2024 the best stephen king book review
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(as of Nov 06, 2024 11:10:09 UTC - Details)
The number one New York Times Best seller
An Esquire Best Book of the Year
A Wall Street Journal Favorite Book of the Year
A Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist
From legendary storyteller Stephen King, whose “restless imagination is a power that cannot be contained” (The New York Times Book Review), comes a thrilling new novel about a good guy in a bad job.
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
How about everything.
This spectacular can’t-pause novel is part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there, and it features one of the most compelling and surprising duos in King fiction, who set out to avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. It’s about love, luck, fate, and a complex hero with one last shot at redemption.
You won’t put this story down, and you won’t forget Billy.
Reviewer: Josh Mauthe
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: In which King does Stephen Hunter way better than Stephen Hunter does
Review: As Stephen King has gotten older, heâs been more and more willing to step out of his comfort zone, finding new and interesting stories to tell and areas on which to focus. Until now, the most obvious example of this was Mr. Mercedes, in which King tried his hand at a serial killer novel, but found a way to do it that made it feel undeniably his own. Thatâs not to say that Mr. Mercedes was bad, mind you â I enjoyed it â but it definitely felt like King trying his hand at something different, and stretching it all to fit his ideas and tropes.But now comes Billy Summers, an âassassin with one last jobâ tale, and whatâs remarkable is the fact that itâs simultaneously a superb, faithful entry in the genre that hits all the needed beats, but also unmistakably a King book, with the character development, relentless pacing, and set pieces heâs so capable of delivering when heâs at his peak. Whatâs more, Billy Summers finds King focusing his abilities in a way he hasnât in a while, paring back some of his verbal tics and overly large characters in favor of a well-observed, surprisingly internal story about a very bad man reckoning with the choices he made that led him here. And the result is one of Kingâs best books in years â probably since 11/22/63, and that was a decade ago.As youâd expect from the âone last jobâ mention I gave, the setup of Billy Summers sounds formulaic: an assassin (one who argues that he only kills âbad menâ) agrees to take a job that sounds off (if nothing else, heâs going to have to live âundercoverâ in a small town for months while waiting on the job to happen) because itâs time to get out, and he canât turn down the money. Classic, right? But even early on, itâs clear that King has more on his mind than just the tropes. Thereâs the way that Billy, our assassin, is so clearly putting on a front of his stupidity, using that to lull people around him into letting down their guard. Thereâs the fact that Billy is all too aware that his âonly bad guysâ excuse is just that â an excuse that heâs using to justify his own actions.And thereâs the fact that this last job doesnât turn out to be the set piece of the book, or the climaxâ¦but something that happens at only a third of the way through our pages. So whatâs left after that?Well, quite a bit, it turns out, as Billy Summers turns into something wholly different in many ways, all while never losing its focus on Billyâs development, as this very bad man begins to grapple with his identity â not just the choices that led him to this job, but his upbringing, his time in Iraq, his first jobs, and so much more. And thanks to some unexpected developments, Billy finds himself viewing himself in a new light â and a wholly more complicated one.Part of whatâs so good about Billy Summers is watching the book evolve and change in front of you, so Iâm trying to be coy about so much of what unfolds here. But what Iâll say is that the book does what King does best: marry genre thrills (in this case, a relentless thriller about an assassin) with strong, complex character work. And what he pulls off here is some of his best effort on both of those fronts. The plotting is tense but effective, using Kingâs gifts for pacing and tension to maximum effect, but also knowing when a much-anticipated event should subvert our expectations, or knowing when things can be best left off the page.And at the same time, King finds a way into Billyâs mind in a way that allows him to find even more of a voice than usual for a King character, eschewing Kingâs normal verbal tics and running catchphrases and instead giving us a complex individual who doesnât really fit into easy categories. And the cast around him measures up to that, as King takes archetypal roles (ones almost demanded by the genre) and makes them individualistic and believable, down to the ending, which is one of Kingâs best and sidesteps his famed iffiness on nailing the dismount.Look, Iâm a King fanboy, to be fair, and you can take this review knowing that Iâve liked way more King books than not. But to me, Billy Summers is a knockout, one that finds King focused and taut and showing a confidence in this (for him) unfamiliar genre that heâs earned. The book is tighter than heâs often gone, wasting little time but never forgetting the complexity of its cast, and it does right by both its thriller story and its complex protagonist. I absolutely loved it, and itâs a treat to see King still delivering knockouts this late into his career. And if youâve always wanted to try King but werenât into horror, well, do I have a treat for you.
