Number 48- King Sorrow- Joe Hill

This was a NetGalley ARC read in exchange for a fair review.

Joe hill continues the family tradition of the 900 plus page horror blockbuster doorstop. 

And he does it in style.  

When Arthur Oakes falls foul of a local group of drug dealers, he is forced to steal rare and valuable items from the university library. After he steals a rare arcane volume on mythical creatures, a group of his university friends band together to help him. In the process, they drunkenly (and druggedly if that is a word) release a deadly force on the world in the shape of King Sorrow, a dragon from the Long Dark who will do their bidding.  

The Dragon sorts out their issue, but the following year he returns and forces them to choose another victim.  They will have to choose victims every year unless they can find a way to rid themselves of the beast.

This is very firmly set in his father's universe.  Early on, two characters argue about whether Greg Stillson was using a baby as a human shield, or trying to save it from the gunman Johnny Smith.  There is also a not very subtle nod to the Dark Tower series in the summoning chapters.

The story is epic in scope, with a story spanning several decades and two continents.  At times it feels a little episodic, but all the plot threads do interweave. enough that by the end it was no longer an issue. 

there are plot twists and shocks, and every time you think you have the hang of where the story is going, Hill pulls the rug out from under you again. With 100 pages to go, I had no idea who might still be alive for the finale. 

Some of the set pieces are positively cinematic. particularly the sequence on the plane. King Sorrow himself is a wonderful creation, a Faustian bargainer and an utterly terrifyingly powerful beast. 

This might be Hill's masterpiece.  At no point in the 900 pages did the story seem to drag.  Even the first 90 pages which were mainly scene setting for the arrival of the eponymous evil are steeped in dread, with human villains every bit as scary as what was to follow.

With some sly humour weaved into the narrative, this is an almost flawless book.  If I had to pick a fault it would be that he refers to the twins as identical at one point, when one is male and the other female. But in the scheme of things, that's almost an irrelevance.

This is released properly next month and I will definitely be snagging myself a physical copy.  And you all need to do so as well- because I told you to.