Stephen King has written some 100 novels/novellas and more than 200 short stories, and as of several years ago, more than 350 million copies of his books have sold.  He has been honored with the 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2007 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America, and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.  Despite all of this attention, my aversion to terror and horror has led me to read exactly one of his books, his memoir, ‘On Writing’ published in 2001.  

So when ‘Holly’ was named the best book of the year by NPR and was included by the NYT as one of its 100 Notable Books, I was tempted, and I finally succumbed when I needed to find a distracting book to take on a family trip to St. Louis this month.  Lo and behold, I was totally captivated, as were several of the characters in the novel.  I can’t tell you much about the plot without ruining it for you, but King weaves a tightly knit and tense tale through 458 pages that I turned feverishly even though I was able to anticipate the final scene about 100 pages from the end.  Didn’t matter; I still read it with sweaty palms.

Basic story line is that 55 year old Holly Gibney, single, cigarette smoking, and mourning her recently deceased mother (COVID, 2021) is engaged by Penny Dahl, mother of Bonnie who has disappeared 3 months earlier without a trace.  Holly’s queries turn up several other folks who have disappeared over the last decade and off we go in pursuit of what might be a serial killer.  King switches back and forth from the past to the present, from one victim to another keeping the reader off balance though not in the dark.  And bottom line, the guy can write and write with great skill.

It’s a fine read and though I wouldn’t recommend it for reading on a dark, stormy night if you are alone in the country, it made great reading on the airplane and in the airport.  It’s a winner.