The story is about a former Marine and Iraq War veteran who has turned into a hitman, the titular Billy Summers. However, this is a book that starts out being very good and only gets better and better from there, climaxing in a bittersweet ending. It could be said that because a major character is introduced almost halfway into the read that King might have painted himself into a bit of a corner and had to throw something new into the mix. What’s more, the book goes on for at least four acts, which means that you get curve balls thrown into the mix - this is a novel about crosses and double-crosses, and seeking vengeance and justice for all of them. It’s two stories in one, but there’s enough here to fill at least three novels. To that end, I’m happy to report that King’s latest novel, Billy Summers, is destined to go down as a classic as it is one of his very best novels - or at least best in terms of his late-career output. Perhaps this might be for the best because how many times must we get a variant on “the car that kills people” short story or novel? It could be that King’s well has run dry in this regard, but it might turn out that this change to writing crime fiction offers a little more variety to the King oeuvre. Stephen King has seemingly turned some of his attention away from the occult or supernatural and has become something of a crime writer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |