Never Flinch: A Novel

Over a decade after creating a fictitious Ohio town along the southern shore of Lake Erie, Stephen King finally gives his “Second Mistake on the Lake” a name—Buckeye City. (Think Cleveland, only slightly smaller.) While the name may not mean anything to you, you might recognize a handful of its residents: Detective Izzy Jaynes, siblings Jerome and Barbara Robinson, but most notably, Holly Gibney, the unassuming and quirky proprietor of the Finders Keepers Detective Agency. Ah, yes. Holly Gibney… Conceived as a supporting character in the first of King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, Mr. Mercedes, Gibney has more than held her own throughout the years, emerging as the most unlikely of heroines in six subsequent outings, including King’s latest, a superbly twisted tale with vengeance and fanaticism fueling its parallel tracks that are destined to collide, if only for their one common denominator—if you guessed Holly Gibney, then huzzah! You’ve clearly been paying attention… After the events detailed in 2023’s Holly, even Detective Izzy Jaynes has developed a grudging respect for Gibney and her uncanny knack for filtering through the noise and finding threads that have provided resolution to a growing number of difficult cases. The two women have developed a routine of lunching together with increasing frequency, finally fostering a friendship in which they can seek each other’s counsel both on and off the record. When Izzy lands a puzzling case involving a serial killer whose motives are anything but clear, she casually solicits Holly’s advice on how to proceed—off the record, of course. Intrigued from the onset, Holly has barely provided any input at all when she’s hired (and for big bucks, too!) to provide security for an outspoken activist, Kate McKay, whose controversial feminist agenda has put her in the crosshairs of several groups of religious fanatics who want nothing more than to derail every single date on her sold-out tour of the country. While most of them are simply obnoxious hecklers, some are not nearly so innocuous, and after a couple of hair-raising incidents, Gibney is retained for the duration of McKay’s tour. While not an obvious choice for the job, Holly’s reputation has preceded her, and best of all—she’s a woman. As you might know by now, you can’t really check in with Holly without getting an update on Jerome and Barbara Robinson, the brother and sister who are almost Holly’s surrogate children at this point. When last we checked in with the Robinsons, both were celebrating the unlikely success of their recent published works. Jerome had briefly hit the New York Times bestseller list with his biography of his great-grandfather’s hoodlum days, and Barbara with her book of poetry which had been the recipient of the coveted Penley Prize. Having recently concluded a book tour, Jerome is back in town to begin work on his next novel while Barbara attends Bell College, focusing on her academic career. Imagine her shock when legendary soul singer, Sista Bessie, reaches out to fangirl over Barbara’s little book of poetry. She’s enamored with one poem in particular and would love to set it to music with an eye on unveiling it during the first show of her comeback tour in nearby Mingo Auditorium—sound familiar? Ahhh, you HAVE been paying attention! It’s the site of the epic resolution of the book that started it all, Mr. Mercedes! Surely, nothing bad could ever happen there… And thus the foundation of King’s story is set. As the pages turn, the pieces begin to coalesce, and what a story it is! Fraught with heightening tension, it had me flipping pages fast and furious to see how this might all play out. Delightfully devoid of supernatural elements—although it does tip its hat to encounters in previous cases—this is just good, old-fashioned detective work at its finest, and watching Holly Gibney do her thing is something I could do all day long. Another bullseye from the King. Are you really surprised?

I could not put this book down. It was nice to hear from Holly, Barbara, and Jerome again. I highly recommend this book to especially anyone who enjoys Stephen King Books , and also anyone who enjoys an excellent crime plot with every type of interesting character. SK has been my favorite author for over 40 years and I have tried to read all of his books. Holly berry is not quite the Gunslinger but I hope to read more about her in the future. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because the Authors Political Views in random places in the book - whether a person agrees with them or not they have no place in a work of fiction. Stephen find another platform - you won't piss off 47% of your readers and your future book sales will be much higher - its not dollars its the number of fans lost. SK still does not disappoint with the the plot and weaving all of the characters together for an excellent read !

4.5 stars No spoilers I’ve read all of Stephen King’s books on Holly Gibney. I love Holly’s character, I feel I can relate to her quirks. As usual, Stephen Kings work here on characters is great. I felt connected to the characters, and felt invested in their stories. There were several reoccurring characters from the other “Holly” books. These excellently felt consistent, and their character development felt natural. New characters also felt real, and I was excited to learn more about them. I always feel like Stephen king shines when it comes to character development. I give a slight ding due to an unlikely and a bit difficult to believe, circumstance in the book. I’m a bit picky, and other readers may not feel this way. I’d give 4.5 if I could. There was also a twist I didn’t expect from the book, which was a fun addition. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. I stayed engaged, and I loved getting back in Holly’s world.

I love Holly, I love all of the other books that Holly's been in. I love Jerome and Barbara, and seeing all of these characters again is worth reading the book for if you're already a fan. But, taken on its own, this one feels like a book that kind of got away from him when he was writing it. There's some good ideas here, and what feels like it's meant to be a bit of allegory for what's going on in the world these days. Unfortunately, that all gets a little lost in the weeds; there's some frustration and anger and resentment that comes through in the story that ultimately feels a little desperate before reaching a messy and unsatisfying conclusion. It's not a *bad* book by any means, and if all you want out of it is another story with Holly and the gang it's good enough for that. That said, this is a book that feels like it was a struggle to finish writing because the story just wasn't coalescing into exactly what he wanted. I'll always be up for more Holly if he wants to give her more stories to live in, but this one didn't do it for me.

I am a huge Stephen King fan. I absolutely loved this book. Everyone has different tastes and some of his books are good and some are great. If you are a Stephen King fan and you have read some of the Holly Gibney books you will like this a lot. It took two stories and put it into one and I absolutely recommend reading it and I feel like it was worth the money I paid for it.

Mi è sembrato un po' troppo simile ai precedenti della stessa serie.

Good read. Half the fun lies in the quality of publishing. Hodder and Stoughton have done a good job with the size of the book and the font size. Nice page quality as well.

netjes op tijd geleverd

É um Stephen King com escrita envolvente e tema conectado ao mundo contemporâneo (sociedade fragmentada, intolerância, discursos de ódio, etc). O livro é arrastado e lento com trama bem bobinha. Pela nota ao final do livro, nem o próprio Stephen King gostou do resultado. Leia só se for obcecado por SK. Se eu pudesse dava 2,5 estrelas.

Trig has in mind killing a number of people to represent the jurors and legal people responsible for a wrong conviction of someone murdered in prison. Detective Isabelle Jaynes, investigating the early murders, asks her friend Holly Gibney for intuitive input. At the same time Kate McCay, pro-choice advocate and comedic rabble-rousing performer, engages a reluctant Holly as a bodyguard after there are pro-life attempts on her life. And one of the venues will see the comeback of legendary soul-singer Sista Bessie. This is a straightforward crime novel, with a terrific race against time climax, winding the separate threads together. There are some elements of coincidence involved, but King's writing is so good that these are easily accepted. Unusually for King, there is a fairly strong and obvious (pro-choice) subtext, although this is watered down by the fact that its main proponent isn't very sympathetic. It had one sequence - Holly watching a performance on stage - which was beautifully emotional.