Stephen King on the return of HOLLY in his latest novel: “I could never let Holly Gibney go.”
Watch Stephen King read from his new book, Holly, starring the character readers met in the Bill Hodges novel trilogy.
The horror author shares how he came to care so much for a walk-on character that he kept bringing her back.
Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in the thrilling novel Holly to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town. In previous fiction from the author, readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider.
“I just love Holly,” King told NPR in an interview. “I wish she were a real person and that she were my friend because I’m so crazy about her. She just walked on in the first book that she was in, Mr. Mercedes, and she more or less stole the book. And she stole my heart.”
Below, King reads from his new novel Holly. We also have more info about the book and about King’s epic work as an author. (He’s published LOTS of books, received LOTS of awards, and been adapted into other media LOTS of times.)
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Stephen King Reads from His New Book, HOLLY | Simon & Schuster Books
About the Stephen King novel Holly
In Stephen King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries. 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.
“I could never let Holly Gibney go,” King says. “Holly is all her.”
About author Stephen King
The author of such popular horror novels as The Stand and The Shining and ’Salem’s Lot (not to mention the epic Dark Towers series) and SO MANY MORE, Stephen King has published more than 60 books—all worldwide bestsellers. Several of his epic works have served as the basis for major motion pictures, including Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, Firestarter—and It, which is now the highest-grossing horror film of all time.
King’s popular fiction also includes Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, the novella collection If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, and Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King).
His horror mystery Mr. Mercedes—an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a TV show streaming on Peacock—kicked off King’s Bill Hodges trilogy. The set also includes Finders Keepers and End of Watch.
His time travel horror novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. The enhanced eBook edition contains a 13-minute film, written and narrated by King and enhanced with historic footage from CBS News, that will take you back—as King’s novel does—to Kennedy era America.
Stephen King’s career as an author
Stephen King made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories.
In the fall of 1971, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time.
Now one of the world’s most successful writers, King was the 2002 winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bram Stoker Awards. He is also the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
More about Stephen King online
More from Monster Complex
Stephen King: ‘Holly’—return of the beloved character from ‘Mr. Mercedes’
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Best Zombie Books: 50 Great Zombie Novels from Stephen King, Colson Whitehead, Seanan McGuire, more
Stephen King: ‘The Shining’—when the author explored his own secrets
Stephen King: Debut novel 1974’s CARRIE was a failure—at first
Further reading from the Internet
13 Best Stephen King Books to Horrify You—Or Warm Your Heart (Vanity Fair)
Stephen King Knows Anti-Vaxxers Are Going to Hate His Latest Book: ‘Knock Yourself Out’ (Rolling Stone)
50 Best Stephen King Books, Ranked By Horror Readers (Reedsy)
With Holly, Stephen King Is Prepping Constant Readers For “A Few Fairly Gruesome Scenes” (Cinemablend)
The Essential Stephen King (New York Times)
The 23 Best Stephen King Quotes On Writing (Write Life)
All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked (Esquire)
What Stephen King really thinks about his Twitter drama with Elon Musk (Slate Magazine)
20 Best Stephen King Books, Ranked by Goodreads (Business Insider)
20 Writing Tips from Stephen King (Writing Workshops)
65 Stephen King Books Ranked From Worst To Best (Screen Rant)
Stephen King on why he has no recollection of writing ‘Cujo’ (Far Out Magazine)
Readers Poll: The 10 Best Stephen King Books (Rolling Stone)
The Rondo Awards honor the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation. This year's winners include the reissue of ROBOT MONSTER, the movie GODZILLA: MINUS ONE, the TV series WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, and more! Find out the details here.