NOS4A2

A Novel

By: Joe Hill

Narrated by: Kate Mulgrew

Length: 19 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The spine-tingling, bone-chilling novel of supernatural suspense from the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Fireman and Horns - now an AMC original series starring Zachary Quinto, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Ashleigh Cummings.

"A masterwork of horror." (Time)

Victoria McQueen has an uncanny knack for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. When she rides her bicycle over the rickety old covered bridge in the woods near her house, she always emerges in the places she needs to be.

Charles Talent Manx has a gift of his own. He likes to take children for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the vanity plate NOS4A2. In the Wraith, he and his innocent guests can slip out of the everyday world and onto hidden roads that lead to an astonishing playground of amusements he calls Christmasland.

The journey across the highway of Charlie's twisted imagination transforms his precious passengers, leaving them as terrifying and unstoppable as their benefactor.

Then comes the day when Vic goes looking for trouble...and finds her way to Charlie. That was a lifetime ago. Now, the only kid ever to escape Charlie's evil is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx hasn't stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. On the road again, he won't slow down until he's taken his revenge. He's after something very special - something Vic can never replace.

As a life-and-death battle of wills builds, Vic McQueen prepares to destroy Charlie once and for all - or die trying.

©2013 Joe Hill (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Quite simply the best horror writer of our generation, Joe Hill’s masterful storytelling is on full display in NOS4A2. It is by turns terrifying and hilarious, horrifying and full of heart, and relentlessly compelling." (Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of The Prophet)

"Fascinating and utterly engaging, this novel is sure to leave readers wanting more. One thing is for certain, however. After reading this book, readers will never hear Christmas carols in quite the same way again." ( Library Journal, starred review)

"[A] new take on the fantasy-horror genre...Highly recommended." ( The Sun Herald Sydney, Australia)

JH isn't there yet

Like others I tried this because of who his father is. He clearly is his father's son and I hope like his father his books are mostly hit with the occasional miss. To me this was a miss. I am one of the few who really enjoyed the narrator, I just didn't care for the story. I couldn't relate with the protagonist and just didn't care for her at all. I had a hard time staying focused which made the story even more convoluted. I felt like the magical and mystical moments were just too plentiful and the real horror wasn't there.

Unengaging Story, Bravura Narration

I've forced myself to continue listening to NOS4A2 to the halfway mark and this morning, when I simply couldn't stand the thought of donning headphones wondered "why?".

Why would I continue listening to a story that has nothing to offer the reader? The characters are utterly unengaging, to the point that I could not care less what happens to them next and the story itself is relentlessly dismal and spun out. While I'm leaving this one, I won't write author Joe Hill off- he can REALLY write, bringing scenes and ideas to life as few writers can.

The answer to the question 'why?" lies with Kate Mulgrew's bravura, daring, scenery chewing performance of Hill's words. I've never heard anything like it and although I'm not certain I want to again, in this instance it is a magnificent, outrageous, dialog chomping, scene stomping one woman show.

Do I recommend it? You decide: the audiobook of NOS4A2 is a not-to-be-missed performance of a story in need of serious editing and (as another reviewer wrote) a little heart.

I don't know

The narrator is simply spectacular. I have listened to a couple of her readings before and get lost in the story. Honestly, I love how she reads longer books.
I would only use credits to get this book and that's if you can't find anything else.

The creepiest child-stealer since Pennywise

Joe Hill, for those unaware, is the son of Stephen King. He's become a well-regarded horror author in his own right, but having been a Constant Reader since high school, I was reluctant to tread into the works of King's kid. Is Joe Smith just imitating his dad, with books that are "King-lite" that got published because of his old man?

Based on NOS4A2 I am pleased to say no, Hill has talent of his own. Now, I never was able to completely shake the feeling of "King-lite." Unquestionably, he has been heavily influenced by his father. The plot, the tropes, the flawed, messed up characters who do messed up things, and the icky weirdness surrounding psychic abilities make it clear that Joe has read all his father's works and taken them as his template for how to write fiction. But who can blame him? If your father is one of the most successful authors in the world, why wouldn't you take him as an example of how it should be done?

So, if you're a King fan, I think you will like this book, but it's good enough to possibly turn you into a Joe Hill fan as well. Certainly, I'm going to read some more by junior.

The villain of the book is Charles Talent (hah!) Manx, who is a sort of psychic vampire. He even put a NOS4A2 vanity plate on his 1938 Rollys-Royce Wraith. Despite this wink at his true nature, what makes Manx interesting, the thing that the heroine, Victoria McQueen realizes in the end, is that like most villains, Manx does not see himself as a villain. Despite being the creepiest child-abducting monster this side of Pennywise, Charles Manx genuinely believe he's doing the children he steals a favor, by taking them away from abusive homes (his definition of "abuse" is of course very broad, since he's a misogynistic troglodyte who thinks pretty much all women are whores and sluts who will pimp out their own children) and bringing them to Christmasland, his own private psychic virtual world in which every day is Christmas, candy and toy shops are open all day and all night, the world is an amusement park, and the children brought there slowly turn into amoral little psychopaths like Charles Manx.