Reviewer: Christopher Carrolli
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Billy Summers--Destined to be One of King's Most Memorable Characters
Review: Billy Summers is a hitman, but heâs a good man. He only takes out wrongdoers. He is the title character of Stephen Kingâs latest, and much to the chagrin of die-hard horror fans, âBilly Summersâ is a heartfelt tearjerker and a page-turning masterpiece of human drama. After deciding to end his profession, Billy is hired to perform one last job by two trusted associates, Frank and Nick. Nick, who Billy knows well or at least he thinks, has hired him to kill Joel Allen, a rapist who walked away from his horrific crime. While he plays dumb for his own cover and safety, Billy understands well that itâs not Nick who wants Allen dead. That credit goes to a faceless, nameless big shot hidden in the background.Nickâs team provides Billy with a convincing cover. Heâs an author working on a new book. Billy is then set up in a new town, provided with a new name, and given an office space while he sits patiently and waits for a prisoner transfer to the courthouse across the street. From the window, he will take the fatal shot at his target. Then, he will disappear. But Billy is not as stupid as heâs played for Nick and his team of accomplices. Billy smells a rat, and fearing for his own safety after the job is done, he completely vanishes.Now on the run from the law and his dubious employer, Billy hides in plain sight with a disguise and yet a different identity heâd had secretly stored up his sleeve. All remains quiet and uneventful. Billy bides his time to make a run for it, all while waiting for the rest of the money owed to him for the job. Then, late one night a young girl is thrown from a van out into an alley behind his new apartment. She is drunk and unconscious. Billy rescues her and realizes sheâs been gang raped. As Billy revives her, we are introduced to Alice, his future partner in crime.As always, Kingâs characters are true to life and vividly depicted. Billy is a veteran of the Iraq war and an expert sniper. During the wait for his target, he began writing his memoir as part of his cover. From there, the details of his life emerge. As in âMisery,â King provides the reader with the book-inside-the-book scenario, and it works just as well as it always has. Billy takes us through his troubled childhood and into the bloody battles of Fallujah, and then into present day, where he leaves off and awaits the final chapter. Alice is young and smarter than she realizes. Underneath her spunky veneer, she remains traumatized by what happened to her. She has also developed feelings for Billy, an older man who saved her life, the man she will now follow anywhere. Billy has one trusted cohort, Bucky, who serves as sort of a hit manâs agent. Billy is to be paid his final installment through Bucky, but the funds never arrive.Now, Billy has decided to go after the man who hired him, as well as the man who paid for the job to be done. He and Alice embark on a cross-country excursion as different people, and the story plays out in fast-paced, thrilling action. As always, surprises and twists and turns abound. The story of Billyâs life continues to be written until page after page, we learn more and more about him and Alice, marveling at the fate that brought these two characters together and the bond that keeps them there.Although the outcome is no surprise, King has outdone himself again with a thrill ride that doesnât stop until the final words. As the many puzzle pieces finally fit together into a concise framework, it becomes clear that Billy Summers is destined to be one of Kingâs most unforgettable characters.
Reviewer: YuMi Hc
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Historia entretenida, de muy fácil lectura. Muy recomendado
Reviewer: Ginny Brown (Virginia)
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Iâm a huge Stephen King fan. Not every single King book has clicked with me, although most have. I give Billy Summers a 5/5.Itâs a real page-turner, and I found myself unable to put it down at times.The story is huge. It covers a lot of territory- both geographically and intellectually, and it is hard to remember that the writer didnât experience the events first-hand. Itâs packed with excitement, sentimentality, humor and great wisdomâ¦.simply a great read!
Reviewer: Mateus Fonseca
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Estou avaliando a qualidade fÃsica do produto, não a história.A edição é linda e tem jm efeito maravilhoso na capa, é uma luva de ótima qualidade. A capa dura imita tecido e tem a cor preta na lombada e vermelho no restante. Simplesmente um lindo livro.
Reviewer: Donny
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This was a book I couldnât put down. The life and mind-set of a paid killer is depicted convincingly and gave me much food for thought. Exciting right to the last page.
Reviewer: Cat
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Im still reading but pretty good so far
Customers say
Customers find the story quality good, interesting, and well-written. They describe the plot as intriguing, suspenseful, and thrilling. Readers appreciate the richly developed characters and colorful ones. They praise the writing quality as excellent, well-chosen words, and in true Stephen King form. They also find the content engrossing, insightful, and interesting.
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