The Speed Queen

by Stewart O'Nan

Stewart O'Nan's The Speed Queen opens on Oklahoma's death row. Marjorie Standiford, scheduled to die that night for the murder of 12 people, dictates the story of her life into a tape recorder. Before she goes, she wants to set the record straight. It seems that one of her accomplices, Natalie, has already produced a bestselling book on the subject, and Marjorie doesn't want to be outdone. Her tape will be sent to an unnamed writer known as the King of Horror with a list of titles identical to those of Stephen King.

It's evident why a horror writer might be interested in Marjorie's story--the details of her life are pretty darned horrifying. A deep love of cars is what attracts Marjorie to her husband, Lamont, in the first place; an unplanned pregnancy is what pushes them into marriage. In the early days of their love affair, driving around in Lamont's convertible with the baby in the back and doing a little speed on the side is enough, but possession leads to prison time for Marjorie. There she meets Natalie, who will complete their deadly triangle. Once on the outside, Natalie, Marjorie, and Lamont start mainlining speed, then dealing it, and before long, a landscape of drive-thru restaurants and convenience stores becomes the backdrop for a series of gruesome murders. Marjorie may not be the most reliable narrator, but she is an original one, and The Speed Queen provides one heck of a joy ride.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Novels, Horror, Mystery, Noir

212 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 1997

About the author

Stewart O'Nan is the author of eighteen novels, including Emily, Alone; Last Night at the Lobster; A Prayer for the Dying; Snow Angels; and the forthcoming Ocean State, due out from Grove/Atlantic on March 8th, 2022.

With Stephen King, I’ve also co-written Faithful, a nonfiction account of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the e-story “A Face in the Crowd.”

You can catch me at stewart-onan.com, on Twitter @stewartonan and on Facebook @stewartONanAuthor

Reviews

[J. Kent Messum · Rating 5 out of 5]

If 'The Speed Queen' proves anything, it's that Stewart O'Nan is one hell of a storyteller... and also that hard drugs inevitably lead to a downward spiral that can crash land you in the most unexpected and vicious situations imaginable.

This tale is told from the perspective of a death-row inmate awaiting her impending doom. Anticipating a phone call from the governor to stay her execution, she records one side of the story, her 'truth' about a killing spree she was involved in with her husband and girlfriend. This novel is a fast and unsettling read, straight from the horse's mouth. To call the inmate, Marjorie, an unreliable narrator would be an understatement, but you want to believe what she's trying to tell you. In some ways she's a victim, and in other ways she does the victimizing. 'The Speed Queen' is violent and brutal at times, but not unnecessarily so. Within these pages is a surprising mix of love, life, family, and the hopelessness of being stuck in the middle of nowhere America with a desire to escape that translates as more of a daydream. Sometimes the easiest way to escape is chemically. Do it enough, and you can never come back from it.

Some people are dealt bad hands, and some people play their hands by their own rules. There are folks that just can't exist conventionally in this world, don't compute what 'normal' is. This murderous trio are the definition of that, and the author gets inside Marjorie's head in ways that both scare you and soften you. Yet another fantastic novel and author that never got the recognition they deserved. Stuart O'Nan is razor sharp, a writer who carves the fat from the prose and leaves a lean, delicious portion to consume.

Be warned, unexpected turns rarely come with road signs.

[Lynx · Rating 4 out of 5]

While awaiting news on if her death sentence will be overturned, Marjorie Standiford sets the record straight on the wildly violent, drug-fueled journey that has led her to this moment.

Attention all Stephen King fans! This book is such a fun read. O'Nan's decision in having Marjorie recount her life story for the master or horror himself is icing on an already delicious cake. Jammed packed with humour, heart, twists and turns and literary references galore you'll speed through this as quickly as Marjorie speeds through her stash.

3.5/5

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die SPEED QUEEN - so würde Stephen King schreiben, wenn er nicht ... naja, ihr kennt ja meine Lieblingsparaphrase! Jedenfalls wollte O´Nan das Buch eigentlich DEAR STEPHEN KING nennen, denn mit diesen Worten wollte Marjorie ihre Beichte, die sie in der Todeszelle auf Kassette spricht, beginnen. Aber O´Nan durfte sein Kindchen nicht nach dem Meister benennen, das walteten die Anwälte. Auf der Lesung im Hamburger Amerikahaus am 9.6.1997, wo O´Nan aus seinem Buch las, leistete er sich dennoch eine anarchistisch-kleine Portion Ungehorsam und signierte wie folgt:





Für die SPEED QUEEN ist der Highway der Weg in die Freiheit (Route 66 die Quadratur dazu), die Kultautos das Vehikel , aber dann kollabieren Traum, Teer und Blech zum Albtraum, die Route 66 verengt sich zur death row.

Now you go through Saint Louis
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You'll see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernandino.

(Übrigens fallen gerade einige Parallelen zu WILD AT HEART auf)

Nach ENGEL IM SCHNEE ist die SPEED QUEEN O´Nans zweiter Roman gewesen, der hier erschien. Ganz anders im Tonfall, hat er mich trotzdem genauso begeistert und zum Fan des Autors gemacht, der für große Menschlichkeit und Empathie steht.

[Steffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Ich-Erzählerin sitzt in der Todeszelle, die Hinrichtung soll in wenigen Stunden stattfinden. Auf Tonbänder zeichnet sie ihre Geschichte auf, um sie als Stoff für einen Roman zu verkaufen: An niemand Geringeren als Stephen King.

Die Welt, in der die Speed Queen aufwuchs und in der sie auf die falsche Bahn geriet, ist der in Engel im Schnee nicht ganz unähnlich. Es geht um Kleinstadtbewohner, um Menschen, die in unqualifizierten Jobs landen, sich irgendwie durchs Leben wursteln, in kaputten Beziehungen landen und Trost in Alkohol und Drogen suchen. Dieser Roman hat aber auch Elemente von Road Movies: Es wird viel über die Route 66 geredet, es geht um die Flucht über Highways (allzu oft unter dem Einfluss von Drogen) und die verschiedensten (mir meist unbekannten) Automarken und -modelle. Zwar ging mir diese Automarkengeschichte manchmal etwas auf die Nerven (was nur an meinem Desinteresse an Autos liegt), aber gerade dies rundet das Bild einer zutiefst amerikanischen Gesellschaft ab. Ich habe diese Welt, die ich vor allem aus Filmen kenne, selten in einem Buch so einprägsam beschrieben gefunden: die Diners, die Tankstellen, Autokinos, Hollywoodschaukeln auf Veranden, die weiten Landschaften, durch die trostlose Highways führen.

Besonders gut hat mir gefallen, wie gut sich O’Nan in die weibliche Figur eingefühlt hat, zum Beispiel wenn er ihr erstes Mal oder die Geburt ihres Kindes beschreibt. Und so abstoßend die begangenen Verbrechen sind, so bedrückend sind auch die Gedanken der Speed Queen über die verschiedenen Methoden der Hinrichtung in den verschiedenen US-Staaten. Der Amerikanische Traum verwandelt sich in diesem Roman in einen Alptraum.

Und die zahlreichen Buchtitel, die genannt werden, erinnern mich daran, dass ich endlich wieder einen Stephen King lesen muss!

[Almeta · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Marjorie were connected to Goodreads, she’d be a member of the “Stephen King Fans group", and we would be agreeing and disagreeing with her comments about his books. You feel at times that she is one of us and Stephen King would agree. That is often his point. You too, an ordinary person, can snap! She’s part of the club; one who knows the secret hand-shake. Scary!

It seems that she had a pretty normal childhood, even if a little bored and lacking ambition. In telling her story, she would have you believe that she was an unwilling participant, a repeated victim of poor timing, in the crimes for which she has been sentenced. What to believe?

I’m glad that I gave O’Nan a second try. I really liked the fresh (to me) approach to a first person narration speaking to an unseen person through a tape recorder. I was sitting on the edge on my cot, leaning on the bars, hearing the crinkle and shuffle of the paper questionnaire cards, mesmerized by the whir of the machine, listening to time tick closer to oblivion.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

(re-read in February 2013)

Marjorie may or may not have participated in a Starkweather-esque multi-state killing spree with her husband, lesbian lover, and her infant son in tow. Marjorie is on death row dictating to tape the answer to over 100 questions posed to her by Stephen King, who has bought the rights to her story.

Marjorie is one of my favorite unreliable narrators ever written. She's funny, sexy, sad, scary as all hell, and so cleverly manipulative that you find new tricks of hers with each re-read. I can't recommend this book enough.