Victoria "Vic" McQueen first encounters Charles Manx as a child. She has a psychic power similar to his - when she rides her bicycle across the Shorter Way Bridge, a rickety, decrepit old bridge near her home town, she can go anywhere. She has a talent for finding lost things, and so on her bike she is able to ride her way to missing jewelry, missing pets, or wherever else she wants to go, and then back home again.

As a teenager, she rides her way into the path of Charles Manx, and while she escapes, the encounter messes her up for life. Years later, with a common law husband who's a sweet, morbidly obese uber-nerd and a son she hasn't seen much of because of all the time she's spent in mental institutions and rehab, she has somehow become a successful children's book author, but she's still a hot mess and a pretty terrible partner and mother. And then Charles Manx comes for her son.

Joe Hill works out the "mechanics" of Vic and Manx's powers (and those of a few others who are mentioned), but in the same manner as King, never rigorously defines them, leaving things mysterious and vague at the edges. Their powers might as well be magic, though they clearly affect the real world, in ways that even non-psychics can perceive.

Vic's boyfriend and the father of her child, Lou Carmody, is a bit of a nerd dream. You can tell Joe Hill is poking loving fun at the sort of 300-pound convention-going, Stormtrooper costume wearing-dork for which Lou is an archetype (he names his son "Bruce Wayne Carmody"!), and it never really feels mean, even if Lou being "rewarded" with the hot girl he rescued one afternoon as a young man really seems like an unlikely bit of wish-fulfillment fantasy. But by the climax, both Lou and Vic get to be the heroes that Lou always wanted to be and that Vic always needed to be.

This is a horror story, but it's also an adventure story, and it's also an epic about a damaged girl who grew up to be a damaged woman, who rides out to do battle with the Devil for the soul of her child. 4 stars, but Joe Hill seems worthy of picking up his father's mantle.

a true joy

if you don't love this book, I worry about you. so many joyful references and visualizations. I may get the paper book as well.

A Real Horror Story

Where does NOS4A2 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've been doing a lot of reading and listening lately (59 books over the last 8 months) and NOS4A2 ranks pretty high in my growing catalog. The story is sagacious, imaginative and astutely envisioned. NOS4A2 surges to life in the first few pages and careens ahead at a mercurial pace to an epic finale. The story never slows or wanes from its nimble advance while deftly shaping an escalating tale of Gothic tension, horror and suspense.

What does Kate Mulgrew bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ok, let me first say that I might be biased. I love Mulgrew and have since she was installed in the captains chair of the Starship Voyager. Her warm, knowing tone and gravelly voice are like coffee and cigarettes. In NOS4A2, she doesn't disappoint. Her Performance is astounding. She owns the story and pours life into each character cultivating sentiment and evoking anxiety and suspense. Her thoughtful performance constructs a sympathetic heroine and loathsome villain, while enriching and ameliorating an enchanted, macabre odyssey.

If you could rename NOS4A2, what would you call it?

If I could rename NOS4A2, I think id title it Wrath.

Any additional comments?

So many novels and movies in the Horror genre these days are wan fables that adopt abundant gore and carnage to garner their Horror classification. NOS4A2 however, is a true tale of Horror in ever sense of the word. If you enjoy well crafted fright, you'll likely appreciate NOS4A2.

Honestly a must read!

this book is a fantastic example of the quality of writer that Joe Hill is. On top of Hill's fantastic story, you have Kate Mulgrew's performance bringing each character to life. honest, NOS4A2 is the best money I have spent in a long time.

Cancel Christmas!

What did you love best about NOS4A2?

Kate Mulgrew was a phenomenal pick for the narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of NOS4A2?

The showdown at Christmastown.

Which character – as performed by Kate Mulgrew – was your favorite?

I adored Lou Carmody. He was voiced in a way that made me genuinely like and want good things for him.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The final scene at Sleigh House.

Amazing Narration; Scary Story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend it to friends and family who are a fan of his father's work. The content is disturbing enough that I know it't not for everyone.

What does Kate Mulgrew bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The voices that she brings to Charlie Manx and to Bing are so eerie and gripping, I think I would have heard them in a much simpler and darker way in my head potentially losing some of the characterization that Joe Hill seemed to be going for.

Any additional comments?

Be careful when and where you listen to this fantastic book, you get drawn into the world and it is a scary enough world that when you look around at your real surroundings it's better to be in a happy well-lit area!

Started Weird - Became an Addiction

When the book started, I thought I had gotten a hold of a collection of oddly related short stories. I'm not a big fan of short stories or essays. Just about the time I about to give up on it, it became a thriller! I have always been a fan of Nosferatu (if you've never seen or heard of Nosferatu, check it out) and was immediately drawn to the title. I knew or at least hoped I was in for some Stephen Kingesque, gut level apprehension - dare I say fear?

The book is excellent, fast paced for nearly 20 hours, well written, with characters that you (mostly) want to know personally. I am a tiny bit sorry that I neglected a few things (and people) due to my deep engrossment in NOS4AT2.

Read & enjoy!