Book Review of HOLLY by Stephen King

HOLLY by Stephen King (Scribner, September 5, 2023) Hardcover, 464 pages. 

Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.” — BILL HODGES

Stephen King’s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. 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, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of 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 savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.

My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . 

     Stephen King is a master storyteller. After all this time, he hasn't lost a step. I'll continue reading his works as long as he's inspired to write them. Among his many strong points is a fantastic ability to create interesting, fascinating, and likable characters. Holly Gibney is perhaps his most fully realized creation and a good reason why she pops up in so many of his novels. Ever since Mr. Mercedes I have been enjoying King's blend of crime fiction with (real-life) horror and hope he continues to write more of this engaging mix of genres. 

     I've come full circle from being amused but not excited by Holly's personality quirks to seeing examples of how those abilities have solved cases and sometimes helped her out of dangerous situations to loving her because of them. There's another growth period occurring for her in this novel that enhances even more of her characteristics that would spoil the story if I detailed them.

     This is a novel that deserves to be appreciated for the characters, and there are a handful of them - and not just cardboard sketches but enough reveals to make them seem as real as Holly. Even the Harris couple, who I thought I would despise, I came to appreciate as a loving, elderly couple with some likable quirks (but not the nasty ones). Credit King's story-telling skills for that. 

     The villains in HOLLY are revealed very early, even on the book cover blurbs. Instead of spoiling the mystery and suspense, it only served to build it. As Holly gets closer to solving the case the more dangerous it becomes for her - causing some readers (like me) to really worry for her. Another benefit of the early reveal is that because we, the readers, know the answers we can appreciate Holly's pain-staking and meticulous investigative work all the better. 

     HOLLY has garnered some criticism for including scenes related to the COVID pandemic/shutdown, anit-vaxxers, anti-maskers, and Trump. One thing that makes all of King's stories so impactful is that he includes the history of the times in which they take place, sometimes with minor references and sometimes more details. All of the above were major issues/concerns in 2021, and if King did not include them in his story it would probably have been criticized for not being realistic. While King's views on these subjects are well known from his Twitter posts etc, it seems perfectly in character for Holly to share the same views and to comment on them. 

     King says it best in the author's note at the end of the novel: "I think fiction is most believable when it coexists with rea-world events, real-world individuals, even brand names. Holly's mother has died of Covid, and Holly herself is a bit of a hypochondriac. It seemed to me that she would hold strong opinions about Covid and take every precaution (cigarettes excepted). It's true that my opinions match hers on the subject, but I like to think that if I had chosen an anti-vaccination character as either my protagonist or as an important supporting character, i would give a fair representation of those views."

     The final chapter of HOLLY is especially delicious, as it leaves an opening for more stories with Holly Gibney. If you've never read King because of the horror element, the Gibney/Hodges series of novels could just win you over.