[Gerri Leen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that Stewart O'Nan is an unsung (or at least he was unsung to me) genius. I've read a half dozen or so at this point and only read one book that I couldn't get into, which for me, is very, very odd 'cause I'm so picky, and few authors have that good a hit rate with me. This is a fabulous "American noir" as the cover says with a highly unreliable narrator, who nonetheless manages to be both engaging and a bit sympathetic despite the fact she may be a spree killer--or just in the wrong place at the wrong time (over and over and over). The story itself? A fabulous ride in the form of responses to questions posed, an interview with the interviewer absent (and very well known, which is part of the charm of this) but ready to run with the story. I'm being vague 'cause I don't want to spoil. It's brutal but strangely lighthearted in some ways, and that's not a combination I'd expect to work. But like Stephen King and Chuck Palahniuk, O'Nan manages it just fine.

Rating: A

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen King friend and recommended book.

King’s friendship with Stewart O’Nan was born out of a literary dispute. Nine years ago, O’Nan wanted to title his third novel, Speed Queen, DEAR STEPHEN KING.

King says, “I loved the book, hated the title. I felt he was using me.”

Eventually, O’Nan dropped King’s name from the novel. He says he came to realize how many people want a piece of King. “It’s a level of celebrity I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

1/11/12 What a fun book for Stephen King fans! I loved all the references to his books and the premise of Stephen King buying Margie's story to make it into a novel. Well-written and highly recommended!

[Sean Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Speed Queen" is a perfect piece of noir. In the right hands there's no better crime story, but in lesser hands it can devolve into cartoonish cliche. O'Nan does a bang up job of spinning a tale of hot rods, drugs and petty crimes as events speed towards a disasterous conclusion. The story is told by a prisoner on death row (an unreliable narrator in the vein of the best Jim Thompson) answering questions about the crimes into a tape recorder.

[Roswitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Speed Queen, Stewart O’Nan’s 1997 novel, is ostensibly about the horrors of drugs and how they can lead to so many murders it gets called a “spree killing,” with one woman held accountable for the whole thing, even though she wasn’t the one who killed “those people.” She did kill someone, though, and her road to perdition is not pretty, even if O’Nan does try to make it comprehensible.

The conceit here, in a book dedicated to O’Nan’s friend Stephen King, is that King is interviewing death-row inmate Marjorie Standiford in the days, and finally, hours and minutes, leading up to her execution. She tells the story, in fits and starts, in response to this famous author’s questions, and name checks his books pretty liberally. She’s quite a reader, for a crank head who is eventually known as the Speed Queen, the anti-heroine of a story that makes national headlines. She and her boyfriend Lamont, and Nathalie, the woman who wrote her own book and blamed everything on Marjorie, become known as the Sonic Killers, because that’s where the spree mostly took place. Eventually, an intricate puzzle falls into place, and we see how the drugs, and Lamont’s violence and Nathalie’s deceptions and betrayals separate this young mother from both her child and her life. She does manage to find Jesus, but that’s not exactly a happy ending. At least not for the reader.

It’s funny I had almost the same quibble with this novel, O’Nan’s first, and his 2022 novel Ocean State. Both books start by revealing the crime and then flashback through the violence. And neither the crank junkie nor the volleyball star seemed mean or psychotic enough to have done the deeds they did. But maybe that’s only because O’Nan’s even-handed telling of their tales makes them seem far too ordinary. They make the same bad choices that a lot of people do. But in Marjorie’s case, she pays with her life. On the whole, though, I found this novel less suspenseful and compelling than Ocean State even though the canvas was bigger and the crimes darker. It may be just a case of relatability. The crime in the later novel seems entirely preventable. Marjorie’s long, dark slide to lethal injection seems pretty inevitable from the start, though O’Nan does his best to suggest otherwise.

[Željko Obrenović · Rating 5 out of 5]

O'Nan je došao na ideju koja je ili genijalna ili katastrofalna -- Stiven King intervjuiše ženu koja dok čeka izvršenje smrtne kazne, odgovara na njegova pitanja i u diktafon kazuje svoju ubilačku ispovest -- a u ovom slučaju je ispalo prvo.

Sve to u sinopsisu može delovati kao nekakav omaž Natural Born Killers jer imamo i veliku ljubav, i seksi hot rod, i višestruka svirepa ubistva, i drogu, ali je ovo zapravo roman mnogo više u maniru Kapotijeve knjige In Cold Blood: svakako rekonstrukcija zločina no mnogo više lična priča o tome kako je do njega došlo, kao i, naravno, pokušaj opravdavanja sebe, odnosno iznošenje svoje verzije.

