The story like so many of Stephen’s work starts to form the natural or real world and then slowly shifts in the fictional or imaginative world of horror. The story is so well knit that we do not feel any sort of change when it shifts gear and all of sudden takes us from our world into Stephen King’s kingdom.
The story at the start beautifully describes the condition of a lazy middle class who is suffering from common cholesterol problem but when he starts using his stationary bike for exercise he suddenly comes to know that it is not stationary in reality. The bike takes the main character to weird places where he does not want to go but he is compelled to do so. Ron McLarty has narrated the whole story in a nice manner doing justice to almost all characters and situations as well. His presentation makes the story much more appealing to the listener.
The story is not that outlandish or scary as Stephen’s works usually are. No sudden changes are seen in the climax and the story does not possess a very lofty climax. The starting is unique which is a must-have item for Stephen King’s work but towards the middle, it becomes a bit simple. Another thing that makes the story interesting is that it is a common man in an uncommon situation. He wants to keep himself away from it but at the same time, it is his heart’s desire to travel much further. Thus it is extracting the extraordinary qualities for a common man. At the same time, his slow and sluggish life all of a sudden becomes a thrilling fiction which he himself starts liking to some extent or perhaps want to explore it a bit further because of the curiosity.
The story gives a much similar feel like in other stories by Stephen King in the books the road virus heads north and Drunken fireworks.
