Book Review: 'Holly' by Stephen King

According to the dates in the back of this book, King spent just over a year writing it, and then we waited almost as long for it to be published. I read it in three days. THREE DAYS. That's the quickest I've read a book for a very long time. I haven't been able to consume books like that since I was a shy, lonely teenager with few friends and less hobbies -

Aaaand I just figured out why I like Holly Gibney as a character so much.

In all seriousness, this is a great book. It flows so well, it's easy to read and get lost in it, or at least not want to put it down. Holly is a vivid and well-rounded character, and King's love for her shines through in just how real she is. I mean, all the characters are well written, but Holly is three-dimensional. She is the star - obviously, because this is HER book.

I loved how well put together the story was - it's not a whodunnit, since in King's usual style the reader knows who the bad guys are before the protagonists do - but it has all the great elements of a crime thriller, with the added horror of having to sit and watch the characters unknowingly putting themselves in danger or not picking up the phone at vital points while unable to do anything about it. King crafts and maintains the tension beautifully, and it is nail-biting at times.

The one thing that bothered me about this book isn't really even part of the book itself, but more the reactions to it from King's fans online. Set in 2021, there are lots of mentions of Covid-19. It's not really a spoiler to say that Holly is personally affected by it as those close to her fall ill. It's a constant extra presence in the story, with characters constantly asking if someone's had their vaccinations or wearing facemasks. Now, a couple of years later when lockdowns and mandatory masks are a not-so-distant memory, it can seem a tad heavy-handed. But if you think about it, that's not the case. Covid WAS a constant presence in all of our lives for a long time. Everyone was affected by it, no matter their personal or political views. And for a long time, no one was entirely sure that it would ever go away. (Of course it hasn't, it's important to remember that - we just got better at dealing with it and it got less dangerous, as virus often do). The heavy-handed repeated reminder that Covid is looming over the characters' shoulders, ready to jump into their lungs and infect them the first time they choose not to mask up or disinfect heir hands at just the wrong moment, is what life was like for all of us. Some people may not want to be reminded of it in their fiction, and that's fine. But 'Holly' is a story written in the real world, and the real world includes Covid. So if you want to pretend Covid never happened, this is not the book for you.

Also, inevitably, the inclusion of Covid also includes the political views that went with it, especially in America. King has never been shy about being pro-vaccination, and it stands to reason - especially given events in the story - that Holly is too. To be fair, Holly has always been the kind of character who would be pro-vaccination. There are characters in the story who have the opposite viewpoint, and King has tried to represent them fairly and without turning them into caricatures. I think he's done a good job of it. But there's been a lot of backlash online amongst his Constant Readers about it. Complaining that he's preaching or soapboxing, shoving his views down our throats. Personally, I don't think that's fair. It sounds like a lot of people wanting to live in their own bubbles and never be challenged by an opposing point of view.

Judging from King's author note at the end of the book, he knew there would be a backlash, and he wrote the book that way anyway. I respect that. Quite a lot, actually. King is way past the point where he needs to pander to what readers want. He's an established, best-selling author, and at the end of the day, writing a novel isn't something you do to order. You write what you know, what interests and drives you, and you hope that other people will be interested by it too. 'Holly' is King's book, not yours. Don't like it? Don't read it. Simple.

All that being said, it is an excellent horror thriller, and I loved the motives of the bad guys, the way it ties in with Covid and other modern day concerns (I'm trying to avoid spoilers, sorry for the vagueties!). It does contain a few spoilers for the previous books where Holly was a character, so if you haven't read the 'Mr Mercedes' trilogy and 'If It Bleeds' and you intend to, read them first. However, it does stand on its own two feet, and if you don't want to read those (whyever not?!?), you won't be lost.

To summarise, it's an excellent, timely, modern world crime thriller with a beloved and well-crafted protagonist and a healthy dose of gory horror. As Holly would say, 'Oough'.