Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton/Scribner (Audiobook – 5 September 2023)

Series: Holly Gibney

Length: 15 hours and 24 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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The master of thrills and chills, Stephen King, returns with his latest exceptional read, the powerful and gruesome thriller Holly, an outstanding and utterly gripping read that brings back an amazing original protagonist.

Fans of this blog will be aware that I have been in a bit of a Stephen King mood recently, especially being quite a latecomer to his books.  I have had a wonderful time reading some of his latest works, including Later, Billy Summers and Fairy Tale, each of which has been great in its own way.  I have also been keeping a firm eye out for any upcoming books from King, and I was highly intrigued when I saw that he was releasing Holly in the second half of 2023.

Holly, which was one of my most anticipated books of the year, serves as a continuation of the adventures of protagonist Holly Gibney.  Holly Gibney, who first appeared in Mr Mercedes, is a unique and damaged figure who ended serving a vital supporting role in all three Bill Hodges books, as well as the horror-filled thriller, The Outsider (both of which have been adapted into awesome television series).  Holly is the first full novel where this quirky figure will be the main protagonist (although there was the novella, If It Bleeds), and I was very intrigued to see how that turned out.  I even went back and read Mr Mercedes for the first time so I would have a better idea of the character and their fascinating story.

It is the height of the 2021 COVID pandemic, and Holly Gibney is reeling from the sudden death of her domineering and stubborn mother.  Initially planning to take some time off, Holly finds herself drawn to a new case when distraught mother Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping to get help in finding her missing daughter, Bonnie.  With her partner, Pete, out of commission with COVID, Holly decides to take on the case by herself, especially when Penny’s desperation breaks through to her.

Diving into the case to distract herself from her deep personal concerns, Holly begins to uncover all the details surrounding Bonnie’s sudden disappearance.  But the further she digs, the more sinister the case becomes, especially when it becomes apparent that more than one person has disappeared in the same residential area.  To uncover the truth, Holly will need to find out more about these other disappearances.

However, Holly is unaware of a deadly threat watching her from the suburban shadows.  Professors Rodney and Emily Harris are octogenarians living an easy life as semi-retired academics.  But this old married couple is keeping a dark and unimaginable secret in their basement, one that will shake Holly to her very core.  Can Holly find out what really happened to Bonnie and the other missing persons before the clever and patient professors make their move?

Wow, just wow!  This was such an exceptional and powerful read, and it is one of the best books I have ever read from Stephen King.  Featuring an exciting, emotionally charged and highly gruesome story that will leave you breathless and horrified, Holly had me hooked from the second I started it and it refused to let me go even after I finished it.  Intense, clever, and oh so beautifully disturbing, Holly gets an easy five-star review from me for so many delicious reasons.

Holly has an epic and addictive narrative that grabs the reader’s attention right off the bat, especially as you are immediately introduced to the horrifying schemes of the antagonists.  This great introduction perfectly leads into the main story, which focuses on the protagonist’s investigation into the disappearance of a missing girl.  This is very much a character driven plot, as the protagonist simultaneously deals with her troubled history and roiling emotions following the death of her mother.  King features a range of intriguing character perspectives throughout the course of Holly, showcasing different angles to the case and introducing several additional personal stories.  Thanks to these intriguing perspectives, especially those surrounding Holly herself, the investigative storyline rolls along at a fast and exciting pace, and Holly quickly begins to realise something nefarious did happen to her client’s daughter, as well as other people in the same area.  King backs up these revelations with great flashback chapters that showcase the actual sinister deeds of the antagonists, while also giving you some fascinating insights into who they are and what drives them to commit these insanities.

The resulting story continues at a fast and compelling clip, as you get further drawn into both Holly’s case and the intriguing history of the Harrises and the people whose lives they impact.  King writes a very tight and captivating investigative storyline around the protagonist, and I liked how Holly methodically finds connections and identifies new victims through a series of fun character interviews.  Thanks to the flashback sequences, the reader already knows what the Harrises have done and what Holly is going to find as her investigation continues, which gave the protagonist’s scenes more of an edge as you wait for her to uncover the full horrors awaiting her.  As this unfolds, you are also gifted to several compelling and emotionally charged scenes around Holly, as well as several other great supporting figures, as they go about their damaged and complex lives.  This includes a large sub-story thread around returning character Barbara Robinson, whose foray into the literary world proves quite powerful and personal, while also revealing several major clues in the case.  These multiple character-driven storylines are pretty fascinating and captivating in their own way, and they pull together perfectly into one cohesive and bloody narrative that you can’t prove away from.

