Holly
by Stephen King
Stephen King returns with a new work of horror, Holly, a detective story featuring fan favourite Holly Gibney. Holly, who is autistic, first appeared in King’s series about the private investigator Bill Hodges; over the course of several books she has evolved from a shy and awkward recluse into a determined and resourceful PI. This is her first solo outing. “I could never let Holly Gibney go,” King explained. “She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart.” The Daily Mail has described it as a “black-hearted parable of American life in the Covid era…. as horrifying as anything King has written.”
The audiobook is read by Justine Lupe, who played Holly in the television adaptation of Mr. Mercedes.
“Never mind the gruesome plot behind several mysterious disappearances from this un-named mid-western town, King is quietly eviscerating the hysteria of the MeToo years, the trauma of the Capitol riot, the hypocrisies of “woke”, and the heartbreak of the pandemic. He achieves this in two principal ways: through the perfect pitch of his dialogue, and a near-total absence of soapboxing.”
"The Gruesome Genius of Stephen King" by Robert McCrum, The Independent, 27 August, 2023
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