Holly is almost unrecognizable from when we were first introduced to her, although she has maintained her quirks. She has had such profound character development and I have enjoyed her journey ( )

Stephen King rewrites The Silence of the Lambs to star his favorite private investigator, Holly Gibney.

The point of view switches between Gibney, who is pursuing a missing persons case that starts to expand in scope, the victims, and the perpetrators, who keep the abductees in their basement as they prepare them for some disgusting experimentation. King wants to make sure we hate the villains so he's made them racist, homophobic and sexist. Of course that means having to read a lot of racist, homophobic and sexist shit throughout the book. Ugh. And he doubles down on "bury your gays" for no good reason. Double ugh.

The middle drags on too long as we go through several victims and King goes out of his way to explain what all the side characters are doing instead of helping Gibney on the case. If they were paying attention, the book would be half the length.

But momentum builds again as the connections start to come together in Holly's head and the plot races to its bloody conclusion.

It's far from a great book, but it delivers on the serial killer gore and suspense I was expecting, so it gets a weak thumbs up with the reservations noted above. ( )

I think King truly shines when he is writing detective style novels, and it is reflected in this one. As always he has great characters and the plot is well thought out and well developed. The book, like many of his is a bit long and there are places that maybe could have been cut, but even so it is a great read and he draws you into the story and builds empathy with the characters Holly Gibney is a great character despire her somewhat dysfunctional past and her lack of self-confidence. Well done. ( )

This was my first experience reading Stephen King, though I’ve seen some of his movies. The book gave me chills with its numerous twists and unsettling moments. The initial 200 pages are a bit slow, but the pace picks up significantly towards the end. I really enjoy his writing style. ( )

This is the latest entry in the Mr. Mercedes crime series. I loved the first book, but after that the series began to drift into the supernatural and horror elements King is usually associated with and which I don't like, I decided I was not going to read on with the series. However, when this installment was published, several LTers who read it clarified that it incorporated nothing supernatural and was a pure crime/mystery novel. So, I decided to read it, and I'm glad I did, although whether it veers into horror may depend on your view of cannibalism. And though it is part of a series, it can very definitely be read as a stand-alone.

This is a decent mystery novel featuring a serial killer on the loose. Holly Gibney, who we were introduced to in Mr. Mercedes, is now running her own small P.I. firm. When the book opens, Holly's mother has just died from covid, and Holly is not sure she will be taking on any cases for a while. However, when she is approached by Penny Dale whose daughter has gone missing on the way home from work, she finds herself unable to turn down Penny's pleas for help. As Holly begins to investigate she discovers there have been other mysterious disappearances that remain unsolved. These disappearances occurred over widely separated time periods, so they had not previously been thought to be connected.Holly sees similarities in the circumstances of these disappearances, and her investigation takes off in search of what she fears is a serial killer.

About this book, Stephen King said, "I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart." Holly is indeed an engaging character, and I'm glad King chose to place her in a "starring" role in this book. And of course King's great story-telling skills, pacing, characterizations, etc. shine through.
Recommended. ( )