Fast Cars By Paul Sheldon Sparknotes

As Misery begins, Paul Sheldon, the author of the wildly popular Misery Chastain novels, has just finished the manuscript of his new crime novel, Fast Cars. He checks out of the Hotel Boulderado in Colorado, where he has completed the first draft of all his novels since 1974, and makes an alcohol-influenced decision to drive to Los Angeles rather than fly back home to New York. However, a snowstorm hits on the way, and he drives off a cliff and crashes into a snowbank. He is rescued from the crash by Annie Wilkes, a former nurse who lives in Sidewinder, Colorado. Rather than take him to the hospital for treatment for his shattered legs, she puts him in her guest bedroom, puts his legs in crude makeshift splints, and gives him pills from her illegal stash of painkillers. At first,

She later cuts off his thumb when he complains about a missing letter on the typewriter. A police officer nearly rescues Paul at one point when Paul alerts him, but Annie ambushes the officer and kills him, then moves Paul down to the basement. Paul eventually finishes writing Misery’s Return and calls Annie to read it. He is aware she plans to kill them both once she has read it, because the police are closing in on the killer of their dead officer. He convinces her to let him have a single cigarette to celebrate — and uses the match to seemingly light the manuscript on fire. While she tries to put out the flames — which are spreading to her clothing, he slams the typewriter down on her. The two engage in a brutal fight, with Annie suffering a series of brutal injuries but getting up every time. Eventually, she grabs Paul, starting to strangle him, but collapses from her injuries. Paul crawls his way to the bathroom and swallows painkillers,