What a horror! Really enjoyed this and love that Jerome and Barbara are still with us for the ride. Holly didn't seem as neurotic as portrayed in the prior three novels which I kinda miss but it shows her growth which I'm pleased with.

Honestly, this book was over rated in my honest opinion. I was prepared for something gruesome or twisted but I just found this book repetitive and boring. The storyline could have been done in half the size.

This was my first book of King’s I have read but I definitely didn’t enjoy any of it. Maybe it’s too soon since COVID but I couldn’t wait to be done with this book and not for the reasons I had thought I would need to be.

As for my warnings: it’s a King book it’s a warning in and of itself but definitely some disturbing things as they are cannibals and of course quite a bit of swearing

I feel like King gets easier to read as the years go on, and one thing I loved about Holly was that even though King wrote a young female character, she was sexualized or demeaned for being so. She was raw and real, that’s not what I normally see with male authors writing thrillers or horrors. 

„thanks for coming to another dark place with me“ is the last line of Kings in his authors note of this book.

and i don’t think there is a much more fitting way to describe this book and its story. 

it’s a dark place with monster waiting. 

i personally love Kings books the most where it shows the horrors of humanity - don’t get me wrong he also has good stuff with supernatural elements (the rest of the Holly saga comes to mind especially with review this last book of that series) but i think that he twisted dark places King can take the reader to with his human monsters? those are just horrific in realistic real life ways that make the entire reading experience especially creepy or thrilling or horrific (pick your own emotion!) 


this book is a slower paced crime book that takes you along while characters try to solve a mystery the reader already knows the answer to because we as the readers also get the perspective of the bad guy. 

do it’s not a typical thriller where we have to wait with a racing heart what’s going to happen and flip pages until the jog reveal to learn who’s done it.


i personally didn’t mind that at all because especially the last 50-80 or so pages where enough of a heart racing moment for me with all the horrific small moments of the book that i didn’t need to also have the added layer of having to try and figure out who is doing it. 


i liked following along how Holly is trying to puzzle it out and work through the case while knowing where she had to end up to be right. 


BUT if you don’t like that? this book isn’t for you. 
if you don’t like Holly as a character (i understand she can be polarizing) don’t read a book that has her name as a title! it specifically tells you who the book will feature a lot! 
if you dislike slower pace and a bit of a ramble along? not the book for you. 
or if you dislike a real horror that some humans are capable of? pick something else. 


i enjoyed all those aspects! 
they made this book as good as it was for me. 


i found the parts where Barbara and Jerome were more in focus -Barbara had a bigger role in this story- a bit too long and could have lived with shorter sections from them. but overall they weren’t bad or boring, i just felt like the dragged the story out a bit and i didn’t really feel it needed that. 
but they are great characters and i am happy to have gotten more from them after having finished the book. 


now the horror aspect of the book: 
no spoilers but no supernatural elements. 
i don’t think that’s a spoiler because it makes a decision to read or not to read especially a book with horror elements easier for many.

i as already mentioned, find human and what they are capable of more horrific than a fictional monster. 

so if i want a real horror that will keep me up longer than i wanted to be up and actually feel uneasy? i need this books kind of horror - humanity and it’s horrific sides. 

but if you prefer monster? this book is more of a crime story for you and won’t give you want sour looking for. 
reread the others that feature Holly and get your fix there. 



all in all? 
i enjoyed it - a lot. 

i would have loved it a bit more if the pacing would have been a little faster, some sections cut a little shorter and maybe the book would have been 350 pages (so almost a hundred pages shorter) because it wouldn’t have been as slow and meandering in some sections.


as it it’s ist well done and i enjoyed it a lot and i especially love the last section where it picked up speed a bit. 

but i overall mostly enjoyed this because  Holly is a fantastic character to me. i just enjoy her and i do love that King himself can’t seem to really let her go either.