King se u romanu ne pojavljuje, čak se ne pojavljuju ni njegova pitanja, tako da čitalac samo sluti šta ju je on pitao, a nekad ne može ni da pretpostavi. Bilo kako bilo, ovakva forma omogućava nelinearno a logično pa čak i asocijativno pripovedanje, a kad se tome pridoda i nepouzdani pripovedač, sve je na mestu.

Da, rekoh, King se ne pojavljuje, ali je na neki način sveprisutan pošto mu se narator svako malo obraća, komentariše njegove knjige, ekranizacije, likove, često kritično ali uvek duhovito.

Ne prestajem da se iznenađujem koliko je načina da se roman napiše i koliko se očekivano može razlikovati od dobijenog a svejedno biti fenomenalno.

[karo💌 · Rating 3 out of 5]

- anglictina povinna cetba
-actually docela zajimavy
-nesnasela jsem ty části s krestanstvim
-konec moc uspechany

[NiWa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Einige Stunden vor ihrer Hinrichtung spricht Margie Standiford ihre Lebensgeschichte direkt aus der Todeszelle in Oklahoma auf Band. Sie richtet sich an ihren Ghostwriter Stephen King, der nach ihrem letzten Gang ihre Sicht des Geschehens zu einem Roman verarbeiten wird.

„Die Speed Queen“ von Stewart O'Nan erzählt die düstere Geschichte von Margie Standiford. Sie ist eine Frau, die in der Todeszelle eines Gefängnisses in Oklahoma sitzt und ihre Lebensgeschichte kurz vor ihrer Hinrichtung auf Band spricht. Im Zentrum steht Margies Verwandlung von einer drogenabhängigen Frau zu einer Kriminellen, die in den Strudel von Raub, Mord und Gewalt gerät. Ihr "Ghostwriter" ist – in einer eher unauffälligen Rolle – Stephen King, von dem sie sich Ruhm, Ehre und einen ordentlichen Batzen Geld für ihren Sohn erhofft.

Obwohl der Klappentext Stephen King als zentralen Bestandteil der Geschichte nennt, wird er nur am Rande erwähnt. Seine Rolle bleibt für den Leser eher symbolisch. Ich fand die Anspielungen auf seine Werke charmant, aber auch ein wenig gruselig, fast als würde O'Nan King in gewisser Weise "stalken". Wer ein Fan von King ist, wird diese Hommage sicherlich zu schätzen wissen.

Margie ist keine einfache Erzählerin. Sie sitzt in der Todeszelle und hat wenig Zeit, ihre Geschichte zu erzählen. Ihre Erzählweise ist faszinierend und zugleich beunruhigend. Sie ist kalt, oft distanziert und voller versteckter Emotionen. Ihre Erinnerungen zeichnen ein Bild einer Frau, die sich im Laufe ihres Lebens immer weiter von ihren eigenen Gefühlen entfernt hat.

Was Margie besonders interessant macht, ist ihre Unzuverlässigkeit als Erzählerin. Sie lügt, verschweigt und verdreht die Wahrheit. Man wird beim Lesen oftmals mit der Frage konfrontiert, wie viel von dem, was sie erzählt, wirklich der Wahrheit entspricht. Ihre Beziehung zu ihrem Mann Lamont und ihrer Freundin Natalie ist von Lügen und Gewalt geprägt, dabei sind auch die Erzählungen über die beiden schwer zu fassen. Besonders die Szene, in der sie über den Mord an einer Frau spricht, bei dem sie zuerst behauptet, nur der Zeuge gewesen zu sein, und später zugibt, selbst Hand angelegt zu haben, zeigt die Zerrissenheit ihrer eigenen Wahrnehmung.

Die Dynamik zwischen Margie, Lamont und Natalie ist spannend und erschreckend. Es ist nicht immer einfach, die moralischen Abgründe dieser Figuren zu durchschauen. Marjorie wirkt in vielerlei Hinsicht wie die "Gute", aber am Ende muss man sich eingestehen, dass sie nicht viel besser als die anderen ist. Ihre Handlungen, die sie als "Überlebenskünstlerin" darstellen, sind vielmehr das Produkt ihrer verzweifelten und drogengetriebenen Existenz.

