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Available
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Series
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Collection
Publication
Scribner (2023), 464 pages
Description
In this new novel, Holly once again claims the spotlight, and must face some of her most depraved adversaries yet. When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her own mother has just died, and Holly is supposed to be taking time off. But something in Penny Dahl's desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down. Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie's disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are smart, they are patient, and they are ruthless. Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outhink and outmaneuver this brilliant and twisted pair in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Twink
A new Stephen King book? Yes! With Holly Gibley running the show? Yes! She's the lead in King's brand new book - Holly.
Like me, those who are fans of Holly already know how tenacious and determined she is. But, this latest case for her investigative firm of Finders Keepers will push her to the
King starts off the book with a heckuva first chapter. We get to meet the antagonists right off the bat. And what a pair they are. Creepy, devious, dangerous - and they're not what or who you imagine. And that's what is letting them to get away with what they're doing.
One of my favorite things about King's writing are the details he incorporates into his stories. We get to 'know' the victims and they're not just a body. Same with the killers - icky as they are. And most of all Holly herself. Her self doubts, the issues she's facing, and so much more. The supporting cast is also quite detailed. I like the return to favorite characters.
Holly is contacted by a mother to look for her missing teenage daughter. The clues are there, but most would not see the connections. Holly does. Could there be other victims? King's plotting is fantastic!
What a tale! I've said before that I often feel more immersed in a book when I listen to it. And this is definitely the case with Holly. The reader was Justine Lupe and she had also voiced Holly in Mr. Mercedes. I appreciate the continuity. Her reading is so measured, in pretty much any situation. And this is perfect for the character of Holly. Lupe's voice is clear and easy to understand. Her voice matches the mental image I had created for Holly. The perpetrator's voices literally gave me goosebumps. Lupe does a great job of capturing the actions, emotions and more. A wonderful presentation of a an excellent story.
Like me, those who are fans of Holly already know how tenacious and determined she is. But, this latest case for her investigative firm of Finders Keepers will push her to the
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limit. And she's working alone. Holly takes place in the times of Covid. King shares Holly's views on the pandemic and they are woven into the narrative. ;0)King starts off the book with a heckuva first chapter. We get to meet the antagonists right off the bat. And what a pair they are. Creepy, devious, dangerous - and they're not what or who you imagine. And that's what is letting them to get away with what they're doing.
One of my favorite things about King's writing are the details he incorporates into his stories. We get to 'know' the victims and they're not just a body. Same with the killers - icky as they are. And most of all Holly herself. Her self doubts, the issues she's facing, and so much more. The supporting cast is also quite detailed. I like the return to favorite characters.
Holly is contacted by a mother to look for her missing teenage daughter. The clues are there, but most would not see the connections. Holly does. Could there be other victims? King's plotting is fantastic!
What a tale! I've said before that I often feel more immersed in a book when I listen to it. And this is definitely the case with Holly. The reader was Justine Lupe and she had also voiced Holly in Mr. Mercedes. I appreciate the continuity. Her reading is so measured, in pretty much any situation. And this is perfect for the character of Holly. Lupe's voice is clear and easy to understand. Her voice matches the mental image I had created for Holly. The perpetrator's voices literally gave me goosebumps. Lupe does a great job of capturing the actions, emotions and more. A wonderful presentation of a an excellent story.
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LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
Right, this is my final final final notice: I am definitely done with Stephen King. He went off the boil a long time ago - a lot like the crazy old oxygen thieves in this story - and his attempts to write about current events and relatable characters are laughable. I even borrowed rather than
First off, I don't care about 'soapboxing' in fiction when the ranting is relevant, but nothing dates a novel like Covid and Donald Trump (apart from maybe Minidisc players and iPods) - nobody cares or wants to read about the Lost Years now, and all the elbow bumping and 'are you vaxxed?' reverse nostalgia was even more cringeworthy than King's obsession with the 1950s.
Secondly, both the eponymous Holly and the undead oldies eating the neighbours were deeply fucking annoying. Holly with her 'poopy' aversion to swearing - just say the F-word, you'll feel better - and her weird exclamation of 'oough' grated on my nerves even before she started in with her warped health issues. She wishes someone dead at one point because they don't have Covid, which killed her mother - and that was actually a blessing in disguise - but then this throwaway line really pissed me off: 'Hearing of a non-smoker who's died of lung cancer always makes Holly feel a little better about her own [chain-smoking] habit.' Yes, that does make you a shitty person, Holly. I discovered after I started reading that there are two or three other books in the series, but I will not be filling in the gaps in this lifetime.
Lastly, the plot is ridiculous. I can understand the plot bunnies that King cobbled together to form the story but the execution - pardon the pun - requires more suspension of disbelief than I am apparently capable of. I would have welcomed a scene where they followed the 'process' through to the end, because I cannot believe it's that easy to dismember and dispose of a human body. 'Feed 'em through the woodchipper' is a lazy cop out. Also, why should we believe that the crazy old pair want to live forever - because they're college professors? Because they wuv each other? Anyone decaying at that rate absolutely should shuffle off the mortal coil.
