Holly by Stephen King *****

 Caveat: This review of Stephen King’s novel,Holly, is a certified outlier, but you didn’t need my opinion of King, one of the great American novelists. It features two aging emeriti professors–Emily Harris, who taught English Literature, and her husband, Rodney, who was in the Life Sciences Department. She suffered from sciatica and arthritis, and he had Alzheimer’s. Over the years they have become estranged from their respective faculties until they only had each other. The novel finds them ostracized, disrespected, and deeply in love, with only each other for support. It asks the question: what would you be willing to do for your life partner as death approaches? A touching love story.

The title character, Holly, is a detective and she has been hired by Penelope (Penny) Dahl whose daughter Bonnie has disappeared. Holly’s friend, Detective Isabelle (Izzy) Jaynes, has not assigned a high priority to this case. There is no corpse, so Izzy will not pursue murder, and Bonnie is twenty-four, so she has the right to disappear without the police pursuing her. Holly agrees to take the case and the more she investigates [“She hates the word detective, she’s an investigator.”] the less Izzy’s runaway hypothesis makes sense. In addition, Holly discovers other mysterious disappearances.

Language: While characters in this book use “f**k” (once per 10 pages) and “s**t” (once per 20 pages), Holly only says “frack” or “poop.”

There is a lovely subplot about brother and sister, Jerome and Barbara Robinson, both aspiring Black authors. He is writing a history of his “notorious great-grandfather,” a Chicago gangster who always dressed to the nines. Barbara writes poetry, not about “the Black experience.”

The novel takes place during COVID-19 with many references to overcrowded hospitals, masks, and vaccinations. Plus people who deny COVID and vaccinations, and who die.

Warning: The novel includes cannibalism.

The book includes many literary references, including “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,” published in 1945, and one I recall from high school.

Holly considered leaving the “business of investigating. That means touching evil, of which there is no end.” I feel this is Stephen King’s voice as a novelist.

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