Die Vorahnung, dass Marjorie oder Lamont irgendwann ins Gefängnis müssen, ist spätestens ab der Mitte des Buches klar. Der schleichende, unvermeidliche Niedergang wird mit jeder Seite deutlicher. Zentral ist die Frage, wie Menschen in eine solche Situation geraten können, und wie wenig wir über die wahren Beweggründe hinter den Handlungen anderer wissen.

Das Finale empfand ich meisterlich erzählt. Es ist spannend, unerwartet und mit einem düsteren sowie erschreckenden Schluss. Die letzten Seiten des Buches zogen mich tief in die Geschichte hinein und lassen einen nach dem Ende mit einem mulmigen Gefühl zurück.

O'Nan versteht es ausgezeichnet, die Spannung zu steigern, obwohl sich die Ereignisse zumeist in Margies Gedanken entfalten. Der Gefängnistrakt, in dem sie ihre letzten Stunden verbringt, wird vom Autor als ein Ort der Routine und gleichzeitig des unerbittlichen Wartens beschrieben. Die Tatsache, dass Margie ihre Geschichte aus der Todeszelle heraus erzählt, lässt einen tief in ihre Psyche eintauchen und schafft eine schauderhafte, beklemmende Atmosphäre.

„Die Speed Queen“ ist ein packendes, bitteres und zum Ende hin zutiefst fesselndes Buch, das beim Lesen mit der düsteren Realität von Kriminalität und Drogenabhängigkeit konfrontiert. Stewart O'Nan hat hier einen spannenden, psychologisch intensiven Thriller geschaffen, der durch Margies Sicht an Intensität gewinnt. Es ist ein beunruhigend erzähltes Drama über Leben, Lügen und das Unvermeidliche.

[Jim Thomsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Just tell a good story." That last line of THE SPEED QUEEN is a the key to understand everything that preceded it, a story told in the disjointed and yet utterly connected voice of a spree killer — a young woman on the margins of marginal small-town Oklahoma — to a true-crime author in the hours before her scheduled execution. It is the story of a woman who is both more and less innocent that she claims to be, depending on when she's claiming it. A woman-child who is both smarter and dumber than she claims, a woman-child who is only as free as she is predestined to be who she is and where she is.

In lesser hands, the ramblings of such a character might be unmooring for the reader, but Stewart O'Nan knows who Marjorie Standiford is, where's she's been, and just how bright and naive her words reveal her to be. It all adds up to an experience of blackly hypnotic dread, as the reader turns each page into deeper darkness, knowing worse is coming, and as unable to stop that plunge as the heroin addict is to stop the push of the syringe needle into a pulsing vein through pale clammy skin. THE SPEED QUEEN is not a book you "love," but it's one you can't look away from, and it never steers you wrong even as you find it pulling you across the edge of the road and onto the shoulder and through the guardrail and down the embankment.

Is that good? I don't know, but sometimes nothing is as good as feeling a little — or a lot — bad. That Stewart knows this, and knows how small-town teen girls from Oklahoma know this, and brood on through fast-food jobs and halfway-house stretches and cheap apartments with loser boyfriends, answers the question for me.

Your mileage may vary, but your mileage will be registered along sunblasted highways to seemingly nowhere, and from personal experience, I know that's where I feel most exhilarated and free. That I know it like Marjorie knows it — Marjorie, on Death Row, is allowed to have two books — the Bible and one other of her choice, a road atlas — scares me a little, or possibly a lot, in the best possible way. Like she says: "I lie on my bunk," she says, "and drive all across the country. I pick a road and go." That she never gets very far outside Oklahoma is entirely beside the point.

[Rosey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe more people haven't read or heard of this book!
The basic premise is that a woman on death row has had the rights to her story baught by stephen King and has until midnight to answer all his questions. Midnight is her literal deadline - her execution is due to take place. O'Nan actually wanted to call it something along the lines of "To My Darling Stephen King" but King's publicists stopped him. Its a shame - to my mind it is by far the best work King has ever been associated with!

The writing is brilliant - the way the protagonist talks her way from guilty to innocent and back again as her last hit of speed kicks in and her execution gets closer. Did she do it? I can never decide. I think it's clear that she did more than she lets on, but can't be totally honest in case her final appeal works - She can't have Stephen King publishing tales of everything she's been found not guilty of.

