The Long Walk

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

In this number-one national best seller, "master storyteller" (Houston Chronicle) Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, tells the tale of the contestants of a grueling walking competition where there can beonly one winner - the one who survives.

In the near future, when America has become a police state, 100 boys are selected to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Among them is 16-year-old Ray Garraty, and he knows the rules - keep a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings and you're out - permanently.

With an introduction by Stephen King on "The Importance of Being Bachman".

©1979 Richard Bachman (P)2010 Penguin Audio

Great Story, Clipped Audio

I really loved the story. The narrator did a good job too, but there are moments in the audio where the sentences appear to be clipped off. I can't tell if this means I ended up missing a sentence or two or if it's just a glitch. But, unfortunately, it kept taking me out of the story.

Still having audio issues

Before I purchased this book I read the reviews and saw that there were many issues with the audio. Sentences that didn’t complete and words that were cut off along with weird background music etc. I contacted Audible support to see if those issues had been fixed and they confirmed that it was. And although I am sure that it is better than it was. they were not completely fixed. They’ll be talking in dialogue and it will cut off in the a word sharply and then continue in a weird place you pick it up in don’t get too lost but it’s very distracting

Great Story - Terrible Ending

I really like many of Stephen King's books; however, he has a tendency to rush through the ending of some of them. This is one of them...IT was another. Almost as if he's anxious to be done with the story and move on to the next. Too bad because this entire book was great right up until the last few minutes.

spooky

this one's gonna stick with me for a while. how does king think of this stuff?

Great Story GARBAGE sound quality.

Frequent random cut offs right before sentences end. Narrator sounds as if he is afraid to give actual emotion into many pieces of dialogue. Good story, absolute dogshit sound quality.

whispered yells distracted from the performance

when characters were supposed to be screaming, the narrator would whisper-yell like children telling stories at a sleepover so as not to wake their parents. that made for a horrible experience as periods of heightened anxiety became laughable and completely ruined the narrative. I don't know who's idea it was to cast this narrator, but I have heard the same type of performance from other narrators on audible and it destroys the experience completely. for narrators, when someone is shouting, shout for God's sake!!!

Childhood playback

Read this book as a spotted teenager and didn't want to flick through the musty pages once more but 20 years later with a great actor pushing the story into my brain once again. Hooked. Merci:)

Editing isn't good

The story is excellent. The narrator is average. The editing needs to be redone; there are a lot of sentences that have the last word clipped short.

Didn't like it but couldn't stop listening

The book didn't have too much action what I didn't like about it however extremely good character development I couldn't stop listening I had to know what happened to these characters in how they met their end I guess you can say but to me that the ending was lacking he just leaves you for more but I wouldn't want to read a second I version of this book I don't think I can sit through it

Good narrator

I enjoyed the narrators voice, he was the reason I could keep up my interest to the story. Story it self was a little tragging at times, but I still think this was a good first Stephen King book for me :)