Lowly’s Book Blog

Horror. Not everyone’s favourite genre. This first novel from young author Joe Hill should certainly establish him within the genre.

The storyline is simple. Jude Coyne is an aging heavy metal rock star. He keeps a collection of the macabre, a snuff movie, a cannibal cookbook and all kinds of other goodies. When he sees a ghost for sale on the Internet, he knows that he has to have it.

The ghost arrives attached to an old suit. Then the trouble begins. Jude’s PA suicides, his goth girlfriend gets blood poisoning and the dogs are going crazy. But there is a strict no returns policy because it appears the ghost is the father of an old girlfriend who committed suicide after Jude broke off the relationship. This ghost will not rest until Jude and everyone near him is dead.

I decided early on in the book that I really didn’t like it. There was no subtlety to the plot, no layers of meaning. Had the author been well known, I would say that he had some urgent bills, and this book was meant to pay them and then sink into oblivion. But even though I wasn’t enjoying the read, I couldn’t stop. The pace of the story was like a runaway train, you know that you are charging towards disaster, but there is no getting off.

I didn’t discover that Joe Hill was Stephen King’s son until after I finished the book. Hmmm…the fathers in this story are all evil old men. It makes you think.

Be warned this book should certainly have an MA rating. There is lots of violence and the language is colourful.