Two weeks after a near-fatal car crash, author Paul Sheldon regains consciousness in a stranger’s guest room, his legs shattered and useless. As the intense pain ebbs and flows, rare moments of lucidity lead to the chilling realisation that his rescuer is also his jailer. Annie Wilkes might be Paul’s ‘number one fan’, but she is incensed that he has killed the heroine Misery Chastain in his latest novel. Fate has given Annie a chance to bring her favourite character back to life, and Paul won’t be leaving Annie’s remote farmstead alive until he complies. Misery sees Stephen King at the height of his writing powers in a novel that explores the psyche of an author suffering extreme torment.