I want so desperately to read the book by Natalie, her estranged lover and partner in crime, that she makes constant reference to. It's a shame O'Nan never wrote that one! This story was echoing round my mind for weeks after I'd finished it, and it's one I've revisited again and again.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it is very difficult for a male writer to create a believable female character, the voice of death row inmate Marjorie Standiford in SPEED QUEEN is so powerful, I found myself dreaming about her. O'Nan's love for American icons like Route 66, vintage cars, and roadside hamburger stands is curiously tied into an homage to favored author, Stephen King in this death row confessional. I enjoy all of O'Nan's works especially the way every novel, circumstances, voice, and setting are radically different from each other. He rarely recycles his themes and seems to enjoy creating new situations for every piece. If his name was not tied to each book, I doubt a reader would identify him as the same creator of LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER, WISH YOU WERE HERE, SPEED QUEEN, or PRAYER FOR THE DYING.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[Joshua Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The epitome of a great summer read. . A first person narrative of a woman on death row making an audio tape for Stephen King, who is going to write a novel based on her story.

[Paul Edlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author's voice. He writes about the small spaces in human lives better than anyone else. This book is about some very broken people but still Mr. O'Nan makes them relatable.

[Deidre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stewart O’Nan. The Speed Queen. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997.

I read this on San Juan Island. Found it in a small bookstore on the island.

O'Nan's main characters are seedy people. They are criminals who aren’t exactly unlikable even though they do heinous things. They are probably like most crummy people – self-absorbed and thoughtless about their acts of unforgivable violence. (I always hate it when news broadcasts describe a horrible crime and then say, “No motive as yet for…” fill in the blank – the butchering of five people or the rape and mutilation of a child. What? Could there ever be a motive that we could understand?)

The Speed Queen lets you look at that type of person. In this case it’s Marjorie, a speed addict, whose life slips and slides along. She rather likes her life and she loves her husband (also a speed freak), child, mother, and father. She didn’t have a tough childhood, but she’s rather lazy and the reader isn’t sure if she’s stupid or if it’s just more of the laziness.

I like Marjorie’s mother. She has expectations of her daughter. A memory Marjorie has of her mother (37) is that her mother loved lightening and the exhilaration of a violent storm. The mother appreciated the mix of beauty and excitement. Marjorie worried that her dad would be killed or injured by the storm but her mother enjoyed it and wanted Marjorie to come and look at the wonder of nature. “In the west, lightning branched down the sky. “ ‘ Marjorie, look!’ my mom said, ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ “

Marjorie wonders what her mother will do when she hears that her daughter is executed for the murders. She is certain, though, that her mother will do something “dignified,” like go outside and look at the stars – “something quiet and private that makes sense to her.” (99)

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Speed Queen' refers to Marjorie, narrator of the book, as she sits on death row awaiting her execution for her part in a group of murders she committed with her husband, Lamont, and Natalie, a woman Marjorie met during a shorter stint in prison. As one reads it becomes clear that Marjorie has been contacted by Stephen King to hear her story and to turn it into a book of his own. Eager for the money which would go to her baby upon publication, O'Nan writes Marjorie's story as she dictates it into a tape recorder which will then be mailed to King. Throughout the book she sees connections between her experiences and things come up in King books, so in that regard it is a fun read for those well-read in King's writing.

Marjorie's own story of the events that happened is hard to put down. She is addicted to speed and simultaneously loves both her husband and her lover, Natalie, and wants only to protect her son. When the living situation turns into a love-triangle things grow complicated and all of their fine edges fall apart. One wants not to feel anything for Marjorie - after all, she kept her son in the backseat of the car unattended while she went in to help Lamont and Natalie with the murders - but to read her story it is hard, which is likely O'Nan's clever hand at work. Similar in many ways to Natural Born Killers, Badlands and In Cold Blood, the book is referred to as "classic American noir". I can see in the writing how Stephen King has inspired O'Nan, and I thought the homage throughout was sweet. The beginning had me worried as I felt I would not be able to get into the story, but almost immediately I was drawn in and excited to keep reading.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel by Stewart O'Nan probably can fit under the category `brutalism' or more appropriately, brutes. The conceit is a woman in prison narrating her story to Steven King, because of its gruesome and salacious nature.

O'Nan predicates two losers who think that ownership of an Oldsmobile 442 in red with mag wheels is the pinnacle of life, who are meth freaks, and who can't make a good drug deal. Enter a bisexual manipulative woman marginally smarter than the duo, add a big debt owed to dangerous people, and you have a crime spree that kills many, including two of the three heroes.

