I don’t remember where I heard or read this story, so it might not be true, but I heard that when Joe Hill was trying to get this book published, he didn’t tell anyone until he signed the contract that he was Stephen King’s son. I was so impressed by that. He really could have used that to his advantage and instead he chose to try to make it on his own first. Kudos. [Edit: Okay, I did find a source of this from USA Today]
But can he compete with his famous father? In a word, yes. I used to love Stephen King when I was in high school and have read several of his books. I can’t take much horror at all now, but I was really curious about Joe Hill’s writing and the book seemed like it had an interesting premise. At an online auction site, a guy buys a suit that’s supposedly haunted. The guy that buys it, Judas, is an older rock star who collects all sorts of crazy stuff so he’s unable to resist the suit when he’s prompted to do so by an email. Turns out, it’s a bad decision.
This book was creepy. Very creepy. I listened to it on audio CD, and I could only listen to it in the daytime. It was perfect for the R.I.P. Challenge, but it was a little too gritty for my tastes — otherwise I probably would have rated it 4 stars instead of 3.5. If you don’t care about such things and like Stephen King’s writing, there is almost no doubt you will like Joe Hill’s as well.
2007, 384 pp.
[Disclosure: I obtained this book from my local library.]
I read this book a while ago and thought was pretty good.
You know, it’s been years and I still imagine the eyes now and then (yup, I found them to be that creepy). Not to mention the scene where the ghost is around Judas’ girlfriend and she’s oblivious to it (I have a powerful imagination and I can easily imagine myself in her stead). Definitely the author is worthy of his father — I read lots of King’s books in my heyday but very few of them haunted me like this one did.
This isn’t my normal sort of read, but I might read it just to break out of the comfort zone a bit…
I thought this was a great debut novel, by Stephen King’s son. How both father and son can write such dark, twisted tales is beyond by comprehension…LOL
I love Stephen King. And I read this when it first came out and really enjoyed it. It’s definitely a strong debut novel and a taster of things to come. I’d heard the same about his name – Though I don’t know how anyone could look at Joe Hill and not see who his father is. They’re the image of each other.
Ceri, I agree!
I so did.not know that! How cool. I saw this book months ago at the store while grocery shopping and it looked so appealing. I didn’t pick it up because of my huge stack(s) of TBR.
I read this one a while back, and I thought it was REALLY good and creepy throughout the first half, but then something fell off for me and it became a bit of a slog. I liked the slow buildup of seeing the ghost here and there, but once he became more of a presence some of the magic was gone. Then again, I’m one of those people that’s TOTALLY freaked out by movies like The Others where ya really don’t see much, but everything is very psychological and implied.
I’m reading his short story collection now, and they’re very good. A mix of overt horror and some very subtle, not-horror-at-all stories.
Andi, I might try his stories for next year’s RIP. We’ll see.
When I read this book, I didn’t know he was King’s son either. I loved the book, too.
**Groan** No way am I reading tat
This was, by far, the best book I read this year!! I loved it! I didn’t know he was Stephen King’s son until after I read the book and to be honest, I liked it better than most King books I’ve read. I was scared out of my mind, couldn’t read it at night!
Kristina, it’s neat that you didn’t know who King was and still enjoyed it that much!
I read this a couple of years ago and LOVED it!! It made my Top Ten (or Twelve?!) list for 2007. I’ve finally gotten around to read 20th Century Ghosts and am enjoying it quite well. I ‘m not really a fan of short stories, but this collection is really good.
Lesly, I’ve wondered about his story collection. May have to read at least one or two for next year’s RIP.
I read this last year too. I did enjoy it although I wasn’t as scared after the ghost appeared. I like not knowing what’s chasing the characters. Not a bad first book though!
Chris, I’m a wimp — I was scared the whole way through!