Holly by Stephen King (2023) Authors can show no greater love for one of their supporting characters than to bestow upon them a book all their own.....
And so it is written that the mighty Stephen King gifted a thriller for of his most poignant, vulnerable but stalwart heroines......
Who else could I be speaking of but Holly Gibney, the formerly shy, forlorn, put-upon recluse of "Mr. Mercedes", "Finders Keeper", and "The Outsider".
To the delight of all us constant King readers, we're watched Holly come way out of her shell, discovering the bravery, determination and core of steel that was within her all along. But quite a harrowing journey for her to get there......as the unlikely partner of investigator Bill Hodges, she faced down some of King's most other-worldly, monstrous creations who took the shape of human beings.
Now operating her own detective agency, she's enlisted by a distraught mom whose college student daughter mysteriously went missing. And Holly quickly discovers the girl's dropping out of sight resembles a slew of similar disappearances in the same general campus area......
You should know at this point that author King offers no big surprises or sudden twists and turns here. So don't expect any.....
Our Uncle Stevie lays out exactly what's going on.......starting with the book's resident monsters, who in this case, are all too flesh-and-blood human. They're the frail, harmless, octogenarian college professors Rodney and Emily Harris.
Yes, indeedy.....those ancient geriatric Harrises, afflicted with a host of aged ills, have managed to snatch victims off the street and commit.....
Okay, I'll follow standard review protocol and not reveal what the demented evil Profs do with their captives, but if you're a Stephen King reader, you'll easily guess what those creepy old ghouls are up to long before King reveals the ghastly, gruesome-beyond-description details.....
As Holly embarks on her painstaking, methodical investigation, you'll also have no trouble imagining the ultimate showdown when she finally makes her way to the Harrises. You could practically write the finale yourself, but leave it to King to rub your nerves raw with fear for Holly's safety and somehow drive you up the wall with suspense.......while delivering the richly satisfying finish you knew was coming.
The author's enduring affection for Holly shows in every page, as well as his genuine heartfelt empathy for the hapless victims and the friends and families they leave behind.
And while I'm thinking about it, here's a few words for some other reader-reviewers who carped about King inserting his views of current events into the book, which includes his utter disgust of Donald Trump......
Maybe you folks need to check out a few more of the author's earlier books.......you know, the ones that feature malignant authoritarians who seduce people into becoming mindless minions. You'll discover there's hardly an iota of difference between "The Stand"s Randall Flagg, "The Dead Zone"s Greg Stillson and the pathetic Orange wanna-be fascist still drooling about turning America into his own Third World Kingdom.
As for "Holly".....maybe it won't stack up with the classic King chillers, but it's still a solid, thrilling and emotional 4 stars (****),,,,Happy Halloween......
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