Finally - does King have grandchildren, or even great grandchildren? Because kids haven't behaved or talked like that since the 90s at the latest. Even the fact that Barbara is called Barbara in 2021 is bad enough. Stop now, old man, you're embarrassing yourself.
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bought a copy, knowing full well I would be wasting my money, and boy, were my (low) expectations met.First off, I don't care about 'soapboxing' in fiction when the ranting is relevant, but nothing dates a novel like Covid and Donald Trump (apart from maybe Minidisc players and iPods) - nobody cares or wants to read about the Lost Years now, and all the elbow bumping and 'are you vaxxed?' reverse nostalgia was even more cringeworthy than King's obsession with the 1950s.
Secondly, both the eponymous Holly and the undead oldies eating the neighbours were deeply fucking annoying. Holly with her 'poopy' aversion to swearing - just say the F-word, you'll feel better - and her weird exclamation of 'oough' grated on my nerves even before she started in with her warped health issues. She wishes someone dead at one point because they don't have Covid, which killed her mother - and that was actually a blessing in disguise - but then this throwaway line really pissed me off: 'Hearing of a non-smoker who's died of lung cancer always makes Holly feel a little better about her own [chain-smoking] habit.' Yes, that does make you a shitty person, Holly. I discovered after I started reading that there are two or three other books in the series, but I will not be filling in the gaps in this lifetime.
Lastly, the plot is ridiculous. I can understand the plot bunnies that King cobbled together to form the story but the execution - pardon the pun - requires more suspension of disbelief than I am apparently capable of. I would have welcomed a scene where they followed the 'process' through to the end, because I cannot believe it's that easy to dismember and dispose of a human body. 'Feed 'em through the woodchipper' is a lazy cop out. Also, why should we believe that the crazy old pair want to live forever - because they're college professors? Because they wuv each other? Anyone decaying at that rate absolutely should shuffle off the mortal coil.
Finally - does King have grandchildren, or even great grandchildren? Because kids haven't behaved or talked like that since the 90s at the latest. Even the fact that Barbara is called Barbara in 2021 is bad enough. Stop now, old man, you're embarrassing yourself.
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LibraryThing member parrishs8
While I enjoy most of Kings books this one was a little disappointing to me; King has a strong dislike for President Trump and he lets it show in the book. I read fiction to get a break from "the real world", so to have Trump constantly brought up in the book was a HUGE disappointment. I realize as
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the author King can work President Trump into his story line all he wants but that doesn't mean I have to like or support it. King should stick to fiction writing and leave politics out. Show Less
LibraryThing member ZadeB
I've read most of King's books and, while much of his early and middle works are scary and entertaining, I find his more recent work much more satisfying. Part of this is personal preference - I enjoy mysteries and thrillers more than pure horror - but it's also that he's embraced his ability to
The antagonists in Holly are truly disturbing and strangely familiar - not so much in what they do (which is no crazier than the actions of real-life serial killers), but in the way they think, which is merely an extension of a lot of the rhetoric we all get to hear these days.
I've seen complaints about King's "political agenda" in Holly. King makes no secret of his political and social views, as anyone with access to the platform formerly known as Twitter knows. More importantly, though, nothing he writes here is imposed on the story. If anything, he's reporting the conditions during the pandemic as they were. In an era when wearing a mask was (still is?) seen as a political statement, everyday public interactions inevitably touched on political topics. And frankly, King portrays characters on the other side of the political spectrum with remarkable kindness. The bad guys, of course, are the extreme logical extension of certain current political beliefs, and are not likeable at all, but even there, King shows them as people who can be both loving and cruel, not one-dimensional comic book villains.
Holly herself is the best part of the book, of course. I've complained in the past about King's ability to write women, but here he's created a really believable female protagonist who is rounded and whole and imperfect and deeply appealing. Perhaps I'm partial to Holly because the damage she must navigate to live is familiar, perhaps because that damage manifests in ways similar to the experience of being on the spectrum. I don't know if KIng meant to write an autistic character, but he succeeded. It's nice to see a character like this who isn't presented as being too disabled to function in the world, but whose difficulties are not downplayed.
Like most of King's work, Holly is the sort of book you shouldn't pick up unless you have a lot of time in the next day or two. When the audiobook came up in my Libby queue, I set aside my current reading to start it, thinking I'd dip in and out over the next week. That was less than twenty-four hours ago. I've had next to no sleep. I bought the physical book this morning so I could read it during my down time and listen to the audiobook from the library while I drove and did chores. It's not even noon of the second day and I've finished. I've no regrets about buying the book, though, as I will have to reread it more carefully. This reading was a gulp, lol.
