I think part of the reason I was so determined to read the Bill Hodges trilogy was because I knew Stephen King was about to publish Holly, and having met the character in The Outsider I really wanted to learn more about her. It was great getting to know her over the course of the Bill Hodges trilogy, and she’s even better in her own standalone novel.
Holly (obviously) focuses on Holly Gibney a few years after the end of the Bill Hodges trilogy. It’s the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and Holly is mourning the recent death of her antivaxxer mother and taking a break from detective work. Despite that, she’s approached and hired by Penelope Dahl, whose daughter Bonnie went missing a few weeks ago. Looking for something to distract her, Holly agrees to take the case. She discovers that Bonnie was last seen at a convenience store along her bicycle commute, and her bike itself – but no bike helmet – was later found with a note saying Bonnie had “had enough”. While investigating, Holly also discovers that two other people disappeared under similar circumstances over the past several years.
In between Holly’s chapters, we get flashbacks to two married professors at the local college, Emily and Rodney Harris. They’re the ones behind the kidnappings and, as we discover, cannibalistic murders – convinced that consuming human flesh is the key to longevity and health. As their health worsens (dementia, sciatica), they start planning on Bonnie being their next victim.
As Holly continues investigating, she realizes that all the victims were connected to one of the Harrises. Unfortunately for her, they realize that Holly is onto them, and the book becomes unbearably tense as the characters get closer to confrontation.
There are some truly excellent side plots as well as the main one. Holly is grappling not only with her mother’s death, but the realization that her mother and uncle stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from her in an attempt to get Holly to abandon her independent life. Barbara Robinson, Holly’s young friend and a character from the previous novels, builds a lovely friendship/mentee relationship with an elderly poet, and gets involved in the case in a surprising manner. Overall an excellent book, with some terrifying villains and a cathartic end. I don’t know if King will continue to feature Holly in future works, but I hope he does!
