Full Dark Journal 4: Big Driver

Picture credit: Jill Bauman, http://www.cemeterydance.com/sh/king05.html

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There are probably spoilers ahead. If you don't like that, give the Library Police a call.
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I just finished Big Driver. It was hard going for a short little while there. Wow, I'm glad I hung in there. I like this novella a lot!
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Listening to the Stephen King chat helped relate to this story better. A woman asked King how he was able to connect so well with women. His answer was simply that it's part of the art of writing (my words). The difficulties for me had been with his female character.
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Tess' reasoning at several points still troubles me. Sorry to mention this. But I was not really convinced on her reason for not calling the police. And, her note to herself, "Don't get caught" . . . but she didn't really carry out much of a plan. She followed an emotion, but didn't execute a flawless play. Instead, she plans backward. that is, she carries out an idea, then figures out how to cover her tracks.
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While the story is dark, the ending is fantastic. King masterfully pulled the strands together. It is dark, but perhaps not as dark as some of the other novella's contained in FDNS.
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Cultural References:
It is also worth mentioning that the novella is chalk full of cultural references. Books, movies and even Diet Coke. The Jodie Foster film The Brave One really takes center stage. But those passing references always bring a King film home. The Sound of Music is also mentioned, as is Walmart, Lay-Z-Boy, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Doritos, (I know, this is really deep stuff here).
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Mirrors:
Both Big Driver and A Good Marriage make use of mirrors in a minor way. In Big Driver, Tess looks herself in the mirror after a shower and gets a glimpse of her own rage. In A Good Marriage, the bathroom mirror is again discussed. This time, from a woman's point of view, wondering why the mirror is aimed at the toilet. Who wants to see themselves, no matter how pretty they are, sitting on the potty? The mention of mirrors is interesting because both stories feature women.
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I don't know exactly who Tess is modeled after; but I keep picturing her as a Patricia Cornwell. She is a writer, who has written a series of mystery novels featuring a female protagonist. Okay, probably not. Old women like to read Tess' work, so I suspect she's more likely a type of Mary Higgins Clark.
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Chatting:
Everything talks in this book. It rattled me for a while. However, someone pointed out that this is better executed in print than audio. I have to agree. First, the novella is very focused. When going for a tight frame, dialogue of some kind is needed to break up the story and expand the characters thoughts. Things need to be worked out, and the objects and corpses give Tess something to work them out with. Actually, it's what the dead people started talking that I felt much better about this whole world of chatty objects.