Holly

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Justine Lupe, Stephen King

#1 New York Times Bestseller * A New York Times Notable Book * An NPR Best Book of the Year

Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and resourceful characters, returns in this chilling “exploration of grief and delusion, just pure undistilled evil” (New York magazine) as she uncovers the truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency, hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly Gibney is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just passed away. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny’s desperate voice makes it impossible to turn her down.

Meanwhile, mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are also harboring a shocking, unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to…for they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless. Now Holly must summon all of her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver these unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries in this chilling and unforgettable masterwork from Stephen King.

Critic reviews

"Justine Lupe brings a beloved Stephen King character, Holly Gibney, vividly to life with her narration. When a distraught mother with a missing daughter calls Holly’s investigative agency for help, quirky, brilliant Holly takes the case. She soon finds connections to other missing people and is slowly drawn into a world of pure evil. Lupe conveys the depravity of the perpetrators and the horror of the victims to a disturbing yet compelling degree. Listeners will feel like they are part of a true-crime podcast as Lupe transports them to this relentless nightmare. Lupe breathes life into every character—even if that life is not destined to last. Stephen King delivers his author’s note, adding to this amazing listening experience."

Good book...HILARIOUS reviews

The story was good. For listeners, we really needed Will as the narrator. Patton gave Holly the personality we came to love.

Disappointed

I’ve been looking forward to this book coming out because Holly is one of my favorite characters from Stephen King’s books. I feel like King just used his best character as a way to put out his political beliefs and ideas on Covid. I enjoy his books for the great stories. I wish he would just leave his political stuff to his twitter. Also the narration was poor compared to Holly’s previous appearances. I really wish Will Patton had narrated this book. It would’ve made it a little more palatable. This lady sounds like she’s just bored reading in class.

Political much

I am a big fan of king and his character Holly but I can only take so much political rhetoric in my reading. Even if I agree with the political party, and or the VAX, her opinion, the story was too much about politics, not enough about the characters.

Good story but stuffs left wing prop down your throat

It is a good story, but no matter your views on the subject I feel it’s ridiculous and unnecessary in a story like this to rant unnecessarily about your personal views. Most of it was unnecessary for the story line.

Still a constant reader

First off I’ll never stop reading his books. The Mercedes series is in my top 5 favorites of his so I couldn’t WAIT for this book. Most of Hollys charm is her personality and it just doesn’t shine through in this book with this narrator. Not that she didn’t do a good job but she didn’t capture “Holly”. I kind of feel like I didn’t get that one thing I really wanted for Christmas.