年初帶孩子畢旅時，決定帶這本The Dark Half 旅途上充饑，中譯本翻成"黑暗之半"。一開始真是感到無言的翻譯，因為從標題實在看不出來故事在講什麼，但這也是書商高竿之處，會使讀者想從架上拿下一探究竟之因。

其實過去只因驚悚懸疑大師之名拜讀了他兩本小說，得到多產的Stephen King作品水準不一的印象，比如The Bag of Bones(骨頭蒐集者)就是ㄧ本與作者聲聞齊名的小說，但是The Dream Catcher(捕夢網)卻是ㄧ部讓你感覺電影看看就好的故事，所以挑書時都會避免去找SK大師的作品。

慶幸

讀完之後才知這是ㄧ部超寫實的作品，結合了驚悚、懸疑和自我偵探的元素在其內，乍讀之下會以為是另一部類似人格精神分裂之作，但隨著故事的推移，書已放不下，有倒吃甘蔗之感，書看起來就有形無形的更扣人心弦真是愈罷不能呀。

P.s.

其實這本書有點根據作者自己的生平為基礎寫下的，請看最後面英文解析之作家review的部份會更清楚。

故事簡介

他想說他是無辜的。他想說他跟這一系列圍繞著他的血腥兇殺無關。他想說他跟電話裡傳來的邪惡威脅無關。他想說這一切只是想像。但，他該怎麼解釋犯罪現場那血淋淋、明明就是他的指紋呢？
 

一名曾獲得國家圖書獎提名的作家賽德．貝蒙特，在所推出的作品均不受市場青睞後，以筆名喬治．史塔克寫了一系列的犯罪小說，原本只是因為有趣，不料卻大受歡迎。不過，這秘密最後被人給揭穿了，賽德於是發佈了筆名史塔克的死訊，甚至還在採訪雜誌的安排下，為史塔克立了一塊假墓碑以供拍照使用。只是，喬治．史塔克卻從原本無形的存在，透過了有形的儀式，得到了正式在世界現身的機會，並進一步謀殺所有與他死亡有關的人們；在一面復仇的同時，一面脅迫賽德再寫一部b系列小說，讓他得以重生。這一切到底只是瘋狂的書迷所為，或是筆名當真活了過來？

Thad Beaumont would like to say he is innocent.  He'd like to say he has nothing to do with the series of monstrous murders that keep coming closer to his home.  He'd like to say he has notheing to do with the twisted imagination that produced his bestselling novels.  He'd lke to say he has nothing to do with the voice on the phone uttering its obscene threats and demanding total surrender.  

But how can Thad disown the ultimate embodiment of evil tha goes by the name he gave it---and signs its crimes with Thad's bloody fingerprints?

作者簡介

史蒂芬．金（Stephen King）
一九四七年生於美國緬因州的波特蘭，在家排行第二。在他剛學走路的年齡，卻遭逢父母離異的人生驟變，此後由母親獨立撫養他和哥哥兩人。童年時期的史蒂芬．金居無定所，經常跟著母親四處寄宿在不同的親戚家裡，足跡遍及印第安那州和康乃狄克州。到了十一歲，在親戚的遊說下，一家三口又搬回緬因州位於德倫小鎮的一棟小公寓裡，以便母親就近照顧行動不便的外祖父母。
 
一九六六年，史蒂芬．金自里斯本高中（Lisbon Falls High School）畢業後便進入緬因州立大學英語系就讀。大學時代的他十分活躍，除了大二擔任校刊的專欄主筆外，也積極參與校園政治活動，並大力支援反越戰運動。一九七○年大學畢業後，隨即取得高中教師資格。本來該入伍服役的他，卻因為高血壓、弱視、扁平足及嚴重受損的耳膜等疾患而免去當兵的義務。 

一九七一年一月完成終生大事的史蒂芬．金，由於當時還未找到教職工作，因此夫妻倆就靠著他在洗衣店打工的薪水及太太過去的一些積蓄過活，偶爾也會寫些短篇故事投稿至男性雜誌，以賺取稿費。婚後數年間，他仍不斷寫作，並賣給男性雜誌。這些作品後來多集結於《玉米田的孩子》（Night Shift）一書中，或是刊登於其他文集裡。

Reviews from some online viewers

"I'm back from the dead and you don't seem glad to see me at all, you ungrateful son of a bitch." During a time when folks began to question Stephen King's story telling ability, the "Master of Horror" pulls yet another ace from the deck.

The Dark Half is a strong novel, similar to a short novella, "Secret Window, Secret Garden" from another SK book, Four Past Midnight. However, after reading the first couple hundred pages the close association with that story ends and The Dark Half begins.

This novel is a nice breath of fresh air compared to other work that King released during this time period such as: The Tommyknockers, Needful Things, Dolores Claiborne, etc. Its unique style screams Bachman and displays Steve King's uncanny ability to write beyond the "typical monster under the bed" yarn, while capitalizing on his untapped ability to write a great crime novel. With a little mythology and telepathy thrown in to boot,

The Dark Half delivers a prominent yarn, that will keep the reader engaged from start to finish. The only major problem I had with the book was the short, abrupt ending, which always seems to plague most of King's work (as his fans love to point out).  (written by Jerry b. Woods)

In 1985, 39-year-old Stephen King announced in public that his pseudonymous alter ego, Richard Bachman, was dead. (Never mind that he revived him years later to write The Regulators.) At the beginning of The Dark Half(1989), 39-year-old writer Thad Beaumont announces in public that his own pseudonym, George Stark, is dead. 

Now, King didn't want to jettison the Bachman novel, titled Machine Dreams, that was he working on. So he incorporated it in The Dark Half as the crime oeuvre of George Stark, whose recurring hero/alter ego is an evil character named Alexis Machine. 

Thad Beaumont's pseudonym is not so docile as Stephen King's, though, and George Stark bursts forth into reality. At that point, two stories kick into gear: a mystery-detective story about the crime spree of George Stark (or is it Alexis Machine?) and a horror story about Beaumont's struggle to catch up with his doppelganger and kill him dead. 

This is not the first time that Stephen King has written a dark allegory about the fiction writer's situation. As the New York Timeswrites, " (1987) is a parable in chiller form of the popular writer's relation to his audience, which holds him prisoner and dictates what he writes, on pain of death. The Dark Half is a parable in chiller form of the popular writer's relation to his creative genius, the vampire within him, the part of him that only awakes to raise Cain when he writes, the fratricidal twin who occupies 'the womblike dungeon' of his imagination." (written by Fiona Webster )