Thursday, March 31, 2011

Book Review: Horns by Joe Hill

Horns: A NovelHorns by Joe Hill

The author of Heart-Shaped Box and son of Stephen King has just released a new novel. I went in expecting thrills and chills but instead got something a little different. Horns is more of a dark comedy and a sort of study on good and evil.

Ig Perrish wakes up one morning after a night of hard drinking and finds that he has grown a set of horns and instead of the reaction he thought they would get from people, they instead cause others to confess their sins and share their deepest desires. No one seems immune and Ig uses this new found power to help discover who murdered his girlfriend a year prior to the day the horns protruded from his head.

We then get to see, through flashbacks, Ig's life from a teen to adulthood. How he met and fell for his girlfriend, their relationship with the murderer and the affect of her death on the community and Ig's family. At the beginning of the novel you learn that they all suspect Ig of her death despite the lack of evidence, the flashbacks make it much more obvious as to who was actually the murderer. Perhaps it's the teacher in me. Seeing the signs early on that will evolve into more when kids grow up.

A truly original and imaginative plot, interesting characters and some hilarious situations make this a great, fun read. Instead of being scared, I found myself laughing at the crazy thoughts and secrets people share with Ig. Not what I expected, but very enjoyable.

4/5
Source: Review book for TLC Book Tour. Thanks, Trish.

The first 1000 people to preorder Joe’s latest novel and then email joehill@harpercollins.com with proof of purchase will receive a specialized bookplate from Joe – he’s been signing and doodling all sorts of creations on bookplates for days now! For more information on this giveaway and the rest of Joe’s books, visit www.joehillfiction.com and follow Joe on Twitter @joe_hill.

_________________________________________

FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page.

2 comments:

  1. I am still getting over the shock of finding out that Joe Hill is Steven Kings son. Only found out this week! Mind blowing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm interested to see how Joe Hill works both light and dark into this odd book - it seems like it would be really dark and depressing but at the same time quite hilarious.

    Thanks for being on the tour!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment! :)