Michael's Reviews > Holly

It was inevitable that the pandemic would eventually creep its way into the world of fiction. Nowhere is that more the case than with Stephen King's latest novel, Holly..

When a distraught mother reaches Holly Gibney and the Finders' Keeper detective agency with a desperate plea to help find her missing daughter, Holly's initial reaction is to turn the case down. Holly has a bit on her plate with the recent passing of her mother and putting her family's estate in order. But details of the case intrigue Holly and she's soon beginning an investigation that may uncover something far more sinister lurking in her small town.

As with all of King's books, Holly pulls you in from the first page and is compulsively readable. We've got to know Holly over the course of several books now and King's affection for her is obvious on every page. There are also significant developments for several other characters from previous novels in the series here, several of which relate to the case Holly is investigating.

While King has developed a fascinating with noir fiction in the past decade or so, Holly still doesn't shy away from the dark side of things -- though this time around, there isn't as much of a supernatural element to things as there is an evil lurking. The evil forces believe that what they're doing grants them supernatural healing and life extension, making them far more deadly and dangerous than a lot of the various forms of darkness and evil that King has detailed over the years.

Where the novel falters a bit is an overreliance on Holly's fear of COVID-19 and her judgment of anyone who doesn't take the same precautions she does over the course of the novel. Knowing a bit about King's own feelings on this matter from his Twitter and other platforms, it's not hard to hear King lecturing everyone a bit on the precautions and what he thinks we should all do. In his afterward, King notes that the novel sprang about from a desire to address the new reality of the world in the previous Holly story from If It Bleeds but doing so would be rewriting the entire thing after it had gone to press.

There is a good bit of irony in how far Holly is willing to go to avoid the pandemic all the while smoking a pack or two a day and justifying this behavior to herself. In many ways, it makes her a bit more human and relatable.

Overall, the story is a taut one and there are some interesting twists and turns. I found myself fascinated by the thread about Jerome's sister's journey to becoming a poet and being mentored by an older poet from the local university. This bit of light helps contrast some of the darker elements of the main mystery plot (King lets us know who is committing the crimes early in the story and part of the journey is watching Holly piece together the clues).

Holly probably won't make my list of top King novels, but I still don't regret any of the time I spent with it.

You don't necessarily have to have read any of the previous novels in the series to enjoy this one. But I think the background on Holly going in may make parts of her story and journey a bit richer.