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build characters and frame his plots around those characters rather than twisting the characters to fit the plot. The difference in this integration is particularly evident if you compare a book like Insomnia to one like Holly. Insomnia is a masterful piece of character-driven storytelling. The horror elements, though, are forced. The story would actually be better without them. But in Holly, the horror element takes its shape from the characters. It's still coherent with King's evolution of Lovecraftian horror, but it fits better in the story. In many ways, that makes it more frightening because it's more believable. The antagonists in Holly are truly disturbing and strangely familiar - not so much in what they do (which is no crazier than the actions of real-life serial killers), but in the way they think, which is merely an extension of a lot of the rhetoric we all get to hear these days.
I've seen complaints about King's "political agenda" in Holly. King makes no secret of his political and social views, as anyone with access to the platform formerly known as Twitter knows. More importantly, though, nothing he writes here is imposed on the story. If anything, he's reporting the conditions during the pandemic as they were. In an era when wearing a mask was (still is?) seen as a political statement, everyday public interactions inevitably touched on political topics. And frankly, King portrays characters on the other side of the political spectrum with remarkable kindness. The bad guys, of course, are the extreme logical extension of certain current political beliefs, and are not likeable at all, but even there, King shows them as people who can be both loving and cruel, not one-dimensional comic book villains.
Holly herself is the best part of the book, of course. I've complained in the past about King's ability to write women, but here he's created a really believable female protagonist who is rounded and whole and imperfect and deeply appealing. Perhaps I'm partial to Holly because the damage she must navigate to live is familiar, perhaps because that damage manifests in ways similar to the experience of being on the spectrum. I don't know if KIng meant to write an autistic character, but he succeeded. It's nice to see a character like this who isn't presented as being too disabled to function in the world, but whose difficulties are not downplayed.
Like most of King's work, Holly is the sort of book you shouldn't pick up unless you have a lot of time in the next day or two. When the audiobook came up in my Libby queue, I set aside my current reading to start it, thinking I'd dip in and out over the next week. That was less than twenty-four hours ago. I've had next to no sleep. I bought the physical book this morning so I could read it during my down time and listen to the audiobook from the library while I drove and did chores. It's not even noon of the second day and I've finished. I've no regrets about buying the book, though, as I will have to reread it more carefully. This reading was a gulp, lol.
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LibraryThing member tibobi
The Short of It:
Fans of the Bill Hodges trilogy will enjoy spending time with one of King’s most beloved characters.
The Rest of It:
But, this one felt a little different. Holly is hired to investigate a missing woman, but as she investigates the disappearance she realizes that more is at play when
The story that King created is quite dark, but also laced with a little bit of ridiculousness. I found myself pausing many times because it didn’t feel “King-like”. Plus, it’s also set during the pandemic so there are plenty of political jabs made at our former President. I am not a Trump fan but I grew tired of it.
Without giving the plot away, it’s just dark enough to keep you reading and there’s plenty of time spent with Holly to get your Gibney fix but for me, Holly truly shines when she interacts with the two other characters, Jerome and Barbara Robinson. There wasn’t too much of that in this installment.
To keep this brief. I enjoyed Holly but it didn’t hold me captive like King’s other books. I highly recommend reading the other books in this series before picking up Holly. King does a stellar job of giving you what you need to know but the entire series is just great.
For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.
Fans of the Bill Hodges trilogy will enjoy spending time with one of King’s most beloved characters.
The Rest of It:
But, this one felt a little different. Holly is hired to investigate a missing woman, but as she investigates the disappearance she realizes that more is at play when
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a string of missing persons all lead to the same neighborhood. A serial killer? Could it be?The story that King created is quite dark, but also laced with a little bit of ridiculousness. I found myself pausing many times because it didn’t feel “King-like”. Plus, it’s also set during the pandemic so there are plenty of political jabs made at our former President. I am not a Trump fan but I grew tired of it.
Without giving the plot away, it’s just dark enough to keep you reading and there’s plenty of time spent with Holly to get your Gibney fix but for me, Holly truly shines when she interacts with the two other characters, Jerome and Barbara Robinson. There wasn’t too much of that in this installment.
To keep this brief. I enjoyed Holly but it didn’t hold me captive like King’s other books. I highly recommend reading the other books in this series before picking up Holly. King does a stellar job of giving you what you need to know but the entire series is just great.
For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.
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LibraryThing member TobinElliott
I may be off on the count, but I believe this is my 89th King book and—as I very much feared once I heard the title months ago—it falls firmly into that broad swath of "middle" books.
It can't touch his best—those first dozen, plus a smattering of others—but it's nowhere near as bad as his
King does an awful lot of meandering setup in the first half of this novel that, shockingly, is quite boring. I've read a lot of King stuff I wasn't overly fond of, but I've rarely found him boring. Sadly, this novel and the one that preceded it committed that sin, which bothers me a lot.