O'Nan succeeds in this book, because he understands all three, and understands that they are heroes unto themselves. What happens unfolds with a sense of inevitability because O'Nan makes it clear who these three are, what they want, and what they think they want. There are definitely people like this living in the real world who have no internal compass, who can love and kill what they love. There are people walking about like these who will kill their co-workers in a fast food restaurant for five and change.

Read this book if you want to see the patently stupid, dark heart of the criminal culture, and if you can stand that small bit of recognition when Stewart writes out your hind brain, your own prehistoric bit of the beast within.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun!

I love the premise of dictating a memoir to Stephen King to turn it into a good story. The writing is very sensual--all that music, food, neon, and cars.

I thought the set-up was great, but, like a Stephen King story, the end is something of a letdown. There was a a gap separating their lives before and after the spree--I didn't completely understand how it got going. Started, yes: desperate need for money, drug-addled thinking. Going: how do you jump to killing? And why Lamont and Natalie?

Having said that, I don't think the narrator is entirely sure either. Or, what seems more likely, she's holding back, only answering questions rather than volunteering information. She seems concerned with coming off well (or at least not as a joke) and with giving/getting a good story. So her own role in the spree, despite her claims of only telling the truth, may be more complex. But that gives the author credit for having a more complex story than he actually wrote, which I don't necessarily approve of.

[itchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p16: That was my nickname in the papers--the Speed Queen.

ocr:
p18: He was a basset hound the color of a Fudgsicle except where he d turned white.

can't wrap my head around these:
p23: One time he must of gotten dizzy because my head went right into the side of the TV console.

p106: If I'd of known there were this many I would of gona a lot faster at the beginning.

Whoa! All of a sudden I come across a very interesting one. Maybe it's the multiple pop culture references, majority of which are Stephen King's books.

This may be one of the earliest fangirling books, albeit a little tongue-in-cheek.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stewart O'Nan has become one of my favorite authors. His books have a consistent intensity and authenticity that is rare. I could not put this one down . . . a death row inmate is dictating an account of her life on the eve of her execution. Although there are clues along the way, it is written chronologically, so she seems human and sympathetic before all hell breaks loose. The details of her crimes are not revealed until the end.
BTW, she is recording her history to none other than Stephen King, who has bought the rights to her story, and references his books throughout the narrative.

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

O'Nan's ability to have each novel completely different from the next is a true gift.

[Vivienne Strauss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written but wasn't able to feel much empathy for any of the characters. Downright chilling.

[Srta. Petruski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una de mis novelas favoritas de mis estanterias, de esas que de vez en cuando te apetece volver a leer.

[Brynhild Svanhvit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oklahoma, Estados Unidos, años 80 o 90. Durante las últimas horas antes de su ejecución, Marjorie Standiford, convicta de invasión de domicilio, robo, tortura y asesinato de una docena de personas, dicta sus memorias a una grabadora de casetes. Ella, por supuesto, jura que solo fue cómplice de su marido (Lamont) y de la amante que ambos tenían en común (Natalie), pero que ella, matar, lo que se dice matar, no mató a nadie.

Se trata de una historia a lo Bonnie y Clyde, en que el matrimonio y la amante, huyendo de una operación de droga fallida, van dejando un reguero de asesinatos brutales a lo largo de Oklahoma. Lamont muere de múltiples heridas y balazos antes de la detención, Natalie - a la que Marjorie también intenta liquidar - sale de la cárcel en condicional tras cumplir seis años, y Marjorie, a la que han juzgado autora efectiva de los asesinatos, espera la muerte por inyección letal.

A lo largo de su tiempo en la cárcel, Natalie ha escrito y publicado la historia de su relación con Marjorie y Lamont y sus crímenes, y Marjorie dice que no es más que una pila de mentiras, por lo que decide contar su propia versión de la historia... a Stephen King, para que escriba un libro y haga si puede ser una película, y le dé parte de sus beneficios a su hijo, un niño que vive con la madre de Marjorie desde la detención de esta. En efecto, el destinatario de la historia de Marjorie, que narra ella en primera persona y va grabando en cintas de casete, es Stephen King, y Marjorie, que es una gran fan suya, no pierde ocasión de comparar su vida con personajes de la obra de King, o de decirle que cambie las cosas que le parezcan aburridas por otras más emocionantes.

