HORNS REVIEW

Horns by Joe Hill



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I took a while to review this book. I finished it last week in a record 4days but couldn't rush the review. I have been a fan of Joe Hill since I read the first issue of his comic book Locke&Key. I 've enjoyed Heart shaped Box, his story collection 20th century Ghosts and Loved his novella Gunpowder. I was comfortable with Joe, thought i had him pigeoneholed into my view of what kind of writer he was. Then I read Horns. This book deserves MORE than five stars. Since I'm new to blogging and reviewing a part of me feels it even needs a better reviewer! :)So what I can give is a synopsis and how deeply this wonderful book affected me.



"Inatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunerous hangeover,a raging headache... and a pair of horns growing from his temples" Cover Blurb.





Ig parrish is a man living like a zombie. In the months since his true love Merrin's rape and murder, he is living in the apartment of his childhood friend Glenna. He shares her bed but nothing of himself. He lives in a town where many feel he is resposible for merrin's murder though no official charges are ever brought upon him. As he deals with the horns growing from his forehead he also is dealing with the effects the horns are having on those around him. Everyone around Ig is compelled to tell the deepest darkest thoughs in desires in their heart. It is a horrible power. He leaves his home and the awful confessions of Glenna to the hospital in his town. There Ig learns not only are confessions made, but he can also subtly influence the actions of those around him.



The narritive style of this book is minimal, but deep in the beginning. You are quickly introduced to Ig's past but the dialogue also helps you form an emotional bond with him. This intensifies when Ig goes home to his family. In scenes both horrible and heart breaking Ig learns the true feelings of his family and shockingly the murderer's idenity is revealed.



I was suprised to have the murderer revealed so quickly and wondered how the narrative of the book would progress. Progress it does, with a series of flashbacks and present moment action that build up to a startling resolution. I was engaged in this book from page one. It held me in all the best ways a great book can.This book has many of the hallmarks of a "Joe HIll" novel: Horror, Love, Music, Passion, Pain and Humour wonderfully dark humour. Humour that is a break, a relief from some of the dark plces this book visits. It is so unlike anything he has released so far. I highly recommend this book,but remember there is always a price to pay when you dance with the devil! :)



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