And while I've never been as enamoured of Holly Gibney as King has been, I didn't mind her quirky character. She was interesting.
Unfortunately, this book seems to jettison much of what made Holly so much fun and made her seem...is average the right word? I'm not sure, but I didn't find her as quirky or as interesting. Maybe, much like when Thomas Harris had Hannibal Lecter as a side character, he was fascinating, but as soon as the spotlight was turned fully on Lecter, I lost all interest in Harris's subsequent novels. It could be the same thing is happening here...too much Holly.
But it's more than that. King used to be able to create wonderfully real characters that you loved and cared for and then also create a menacing, terrifying opposition that would just keep coming and coming, filling me, as a reader, with dread.
Now, King creates rather cozy characters who, while they still suffer—in this case, Holly's feeling the triple whammy of covid, the death of her mother, and the realization that she'd been lied to for years—but these are such common things that they don't carry much weight. We've all suffered the death of a family member. The entire world experienced covid. We've all been lied to and betrayed. So, this stuff? It's cozy, not soul crushing. At least, not in the manner that King delivers it in this novel.
And the menacing opposition? Somewhat toothless, to my mind. Yes, this is very much a cat and mouse story, but King makes a couple of decisions with the story—that I will not spoil—that immediately lower the stakes and take away that common, yet oh-so-effective plot device, the ticking clock.
He also makes the odd decision to hide much of the inherent horror in his story until the very end, where it's fed to the reader (pardon the pun...which you'll get once you read the novel) in a series of info dumps during wrap up.
Overall, I feel like, in the hands of a Joe R. Lansdale, or an S.A. Cosby, this book would have been structured far different, and the heat would have turned up a lot higher. Instead, what we got was lukewarm leftovers out of the microwave instead of the sizzling steak, grilled to perfection that we're used to with King.
I love Stephen King's writing a lot, however—and it pains me to say this—he's not the spellbinding, dangerous writer he used to be. He has his flashes of brilliance still, and when he does, I rejoice in those novels, but overall, where I used to be absolutely pumped to hear of a new release, now it's often met with, god, I hope it's better than the last one.
And that sucks.
It can't touch his best—those first dozen, plus a smattering of others—but it's nowhere near as bad as his
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worst—Tommyknockers, The Eyes of the Dragon, Sleeping Beauties, The Institute, Fairy Tale anyone? King does an awful lot of meandering setup in the first half of this novel that, shockingly, is quite boring. I've read a lot of King stuff I wasn't overly fond of, but I've rarely found him boring. Sadly, this novel and the one that preceded it committed that sin, which bothers me a lot.
And while I've never been as enamoured of Holly Gibney as King has been, I didn't mind her quirky character. She was interesting.
Unfortunately, this book seems to jettison much of what made Holly so much fun and made her seem...is average the right word? I'm not sure, but I didn't find her as quirky or as interesting. Maybe, much like when Thomas Harris had Hannibal Lecter as a side character, he was fascinating, but as soon as the spotlight was turned fully on Lecter, I lost all interest in Harris's subsequent novels. It could be the same thing is happening here...too much Holly.
But it's more than that. King used to be able to create wonderfully real characters that you loved and cared for and then also create a menacing, terrifying opposition that would just keep coming and coming, filling me, as a reader, with dread.
Now, King creates rather cozy characters who, while they still suffer—in this case, Holly's feeling the triple whammy of covid, the death of her mother, and the realization that she'd been lied to for years—but these are such common things that they don't carry much weight. We've all suffered the death of a family member. The entire world experienced covid. We've all been lied to and betrayed. So, this stuff? It's cozy, not soul crushing. At least, not in the manner that King delivers it in this novel.
And the menacing opposition? Somewhat toothless, to my mind. Yes, this is very much a cat and mouse story, but King makes a couple of decisions with the story—that I will not spoil—that immediately lower the stakes and take away that common, yet oh-so-effective plot device, the ticking clock.
He also makes the odd decision to hide much of the inherent horror in his story until the very end, where it's fed to the reader (pardon the pun...which you'll get once you read the novel) in a series of info dumps during wrap up.
Overall, I feel like, in the hands of a Joe R. Lansdale, or an S.A. Cosby, this book would have been structured far different, and the heat would have turned up a lot higher. Instead, what we got was lukewarm leftovers out of the microwave instead of the sizzling steak, grilled to perfection that we're used to with King.
I love Stephen King's writing a lot, however—and it pains me to say this—he's not the spellbinding, dangerous writer he used to be. He has his flashes of brilliance still, and when he does, I rejoice in those novels, but overall, where I used to be absolutely pumped to hear of a new release, now it's often met with, god, I hope it's better than the last one.
And that sucks.