While the first two thirds of Holly are extremely cool and addictive, the third act is where everything comes together, and boy is it glorious.  King came up with an excellent and very impressive conclusion that keeps you irresistibility hooked up to the end.  Several lingering questions, such as the fates of characters, are cleverly and gruesomely answered in the leadup to Holly pulling the clues together.  At the same time, the author also revolves several key character arcs and storylines, which set up these various figures for the big confrontations, for better or for worse.  I love how King maneuverers all the characters around through chance, tragedy and mistakes so that there is the maximum risk for his protagonists, and you are seriously left wondering who is going to survive and how the entire story will unfold.  The climatic scenes are pretty damn memorable, as King brings everything together in a brutal way that only he could envision.  The shock, the emotional damage and the horrors that are revealed are extremely powerful and cool, and you will come away from Holly disturbed and satisfied in equal measure.

While I already had a great deal of respect for King’s writing ability before reading this book, I have to say that I was even more deeply impressed with how he pulled Holly together.  This fantastic book was the perfect blend of mystery, suspense and character-driven narrative, and there was frankly not a single second that I did not enjoy.  The way that the author told his complex narrative is outstanding, and I loved how the perspective switches between the various intriguing characters, as well as featuring flashback chapters that range from heartfelt to highly sinister.  The constant changes in focus helped to create a very compelling and elaborate read, and showcasing all the key characters ensures that the reader gets a much more complete and powerful narrative, especially during the main investigative storyline.  While I liked the protagonist’s narrative, some of the best scenes were those that focused on the antagonists and their sinister secrets in the basement.  The Harrises’ scenes are pure and exquisite horror that had me shuddering and shivering the entire way through, especially when you find out exactly what they are doing and why.  I cannot fully express how gruesome King made this part of the book, and I could not stop reacting at his horrifying descriptions at times; it was that damn dreadful.  Combine that with the highly personal and relatable character arcs, and this ended up being an exceptional read that you will have a hard time putting down.

While Holly is part of a larger series of books and stories that feature the main character of Holly Gibney in some way, King makes sure to cover all the relevant details from these previous works where needed, and this can be read as a standalone novel.  Both I and my wife (who hasn’t read any of the books, but did watch the Mr Mercedes television series), were able to follow every point of this book without any issue, although established King readers will probably have fun seeing the story continue from these previous reads.  As such, Holly is an easy and compelling read to check out, even if you are unfamiliar with King’s work, and you are guaranteed to have fun with it.

I cannot talk about Holly without discussing the outstanding and beautifully written characters that help to turn this amazing novel into such a classic and exceptional read.  King has always excelled at wrapping his elaborate narratives around powerful and distinctive protagonists and villains, and Holly is a brilliant example of this.  The heart of the tale lies in the motivations and actions of Holly’s excellent cast, and the simultaneous examination of their lives and the case is so very addictive.

The most prominent of these characters is titular protagonist Holly Gibney, who returns this time as the main character of her own book.  Holly is such a fascinating and complex figure to focus a story around, and while much of her development occurred in previous novels, King still has a lot to work with here.  Already somewhat emotionally damaged and immature, especially after a lifetime of anxiety and manipulation, Holly has only come out of her shell in recent years thanks to the help of her friends and her new career as a private investigator.  However, the death of her mother brings up a whole new bag of issues, especially as it uncovers additional layers of manipulation that Holly had previously been unaware of.  Most of Holly’s scenes see her try to deal with continual feelings of guilt, betrayal and regret that results from these revelations, while the words of her mother continue to play in her head, influencing her decisions.  While this pain and uncertainty is a big part of Holly’s personality, King expertly balances this with some more positive character aspects, including her expert investigation skills, the emotional strength she draws from her friends, and her unyielding determination to find the truth.  King really did a great job of reintroducing and utilising Holly here, and I felt that she served as an excellent central protagonist of her own novel.  I did think that King really didn’t write Holly as a woman in her mid-50s, as she felt a lot younger than she should have, but a lot of this is due to how emotionally immature the character is due to her hard life.  Honestly, her unique insights, thoughts and relationships are extremely refreshing and so much fun, and I would read so many more novels that have Holly Gibney as the main protagonist.

