes to be the woman's husband only utters one word: "Thinner". Soon Billy starts to lose weight frighteningly quickly, and there are consequences for others as well. The judge who gave an unfair verdict to Billy begins to grow scales all over his body, and the town cop who helped to soft-pedal the charges against Billy is cursed with a horrifying case of acne.
Thinner was the horror novel of all horror novels that I have ever read. This was no dark fantasy, my favored genre that is rarely terrifying, but rather a truly gruesome, horrifying novel. Thinner is, as well, filled with surprises, such as what the Gypsy man's relation to the dead woman really is, and the signature Stephen King twist of the ending.
Grade: A-
I saw the movie three times and I always like it.
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