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
Holly is the latest novel by Stephen King, and it follows one of my favorite characters from his Mr. Mercedes series. I will also say it is probably one of his darkest stories in recent years because there is nothing otherworldly about it. In Holly, the villains are human, albeit despicable, vile
One of the things I loved about Holly is the fact that while Holly Gibney is the hero, and she is a recurring character, you could consider it to be a standalone novel. While there are references to the goings-on of the Mr. Mercedes series and the other two novels that make up the Holly Gibney series, it has nothing to do with what is happening in this story. In other words, you don't miss anything by not understanding those references.
I was not prepared for Holly to be as gruesome as it was. There is one particular scene that nauseated me, and I usually have an iron stomach when it comes to disgusting scenes. The odd thing is that it isn't a particularly bloody scene either. It's just that Mr. King does an excellent job describing in detail exactly what the character is experiencing, and it is anything but pleasant.
Holly takes place during the pandemic, just after the world started opening back up and people were questioning whether we should continue masking or not. It still feels surreal to read stories set during 2020 - 2021 because it was such a weird time. However, it is a comfort to recognize that the characters also feel odd about the entire situation - much like we all did then.
For the audiobook, Simon & Schuster Audio and Stephen King opted to have Justine Lupe narrate Holly. Since she is the actress who played Holly Gibney in the Mr. Mercedes television series, it is the perfect choice. While not everyone can make the transition to audio narration, Ms. Lupe has no such issues. She brings to her performance the same anxiety and self-doubt that are Holly's biggest faults. In many ways, Ms. Lupe's performance is a welcome homecoming to such a lovable character.
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ones. One of the things I loved about Holly is the fact that while Holly Gibney is the hero, and she is a recurring character, you could consider it to be a standalone novel. While there are references to the goings-on of the Mr. Mercedes series and the other two novels that make up the Holly Gibney series, it has nothing to do with what is happening in this story. In other words, you don't miss anything by not understanding those references.
I was not prepared for Holly to be as gruesome as it was. There is one particular scene that nauseated me, and I usually have an iron stomach when it comes to disgusting scenes. The odd thing is that it isn't a particularly bloody scene either. It's just that Mr. King does an excellent job describing in detail exactly what the character is experiencing, and it is anything but pleasant.
Holly takes place during the pandemic, just after the world started opening back up and people were questioning whether we should continue masking or not. It still feels surreal to read stories set during 2020 - 2021 because it was such a weird time. However, it is a comfort to recognize that the characters also feel odd about the entire situation - much like we all did then.
For the audiobook, Simon & Schuster Audio and Stephen King opted to have Justine Lupe narrate Holly. Since she is the actress who played Holly Gibney in the Mr. Mercedes television series, it is the perfect choice. While not everyone can make the transition to audio narration, Ms. Lupe has no such issues. She brings to her performance the same anxiety and self-doubt that are Holly's biggest faults. In many ways, Ms. Lupe's performance is a welcome homecoming to such a lovable character.
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LibraryThing member brianinbuffalo
[3.25] About one-third of the way through King’s latest book, I was reminded why it had been so long — at least eight years — since I read a work from the acclaimed “Master of Horror.” His storytelling technique reminds of a late, great relative who had many meaningful life stories to
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share, but would spin them in such excruciating detail and at such a plodding pace that even riveting tales were undermined. “Holly” is built on a bone-chilling premise and showcases a cast of intriguing characters, including Holly Gibney, one of King’s best-known protagonists. I also admired how the author skillfully integrated contemporary political and social issues into the story. But my interest waned in a half-dozen spots. “Holly” would have been a solid 4-star read if the narrative had been trimmed a bit. Show Less
LibraryThing member phoenixcomet
A terrific mystery story minus Stephen King's usual supernatural twists. I enjoyed it immensely seeing how Holly Gibney tracks down the disappearance of Bonnie Dahl and the horrific reason why periodically people have gone missing. Loved it.
LibraryThing member sparemethecensor
I have not read any previous novels with Holly in them, and I found this to be a perfectly accessible and satisfying standalone.
LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
Holly Gibney is back, and hot on the trail of the Red Bank Avenue Predator! (we readers know who is doing it right from the start!)
Didn’t enjoy the huge amount of pages spent on Holly’s backstory, especially the repeated examples about how awful her mother was. Nor did I particularly care about
And, great last line!
I’m pretty sure I will never eat liver again. Ever.
Didn’t enjoy the huge amount of pages spent on Holly’s backstory, especially the repeated examples about how awful her mother was. Nor did I particularly care about
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the poetry subplot. I really just wanted to ‘watch’ Holly investigate! And when the book turns to pretty much only focus on that investigation, it gets really good! I'd say that the last 150 pages or so are pretty dang good!And, great last line!
I’m pretty sure I will never eat liver again. Ever.
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LibraryThing member Dianekeenoy
I am an avid Stephen King fan! I have all of his books and have read them all. And, once again, I sat down to see how this book and read it straight through! Holly Gibney, once a shy recluse in Mr. Mercedes, then a partner with Bill Hodges in Finders Keepers is now on her own and up against a pair
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of depraved killers in a disguise no one would possibly suspect. Show Less
LibraryThing member waldhaus1
A sequel perhaps better than the original.
