Friday, June 14, 2013

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill


A few years ago  I discovered that Stephen King's son, Joe Hill, had followed in his parents' footsteps and was a published author. Skeptical at first,  I admit that I was a bit critical of his work. But after finishing his latest novel NOS4A2, my opinions regarding his previous works have quickly been altered and are no longer quite as harsh. And I must say that this book is my favorite of his previously published titles; undoubtedly the best book that I've read all year.

Victoria (Brat) McQueen has a gift that she keeps to herself. She possesses the ability to locate missing objects by way of her Raleigh Turf Burner bicycle and an ancient old bridge dubbed "The Shorter Way." Once across, she skids and burns rubber into a different place and time, emerging from the Shorter Way with the missing articles and answers to questions gone unanswered for far too long.

Vic crosses paths with evil one day with she meets Charlie Manx. Charlie makes children disappear and has been doing so for several years. He seduces them with tales of a wonderful place called Christmasland and by the time they reach their final destination, those children are as horrific in nature as Charlie is. But Vic succeeds in a feat in which her predecessors failed. She manages to escape the 1938 Rolls Royce Wrath with the mysterious vanity plate and Charlie Manx's clutches.

Years of therapy later, Vic is now an adult, an author of children's books and the recent reciprocate of some very chilling phone calls. You see, Charlie is back with a vengeance and has set his sites on young Wayne, Victoria's son. Can a strong will, love and unimaginable magic conquer the evil that cruises down the back roads of Joe Hill's imagination?

Read it and find out.


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