Monday, March 17, 2008

Book 15 of 2008: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill



Book Description:

Sooner or later, the dead catch up . . .

Judas Coyne was a collector. The bizarre, the uncanny, the grotesque. A cookbook for cannibals. A used hangman’s noose. A snuff film. Many of these objects were gifts from the black-clad fans who made his metal band a legend and made him rich.

But not all. When his personal assistant told him there was a ghost for sale on the Internet, Jude knew he had to have it for his private collection, didn’t think twice. He should have. Jude has spent a lifetime evading ghosts -- of an abusive father, of the bandmates he betrayed, of Anna, the suicidal girl he loved and abandoned. But this spirit is different. This one means to chase him to the edge of sanity.

His new acquisition -- delivered to his doorstep in a black heart-shaped box -- is the restless soul of Anna’s vengeful stepdaddy. Craddock McDermott swore he would settle with Jude for ruining his daughter’s life. Soon, everywhere Jude turns, Craddock is there: behind the bedroom door; in Jude’s restored vintage Mustang; outside his window; on his widescreen TV. Waiting -- with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand.

If ever there was a case of caveat emptor, this is it . . .

My Opinion:

I checked this book out from the library after getting good reviews from both Cindi and Nick. I had heard from Nick that the first few chapters were very scary. I’m not sure that I was scared by the book... I do remember getting freaked out at one point though when Craddock was trying to "control" Judas to the point of shooting and killing Georgia. I even had dreams about it, though I don’t recall them now. This book was VERY well written though and I truly enjoyed the story line. I think that Joe left enough of an opening *IF* he’d want to write a sequel to the book as I’m sure that more could become of both Anna and her mother ... especially if the mother were to escape from jail. Plus Anna could become a sociopath or something after having been through so much crap over the years. I’m looking forward to reading further books by this author and definitely need to track down his anthology TWENTIETH CENTURY GHOSTS!

A couple of side notes...

1 - if you aren’t familiar with Joe Hill... this is Stephen King’s son

2 - I was just surfing around a bit and it appears that there IS a movie in the works on this book so I’ll be curious to see how that turns out. It could make for a VERY creepy movie or it could just suck... only time will tell!

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