Holly of Finders Keepers detective agency gets entangled with a string of disappearances she suspects of being serial killing. Very cleverly developed. Nothing supernatural, but a couple of crazy old professors.
Holly of Finders Keepers detective agency gets entangled with a string of disappearances she suspects of being serial killing. Very cleverly developed. Nothing supernatural, but a couple of crazy old professors.
LibraryThing member DrApple
I love these characters and the way Stephen King writes. This book sees Holly investigating a missing woman as she struggles with the death of her mother and the challenges of COVID.
LibraryThing member thanesh
Book 75 by Stephen King. Been a while since I delved into the world of SK and reading Holly felt very much like re-visiting a place that you really enjoy with people you like which is a real treat. There are a few pure pleasures in life and for me reading a new SK novel is absolutely one of them
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that I relish. The story is a follow-on from the previous Bill Hodges series and I have enjoyed the development of Holly from when we met her as a demure yet brilliant young women who was being dominated by her mother to now being a private investigator in a partnership with Pete. The book has the covid pandemic as a background to the story which makes for an interesting backdrop the the action. Also very political with Trump = bad and Dems = good but does not take away from the story. I enjoyed the easter eggs that we as constant readers have come to enjoy and look forward to, the most memorable for me being the reference to Michael Connelly's Bosch series which are also a favorite of mine. This book had far more development of the minor characters which was a nice side attraction. Thanks SK for another great book to add to the collection. Looking forward to the next one! Show Less
LibraryThing member invisiblelizard
Very minor spoiler alert: At the end of the book, King, speaking through his protagonist Holly, says that the killers here were even scarier than some of the others she has encountered in her career because unlike the others who were possessed by supernatural manifestations of pure evil, these were
This book was okay. I read it because I'm invested in Holly's ongoing story and I will probably read more of her story if he writes more. But it wasn't one of his better books. (Although it beat Billy Summers by a mile, imo.)
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just normal humans doing evil things and that makes them even scarier. My response to that is, no, Steve. No, that doesn't really make them scarier. Kind of the opposite. This book was okay. I read it because I'm invested in Holly's ongoing story and I will probably read more of her story if he writes more. But it wasn't one of his better books. (Although it beat Billy Summers by a mile, imo.)
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LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
I've really enjoyed Stephen King's detective novels, even though he sometimes veers back into horror. He's set up a solid series with Holly Gibney, a socially awkward middle-aged woman, running the Finders Keepers agency, working with Pete, a retired cop, and with part-time assistance from Jerome
King lets readers know from the beginning who the bad guys are, yet keeps the suspense level high as Holly slowly pieces together the clues, missing a few, finding some red herrings along the way. This novel isn't horror, although there is plenty of horrible events along the path to solving this one. I enjoyed this novel and love King's foray into a genre I love and how he has set things up for this to be a solid series. At this point, King is guaranteed a bestseller slot for every book he writes and it's to his credit that he is continuing to write with such energy and imagination.
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and Barbara Robinson, teenage prodigies. This installment centers firmly on Holly, with Pete out of action with covid and the Robinson siblings helping out, but preoccupied with their own lives. King lets readers know from the beginning who the bad guys are, yet keeps the suspense level high as Holly slowly pieces together the clues, missing a few, finding some red herrings along the way. This novel isn't horror, although there is plenty of horrible events along the path to solving this one. I enjoyed this novel and love King's foray into a genre I love and how he has set things up for this to be a solid series. At this point, King is guaranteed a bestseller slot for every book he writes and it's to his credit that he is continuing to write with such energy and imagination.
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LibraryThing member Bookmarque
As a mystery it works fairly well and the deterioration of the baddies (you know who they are from the beginning) is drawn well. Holly, while not my favorite character, is a good investigator and her methodology and conclusions appear solid. She gets there in the end in many ways. Barbara & Jerome
There are references to his other books/movies - Misery, Carrie & It. During the whole wheelchair/van set up, King knows we know and we know he knows we know (references to Al Bundy and Silence of the Lambs which took his technique) and it's like a secret language. Only King does this for me.
Ok...was workshed a deliberate thing as well? Who says this other than E.D. fans?
The lack of a cell phone at the end reminds me of older books where instant communication would solve everything, but it doesn't exist. Here it just bodes doom.
I assume there will be more books from the ending and some dangling secondary plot threads (Holly's mom) and I will gladly read them. Was pretty happy about this one remaining "terrestrial" rather than supernatural in nature although the true evil was possibly more chilling than without it.
