Holly by Stephen King

 

Holly by Stephen King

I had not read a Stephen King novel in decades, probably since I gave up on the Wolves of Calla out of boredom. This one appealed to me because it seemed to have no supernatural elements, and indeed it does not. I can honestly say that despite that (or, in fact probably because of that) I found it the most horrifying King story I have ever read. If anything, it reminded me of some of his early short stories that packed a mean horrific punch.  Holly is a detective story set during the latter phase of the pandemic. Its first tour de force is to plunge the reader back into that period we all lived through (although seeing it through King's eyes gave me a better sense of what it must have been in the US). But the plot is equally good and well handled. You know quite quickly who the culprits are, the suspense if built on how long they'll be able to keep it going. I won't spoil further, but will say I thoroughly enjoyed it, to the point of considering reading some more of King's output from the last two decades.