Books like Misery by Stephen King

Paul Sheldon, a novelist known for his historical romance series featuring heroine Misery Chastain, is seriously injured in a car accident and is taken to the remote home of his biggest fan, Annie Wilkes, a former nurse. While Annie tends to him, she grows angry when she learns that Sheldon has killed Misery in his latest book. Determined to retrieve her beloved character, she holds him captive and coerces him into writing a new novel that brings Misery back into the world. The story unfolds as Sheldon struggles to escape and to understand the psychological hold he has over his fan. The novel explores themes of fanaticism, captivity, and the power of the written word. It is a tense thriller that examines the relationship between author, creation, and obsessive fan. "Misery" is widely regarded as a defining work in Stephen King’s catalog of suspenseful horror stories.

First publish date: April 9, 2002