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are great as usual, there is more Barbara in this one as another potential victim - that's how it runs; will they get her or Holly? The Covid theme plays large and however you traversed that particular challenge, it feels realistic enough.There are references to his other books/movies - Misery, Carrie & It. During the whole wheelchair/van set up, King knows we know and we know he knows we know (references to Al Bundy and Silence of the Lambs which took his technique) and it's like a secret language. Only King does this for me.
Ok...was workshed a deliberate thing as well? Who says this other than E.D. fans?
The lack of a cell phone at the end reminds me of older books where instant communication would solve everything, but it doesn't exist. Here it just bodes doom.
I assume there will be more books from the ending and some dangling secondary plot threads (Holly's mom) and I will gladly read them. Was pretty happy about this one remaining "terrestrial" rather than supernatural in nature although the true evil was possibly more chilling than without it.
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LibraryThing member BrianEWilliams
This is truly memorable story-telling, narrated from several perspectives: the criminal and a detective, as well as the hunted and their hunter. The telling is fuelled by a strong plot and several vivid characters, set against a background of suspense and dread. The sheer ordinariness of evil is
The covid "through-line" anchors the story in time, but as time passes, may come to date it.
I was left with a deep sense of regret and melancholia, best described by the police detective to Holly upon her discovery of the crime scene:
"This case has taught me a lesson, Gibney. Just when you think you've seen the worst human beings have to offer, you find out you're wrong. There's no end to evil."
All in all, it's a remarkable story to read and think about.
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highlighted. It's not a story for those with a weak stomach, though in the style of a cozy (this is not one of those), most of the grisly stuff takes place off stage.The covid "through-line" anchors the story in time, but as time passes, may come to date it.
I was left with a deep sense of regret and melancholia, best described by the police detective to Holly upon her discovery of the crime scene:
"This case has taught me a lesson, Gibney. Just when you think you've seen the worst human beings have to offer, you find out you're wrong. There's no end to evil."
All in all, it's a remarkable story to read and think about.
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LibraryThing member DebTat2
As always, King has presented us with yet another masterpiece that no matter how long the book, you burn through it because you don't want to put it down!
I literally read myself to sleep as I was fighting to stay awake to read it, several times, and when I did finally fall asleep I was dreaming
As the title implies, this one is all about Holly Gibney, who I know is one of Stephen King's personal favourite characters as well as being a fan favourite, so it only feels right that she should take front and centre stage with her own book.
We have seen Holly transform from the timid, shy little mouse in the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch, to a main character in The Outsider, with her new found inner badass, without loosing her personal little quirks that make her her and such a fan favourite.
Now in her own book she has to dig deep as she takes on a missing person's case all on her own because her partner of Finders Keepers detective agency, Pete is off work due to covid.
This book is set during covid so King had had to make some tweeks to the storyline because the novella, If It Bleeds, was before covid, but if he hadn't wrote this at the end of the book, I probably wouldn't have noticed!
As Holly begins her investigation into a missing young girl, the more she diggs up, the more skelingtons she finds in some of the most unlikely of places.
Both Jerome, and his sister Barbara are back in this book, but with Jerome out of state and Barbara who is also tied up in projects of their own, neither of them can help Holly on this case as much as they'd all like.
As Holly begins to start to see a pattern between her case and the disappearances of people before in similar cercomstances she needs to walk a fine line between investigating and becoming a missing person herself!
There are no supernatural elements to this book, this is a normal detective novel with what becomes a not so normal, stomach churning case!
This is a definite must read for all of Kings fans as well as fans of good murder mysteries, crime and thriller novels and anyone who enjoys a really great story!
You certainly don't need to be a horror fan as this isn't a horror book. The only horror is in the crimed themselves, so please don't just pass this book over because it's a Stephen King book and his reputation of the master of horror, this is a book for anyone who loves a really well written 'who done it'!
I literally read myself to sleep as I was fighting to stay awake to read it, several times, and when I did finally fall asleep I was dreaming
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about the book!As the title implies, this one is all about Holly Gibney, who I know is one of Stephen King's personal favourite characters as well as being a fan favourite, so it only feels right that she should take front and centre stage with her own book.
We have seen Holly transform from the timid, shy little mouse in the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch, to a main character in The Outsider, with her new found inner badass, without loosing her personal little quirks that make her her and such a fan favourite.
Now in her own book she has to dig deep as she takes on a missing person's case all on her own because her partner of Finders Keepers detective agency, Pete is off work due to covid.
This book is set during covid so King had had to make some tweeks to the storyline because the novella, If It Bleeds, was before covid, but if he hadn't wrote this at the end of the book, I probably wouldn't have noticed!
As Holly begins her investigation into a missing young girl, the more she diggs up, the more skelingtons she finds in some of the most unlikely of places.
Both Jerome, and his sister Barbara are back in this book, but with Jerome out of state and Barbara who is also tied up in projects of their own, neither of them can help Holly on this case as much as they'd all like.
As Holly begins to start to see a pattern between her case and the disappearances of people before in similar cercomstances she needs to walk a fine line between investigating and becoming a missing person herself!
