Number 61- Holly- Stephen King

 

The fifth book to feature Holly Gibney, who first appeared on the sidelines in Mr Mercedes. this one pissed off a lot of people when it came out. For some reason, they didn't think a book with a hypochondriac main character, set in the middle of the pandemic should mention COVID. Idiots.

Regular readers of this blog will know I'm a big fan of Mr King and this was a novel I was highly anticipating. 

In the middle of the Covid years, Holly, trying to get over the recent death (by Covid) of her mother, takes on a case looking for a missing girl. While looking for the girl, she finds out about a number of other disappearances in the area over the past few years. She's unwittingly stumbled into the middle of a serial killer case.

The killers are an elderly pair of professors from the local university who rank amongst the vilest characters (in a good way) that King has so far created. I won't say why they're taking people off the streets, that's something you need to discover for yourself.

As usual with King, this starts fairly slowly but builds tension brilliantly. I had to read the last 150 pages in one sitting.  I was NOT going to put that book down.

This is also notable for King using a selection of Shreddies to great effect. He doesn't often do that.

I had a great time with this. I suspect King knew how much it would annoy certain tracts of people and had fun with that too. Highly recommended. If you disagree with his politics, you'll hate it though.

Number 60- The Sideways Life of Denny Voss- Holly Kennedy

 

This was a book group choice and a brand new author for me so I had no clue past the cover blurb what to expect.  The cover burb had potential but sounded like the book could go either way.

Denny Voss is a developmentally challenged man who keeps getting into weird scrapes. He's been in trouble with the police twice before- for kidnapping Tom Hanks (a goose), and for accidentally helping in a bank robbery.  However this time he's suspected of murder, and it's not going to go away quickly like the last two did. His life has slipped too far sideways and only the whole truth about his life can help him.

I fell in love with Denny and his idiosyncratic voice in the first few pages.  He's such a brilliantly written character and a perfect narrator. 

This book is hysterically funny, and most of the humour comes from us seeing Denny through the other person's point of view, despite it being Denny telling the story. That takes talent to pull off and Holly Kennedy manages it with apparent ease.

The supporting cast are all beautifully drawn through the filter of Denny's unique viewpoint. I'm not sure that eidetic memories like Denny's normally come attached to an IQ of 72, but I rolled with it rather than question it.  The book is too much fun to quibble over points like that.

The solution of the mystery was quite obvious, for the who, but the why was gradually revealed across the book and was perfectly satisfying.  If you start overthinking, there are a couple of very minor plot holes if you consider the forensics of the situation. So don't overthink it, and you should love this novel. 

A light easy read, damned funny, and pretty heartbreaking in places.  I unreservedly recommend it.  A solid 9/10