The King of Horror’s deeply human detective has always been a supporting character until now.
Haul out the Holly!
Fans who have kept up withStephen King’s work in the last decade are already well-acquainted withHolly Gibney.
‘Holly,’ by Stephen King.Scribner
We first met her through the Bill Hodges trilogy beginning withMr.
What follows next is a thrilling tale that places our heroine in a Midwest town plagued by mysterious disappearances.
“I could never let Holly Gibney go,” King said in a press statement.
“She was supposed to be a walk-on character inMr.
Mercedesand she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart.Hollyis all her.”
Read EW’s exclusive excerpt fromHollybelow.
Finders Keepers has been busy during the time of the pandemic, although investigations have become rather tricky.
She sees she’s gotten four calls during the forty minutes while she was attending her mother’s funeral.
All from the same number.
The caller has also left four voicemails.
It came in at 1:02 PM, just about the time the last Charlotte Gibney Show got going.
“Hello, this is Penelope Dahl.
I know you’re closed, but this is very important.
An emergency, in fact.
I hope you’ll call me back as soon as possible.
Your agency was suggested to me by Detective Isabelle Jaynes”
That’s where the message ends.
What hits, and hard, is how much Penelope Dahl sounds like Holly’s late mother.
It’s not so much the voice as the palpable anxiety in the voice.
Like Covid, in fact.
Holly decides not to listen to the rest of Anxious Penelope’s messages.
The lady will have to wait.
An authentic Christmas dinner, just like in the old days!
Charlotte had said, cheery and excited on top but with that constant anxiety pulsing away underneath.
The authentic Christmas dinner had consisted of dry turkey, lumpy mashed potatoes, and flabby spears of asparagus.
Oh, and thimble glasses of Mogen David wine to toast with.
How terrible that meal had been, and how terrible that it had been their last.
Did Holly say I love you, Mom before she drove away the next morning?
She thinks so but can’t remember for sure.
From HOLLY by Stephen King.
Copyright c 2023 by Stephen King.
Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Audio.