Por lo demás, es la confesión de una criminal con no muchas cosas que contar; tuvo una infancia bastante normal (con algunos acontecimientos aislados que pudieron, o no, ser relevantes en el futuro) y una adolescencia anodina como camarera en bares de carretera, donde se hizo adicta primero a la cafeína de la Pepsi, después a los coches veloces, y por último a las metanfetaminas. Tuvo varios ligues hasta conocer a Lamont, que primero fue su camello y luego su marido, y ya le pareció que consumir y vender droga, incluso después de tener un bebé, incluso después de una temporada en la cárcel (donde conoció a Natalie) era un estilo de vida tan aceptable como otro cualquiera.

Como he comentado antes, el salto de la venta de droga al asesinato se da después de que Lamont se empeñe con la mafia para comprar una gran cantidad de heroína que alguien le roba antes de que empiece a venderla; sin mercancía, sin dinero, y con un dedo del pie cortado sin anestesia, Lamont y las dos mujeres entran en pánico, se ponen hasta arriba con las dosis que llevaban encima, y se lanzan a la carretera.

La novela es entretenida y tiene algo de humor negro, sobre todo en el cinismo de Marjorie, una pécora mentirosa y manipulativa que durante su encarcelamiento ha encontrado a Jesús y se declara en contra de la pena de muerte (hombre, no) y que acusa a su cómplice y amante, Natalie, de no haber dicho una palabra de verdad en todo su libro, aunque los lectores no llegamos a saber nada de su versión. A lo largo de su relato va intercalando lo que ha leído sobre diferentes métodos de ejecución en Estados Unidos y en la historia, y comentando cuál le gusta más o menos. El que va a recibir ella no le gusta especialmente, pero tampoco le parece de los peores.

Tiene un momento curioso en que Marjorie explica cómo al principio de su encarcelamiento, cuando sus crímenes estaban en primera plana en todas partes, recibió docenas de mensajes de asociaciones feministas pidiéndole que contara cómo su marido era un maltratador que la inició en la droga y la obligó a cometer todas esas atrocidades, y que ella les contestó que nada de eso, que en la droga se inició ella sola, que su marido solo le pegó un par de veces en todos sus años de matrimonio, y que los crímenes los cometió sin que nadie la obligara, cosa que aparentemente decepcionó a las feministas, que no volvieron a interesarse por su caso.

Es una lectura bastante ágil y entretenida, para un par de tardes, aunque no soy fan de los thrillers y este tampoco me ha parecido un novelón. Como curiosidad, he leído que el autor es amigo personal de Stephen King, y quiso titular el libro "Querido Stephen King" o "A mi querido Stephen King", pero a este no le gustó que su nombre apareciera en el título, y él o sus agentes le hicieron cambiarlo.

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could not have been a better book to read just before Halloween. The premise is that master of the macabre genre, Stephen King, has sent Marjorie a series of questions to answer before she is executed for her involvement in a spree mass-killing event committed with her husband and her female lover. Marjorie is a classic example of the unreliable narrator. She wants you to believe what she is telling you is the truth because she has convinced herself that it is. It's hard to like her because the only redeeming thing about her is her love for her son, Gainey, but even that is compromised when she admits they brought Gainey along with them during their killing spree. In some instances, Marjorie even contradicts her truths, especially towards the end where she is recounting what happened during the murders.

Lamont, her husband, and Natalie, her lover, are also unlikeable. Lamont's a bit of a cliche as a drug dealer who likes classic cars, but Natalie was mysterious and also capable of spinning her truths. We see Natalie only through Marjorie's eyes, which are first colored by her fascination and love for Natalie, then by her disgust for her once she finds that Natalie's "truths" are hiding some seamy secrets.

I also liked how O'Nan didn't actually reveal what the questions were that Stephen King was asking Marjorie in preparation for his book about her. Because of that lack of revelation, it did take a couple of chapters before the storytelling hit its stride, but the novel never lagged. And Marjorie's storytelling tends to jump around a bit from her past to her present, but again, it wasn't a problem because O'Nan kept the flow smooth.

As I read this, I kept thinking of Kit and Holly from Terence Malick's excellent "Badlands" film. In the movie, Holly has a bit of a flat narration and so does Marjorie, likely in attempt to distance themselves from the heinous crimes they were accused of taking part in.

This is only the second O'Nan book I've read and I'm glad I found it. I'd read his non-fiction "Circus Fire" book several years ago and like "Speed Queen", it was an engrossing (and rather graphically gross) read.