Stephen King fascinates me for a lot of reasons. His endless well of ideas. His prolific rate of publication. And the fact that as a famed horror writer, I think his best writing is outside that genre.
Different Seasons, a collection of novellas, each representing a different season, is one of my all-time favourite books. Few people have heard of it, but most have heard of the non-supernatural films that arose from it: Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and Apt Pupil. The story of Stand by Me (titled The Body in Different Seasons) shows a side of King few would recognise. The writing is sensitive and tender, an account of an acutely painful coming of age. I strongly recommended checking it out.
This week’s read, Holly, is one of King’s crime novels. (No otherworldly ghouls or monsters – just the human variety.) It’s about Holly Gibney, an unlikely investigator (she hates being called detective) who appears in multiple King novels. In this one, it’s the midst of Covid and she is called upon to investigate the disappearance of Bonnie Dahl, who vanishes, leaving behind her bicycle with a note saying “I’ve had enough” on the seat.
As the case unfolds, Holly realises a slew of disappearances could all be connected to one serial predator – or is it more than one?
This is one of those books where you actually know from the beginning who the killer is. The story is split between the culprit and Holly, the chapters gradually growing shorter as the two sides of the story get closer to collision.
The plot surges forward in just the right way. Holly is a perfect hard-boiled detective for the modern age – quirky, flawed, haunted by dreams of her suffocating mother, and uniquely equipped to save the day. I was always annoyed when I had to close this book and get on with real life.
I’ll definitely be checking out King’s other books featuring Holly, investigator, not detective.
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