Book Review | Holly by Stephen King

Holly by Stephen King

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

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 harboring an 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: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.

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For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #10: Told in non-chronological order)
2024 Finishing the Series Challenge
2024 Series Enders Reading Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge

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The Reason

I’m a huge fan of Stephen King’s works. I haven’t read all his older books, but I’ll always jump on his new releases when I can. When Holly came out last year, I didn’t realize it was part of a series, nor that her story started from the Mr. Mercedes series – which I hadn’t read at the time. So I started reading the Mr. Mercedes books first, and finished them, then I checked out the Holly Gibney series, and realized I’d already read the first one, The Outsider, and loved it, although I didn’t realize at the time who Holly was. I just finished the second one listed as part of the series, If It Bleeds, so I finally got to read Holly, the series ender! (I’m hoping there will be more books, I love Holly and I want more!)

The Characters

Well, Holly, of course. I love her in this book and I love her even more because I read the Mr. Mercedes books first and saw her growth. I wrote about it in my review for If It Bleeds, that Holly can appear to be timid and vulnerable, but she is one of the most courageous characters I have ever had the privilege to get to know. She’s smart and resourceful, dedicated and loyal, organized and determined. But she’s not infallible. She is flawed and makes stupid mistakes, but she calls herself out on them.

I also really love Barbara and Jerome, siblings who are also Holly’s closest friends, and who help her with some of her investigations. We meet them in the Mr. Mercedes series, and through all these stories, their bond have only gotten stronger.

Now, the villains in this book, Professors Rodney and Emily Harris; I hate them, but they are such well-written characters. It’s fascinating to sort of see through their POV, and not be able to fathom how there can be people capable of such evil, and the cognitive dissonance they must cultivate in order to justify their actions.

The other villain in this book is even more interesting, not because she is more evil than the professors, but because her kind of evil is more common, and her victims more close to home. Holly Gibney’s mother, Charlotte Gibney. We meet her from the Mr. Mercedes series, and we see a bit more of her in If It Bleeds too. In this book, Charlotte isn’t even present except in Holly’s mind and we see the psychological and emotional toll Charlotte’s evil takes on Holly.

The Quotes

“Gifts are fragile. You must never entrust yours to people who might break it.”

“Just when you think you’ve seen the worst human beings have to offer, you find out you’re wrong.”

“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope. If it does, climb it. See what’s at the top.”

“Does anyone ever get complete closure? Especially from a parent?”

“Holder-onners are never able to understand let-goers. They are tribes that just can’t understand each other.”

My Thoughts

I love that the villains were elderly and used their frailty as bait and alibi. I love that they are scary and terrifying to the reader who knows their true nature before the characters in the book do. Personally, I don’t think old people are so easily exempted from suspicion, especially if their eccentricities have been noted by their students and colleagues, as it seems they have with the professors in this book. I also like the way Stephen King incorporated Covid and differing political standpoints into the storyline. It’s true to life, and it’s true to Holly’s character, and I think it makes sense for authenticity, even if some people may not agree with Holly. She’s the MC of this book, so her viewpoint is the one that matters to the story.

For more discussion on the book – with SPOILERS – check out Notes & Discussion | Holly by Stephen King. This post has SPOILERS and assumes you have already finished the book. It is password-protected to prevent accidental spoiling. Password is “SPOILME0001”. Proceed at your own risk.

My Feels

This book was so intense, especially towards the end. I was at the edge of my seat and I literally finished more than 50% of the audiobook, about 6-7 hours, in one day because I needed to get to the end. There were parts of it that broke my heart, others that filled me with rage and disgust, and still more that sent shivers down my spine. There were also parts that filled my heart and made me happy. I was worried for Holly, proud of her, exasperated at her, and I love her so, so much.

My Rating

5/5 stars. Was there any doubt?

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?