First introduced in his book Mr. Mercedes, King returns Holly Gibney at her most appealing best. She has grown as a character and is much more relatable in this outing.
Set during the Covid-19 pandemic, Holly's partner at the Finders Keepers detective agency has contracted the virus and the agency is all but shut down. Holly's mother--a Covid denier--has just died of the virus so between her grief and her hyper-awareness of the virus, Holly is looking for something to distract herself when Penny Dahl calls and begs her to find her missing daughter, Bonnie; she takes the case.
Professors Emeritus Rodney and Emily Harris are not going gently into old age. Indeed, they have a theory to prevent their maladies that involves Bonnie and perhaps others who have gone missing. With the police relinquishing control of the missing persons cases, Holly steps in to try and solve them, but at what cost?
Although this can be categorized as a horror novel, to me it was more of a suspense read. Sure, there are the expected King gruesome elements, but this is more an exploration of pure evil rather than anything supernatural. Holly herself emerges as a character with stronger metal than her shy, introverted self as depicted in earlier novels and much more likable. There is also a tease that there may be more books featuring Holly ahead to which I say, bring it on! 5/5 stars.
Related books: Mr. Mercedes; Finders Keepers; End of Watch; The Outsider.
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