While Holly is a great protagonist, this book would be nothing without the fantastic figures of Rodney and Emily Harris, who might be some of the best villains that King has ever written (which is saying something).  The Harrises are quickly shown to be anything but the harmless retired academics they present to the world, especially when readers are treated to a view of their basement.  I don’t want to give too much away here, because you really need to read King’s excellent buildup to fully experience the horror around them, but they are gloriously and exceptionally sinister.  Part of this is because their age belies how dangerous and malicious they truly are, with other characters constantly underestimating them, and watching these frail figures commit acts of utter evil is very shocking.  Other elements of their sinister nature are derived from the initial secrecy surrounding their motivations as well as the uncertainty around whether their actions are normal human evil or something more unnatural.  King does such a good job of diving into the mind of these characters throughout the course of Holly, and you really get some powerful and captivating insights into who they are and why they are committing their crimes.  The author works in a complex layer of fear, regret, love and insanity underneath their actions, you can kind of empathise with their desires and understand why they are doing what they are doing.  However, these brief flashes of empathy only ensure that the reader is even more repulsed by their actions, especially when you also get the points of view from their victims.  Honestly, I could go on, but I think I will just leave it here and say that Rodney and Emily Harris are exceptional villains, and you won’t be the same after visiting their basement.

Aside from the complex protagonist and the amazing villains, Holly is also loaded with a great cast of supporting characters, each of whom have their own moments to shine.  Many of these are returning figures from the previous Bill Hodges books, such as Jerome and Barbara Robinson, Holly’s friends and emotional support.  Both Jerome and Barbara have had a lot of growth in the previous novels, and it was great to see their stories continue in Holly.  Barbara in particular has a fascinating and moving character arc in this novel, as her horrifying experiences from the previous books inspire her to write haunting poetry.  This proves to be an intriguing and moving side storyline for part of the book, which, while it does have certain implications for the main investigation, also expands on Barbara’s creativity and highlights the joy that writing and creativity in all forms can bring to a person.  Barbara’s mentor, elderly poet Oliva Kingsbury, also proves to be a wonderful additional to the cast, and her canny insights and elaborate experiences add some great depth to parts of the novel.  I also need to highlight the poor unfortunates who serve as the victims of this story.  While many of them are only briefly featured throughout Holly, King ensures that each of them is effectively and emotionally highlighted.  While each of them is primarily shown at their very worst, you really get a sense of who they are, and the inherent tragedy of their lives and what is being done to them, will stick with you.  All these characters and more are so perfectly written by King, and their unique journeys and powerful emotions, help to drive Holly’s narrative in some outstanding directions.

King also injects an interesting level of social commentary into Holly by strongly featuring some of the key events of the last couple of years into this story.  Holly is King’s first novel set during COVID times, and he really tries to showcase how life was changed during this period.  The characters are constantly talking about masks, vaccines, and the impact of the pandemic on their lives.  While this is somewhat repetitive and traumatic for people trying to put that behind them, I felt that it was a perfect reenactment of how life was a few years ago.  The characters encounter all manner of different mindsets and opinions about the pandemic and other key events during this time, which will be instantly recognisable to readers, and I liked seeing the protagonists react to it, especially when it plays into their own personal experiences.  While King mostly speaks through his protagonists, there is a certain level of social commentary, and you can feel that King has some strong opinions about recent events.  While this commentary might not be for everyone, I really appreciated it and I felt that it gave the story some more realism, especially when the author sticks his narrative right in the middle of recent major events.

While I did get a physical copy of Holly, I decided to check out the audiobook version instead, because I had a road trip that this was the perfect accompaniment for, and also because they got the perfect narrator in Justine Lupe, who plays the character of Holly Gibney in the Mr Mercedes television series.  I love it when audiobooks get fun and appropriate narrators with connections to related media, and Justine Lupe was easily one of the best examples of this.  Not only does she perfectly capture Holly’s spirit, emotions and personality due to her experiences with Mr Mercedes, but she also does an amazing job narrating the rest of the story and bringing the other characters to life.  Lupe really dives into all the members of this brilliant cast in a great way, and I love how each of them is gifted a distinctive and fitting voice, such as how she made the Harrises sound both innocent and sinister at the same time.  I was really impressed with Holly’s perfect choice in casting, and I loved the continuation on from the existing portrayal of the titular protagonist.  Coming in at around 15 and a half hours, the Holly audiobook has a decent length to it, but once you start listening to it, you really can’t stop.  As such, I would strongly recommend this audiobook to anyone interested in checking out Holly in all its gory glory, especially if you also enjoyed the Mr Mercedes television series.

I could go on about Holly, but the point is that this latest Stephen King novel is pretty damn exceptional.  Perfectly blending established characters and an elaborate new narrative with some gruesome and intense elements, Holly had me hooked from the first scene thanks to its brilliant storytelling.  Dark, shocking and deeply personal, there is so much to love about Holly, and it was one of the strongest King stories that I have had the pleasure of reading.  I honestly cannot recommend this book enough, both to new readers and established King fans, and Holly is easily one of the best books of 2023.

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