Marie's Reviews > Holly

Crime Mixed With Horror!

Small backstory:

Holly Gibney is on the trail of a kidnapped girl named Bonnie. Her mother Penny Dahl pleads with Holly to take the case of finding her daughter as she just wants her daughter found safe and sound as the police seem to be doing nothing to look for her daughter so Holly finally decides to take the case.

Holly slowly works her way through with tracking down leads which almost takes her down a rabbit hole as she pulls in some resources and friends to help her out as she tries to find out what happened to Bonnie but as time goes on the mystery deepens as she finds out there have been more disappearances in the same area. What Holly soon realizes is someone is doing something within the town and she has a feeling that all the disappearances are tied together, but finding the link is going to take some work and she hopes to find Bonnie alive before it is too late!

That is about all I can give on a small backstory so if you want to know more then go read this book!

Thoughts:

The core of this story was exceptionally good - I love the horror that was weaved into the crime aspects of the story as King just slowly added horror bits to the story lacing it with his special touch. The suspense and build up of what was happening took a little time to get going almost like a slow burn but there were so many other things to focus on as the story gained speed.

King dropped a few Easter eggs within the story with connections to some of his books which was cool. He name dropped some movies that I have seen along with name dropping an author I have read. Just different things like that which were slowly added to the story which was almost like adding seasonal herbs to a dinner with a dash of wine!

Now onto some other thoughts with this book and I am not dragging the book or the author threw the pits of hell or over hot coals as I have seen some reviews so far for this book that does just that so all I am going to say is this on that subject matter.

This book was set during the time of the pandemic and yes there is quite a bit of everything that took place during that time in this book but truly this book would be considered "historical fiction" as that is basically what is laid out in here.

There are lots of fiction books out there set in times of historical upheaval whether it be wars or conflicts throughout a country or countries and this book is no different. Yes for some people it is hard to read about but it did happen - history has already been set - no one can go back in time to change the past. I watched an interview with King about this book and he said that the book is like a time capsule meaning for future generations that read the book they will know about what happened during the time of the pandemic.

So after laying out my thoughts on all that with the pandemic - this story was classic King - he takes the reader deep into a crime/mystery story with the character Holly who has some detective skills that she hones as the story progresses. The puzzle pieces start really interlocking past the 50% mark of the book and the book goes into overdrive past the 70% mark as things become known within the storyline.

All in all it was a great story with all the crime and horror weaved together that kept me glued to my seat as the more the pace picked up the less I wanted to put it down! This is why King is the Master of Horror! He knows how to take you places that you don't want to go and drops you into a viper pit for no way out - well maybe he will throw down a rope! :) Giving this book five "Terror Thriller" stars!


Noted statement for this review as I know this book is a hotbed with diverse opinions so I am adding this statement to my review.

Golden Rule: If you have nothing nice to say do not say anything at all.