There are no supernatural elements to this book, this is a normal detective novel with what becomes a not so normal, stomach churning case!
This is a definite must read for all of Kings fans as well as fans of good murder mysteries, crime and thriller novels and anyone who enjoys a really great story!
You certainly don't need to be a horror fan as this isn't a horror book. The only horror is in the crimed themselves, so please don't just pass this book over because it's a Stephen King book and his reputation of the master of horror, this is a book for anyone who loves a really well written 'who done it'!
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Holly tracks down serial killers (their identity is immediately disclosed to the reader). This was interesting for refusing some of the obvious (cliched) next moves but then immediately suggesting other, also refused possibilities. It’s also interesting for being set during 2021, and covid
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precautions function as defining personality and setting the context just as much as King’s past and ongoing use of brand names. (He even has an author’s note about it, as if he himself wondered.) I wonder if other novelists will also do this or whether it will be like the flu pandemic was, with authors writing around it. Show Less
LibraryThing member flourgirl49
This book was perhaps too long by about 100 pages. It plodded along very slowly in the beginning, and I wondered why we needed to know every single thing Holly Gibney did, said or thought on any given day - it was boring. It picked up near the end, and I liked the way King took time to wind
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everything down, rather than ending the story abruptly the way so many authors do. Stephen King, though, is just not the exciting writer that he used to be. Show Less
LibraryThing member mainrun
The first chapter was titled "October 17, 2012." Awesome, I like knowing the date in stories. I was surprised the next section jumped to 2021. Ok, I can deal. It is first story I have read where Covid was around and masks and vaccines were part of the plot. Then something I hate while reading
980 members;3.86 average raring; 1/7/2024
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occurred: we go back in time: 2015. Why can't the story just start in 2012, make its way to 2015, and then happily (or scarily in a Stephen King book) end up in 2021? I kept going along but eventually I skipped through the book reading the material in chronological order. I hate spoilers but also hate a story that thinks it can create suspense from something that has already happened. Television shows that start with a scene, and then has "24 hours (or whatever) earlier," is, as Holly would say, poopy!980 members;3.86 average raring; 1/7/2024
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LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
**review in progress while still reading**
Holly Gibney and her associates are on the case when a young woman goes missing and her mother is desperate to find her.
Stephen King may have created his creepiest villains yet, on par with Annie Wilkes, by virtue of being unfortunately all too possibly
A lot of the book takes place shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit worldwide, so there's lots in here about masking, vaccinating, getting ill, dealing with grief, etc. It's handled well (as long as you agree with King's politics; if not, well, you probably gave up on reading him a while ago anyway), but it felt all too real. That's not a bad thing per se, just a warning that this book won't take you out of present concerns very much.
The audiobook version is read by Justine Lupe, who is just fine. I guess with a female protagonist, the powers that be felt it was necessary to have a female narrator. However, every other time that Holly was featured in a Stephen King work, Will Patton was the audiobook narrator and not having him now felt wrong -- like when a TV show recasts an actor mid-series and we're all just supposed to pretend the character always looked and sounded like this.
Holly Gibney and her associates are on the case when a young woman goes missing and her mother is desperate to find her.
Stephen King may have created his creepiest villains yet, on par with Annie Wilkes, by virtue of being unfortunately all too possibly
Show More
real. A lot of the book takes place shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit worldwide, so there's lots in here about masking, vaccinating, getting ill, dealing with grief, etc. It's handled well (as long as you agree with King's politics; if not, well, you probably gave up on reading him a while ago anyway), but it felt all too real. That's not a bad thing per se, just a warning that this book won't take you out of present concerns very much.
The audiobook version is read by Justine Lupe, who is just fine. I guess with a female protagonist, the powers that be felt it was necessary to have a female narrator. However, every other time that Holly was featured in a Stephen King work, Will Patton was the audiobook narrator and not having him now felt wrong -- like when a TV show recasts an actor mid-series and we're all just supposed to pretend the character always looked and sounded like this.
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LibraryThing member SheriAWilkinson
Holly By Stephen King
Intesne and compelling, moving at a steady pace builing up chilling suspense along the way. Set in 2021 during COVID added more obsticles in the already complicated investigation. Holly is very likable, the crimes unthinkable.
Overall I found Holly very enjoyable. I was up late
Intesne and compelling, moving at a steady pace builing up chilling suspense along the way. Set in 2021 during COVID added more obsticles in the already complicated investigation. Holly is very likable, the crimes unthinkable.
Overall I found Holly very enjoyable. I was up late
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into the night engrossed in this thought-provoking story. A must read for Stephen King fans and those who love (shocking) crime thrillers. Show Less
Awards
NPR: Books We Love (2023)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction — 2023)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2023)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2023-09
Physical description
464 p.; 9.25 inches
ISBN
1668016133 / 9781668016138