As Stephen King promoted his newest book Billy Summers, he was interviewed frequently. From those conversations, I learned this recent book is not a horror novel like many of his earlier novels, but a thriller with loads of other things going on too.
Basically, Billy is a successful hit man, with one last bad guy to kill before he retires. Along the way, Billy begins to write his life story, including his time serving as a sniper in Iraq. And about midway through the 500 pages of Billy Summers, the main character befriends Alice, a young woman who has been victimized, leading to an additional plot to find justice for her.
Whatever he takes on, King writes fast-moving plots and believable characters. He writes terrific sentences and paragraphs, and even a long book like this is easy to read. It's a good "curl up" book and one that I sped through.
Named a Best Book of 2021 by BookBub, Booklist, Esquire, Goodreads Choice Awards, Kirkus, Parade, Apple Books, Tampa Bay Times, and The Wall Street Journal!
“Billy Summers is an ambitious, controlled and compelling shapeshifter of a book: combat novel, platonic romance, noir caper, portrait of an artist coming of belated age. Its pleasures are numerous, and it touches the mind, heart and nervous system in equal measure."
—The Wall Street Journal
"King has multiple novels in play here—thriller, at least two coming-of-age stories, and a knockout road novel—and he knits them together beautifully, never missing a stitch ... King has never been better than he is here at wrapping readers into a propulsive, many-tentacled narrative—complete with a perfectly orchestrated, moving ending."
—Booklist, starred
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