Heart-Shaped Box
by Joe Hill
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Book Reviews of Heart-Shaped Box
Book Review: A legacy in horror honored
Summary: 5 Stars
This first novel by Joe Hill, author of the acclaimed collection 20th Century Ghosts, makes its US debut with no little fanfare. And it lives up to its billing.
From the moment aging Ozzy Osbourne-style rocker Judas Coyne is tricked into adding one more item to his collection of bizarre artifacts, he is faced with what one might call "a situation." What he buys on an internet auction site as a lark (to go along with other questionable things such a real snuff film), is a supposedly ghost-bearing "dead man's suit" that comes packed in a heart-shaped box. Unfortunately, the ghost is real enough, and of the seriously disturbing kind. No surprise here. The seller won't take a return, oh no. In fact, the seller has manipulated the sale. You see, the ghost of Craddock McDermott seems to be intent on seeking vengeance for the way Jude neglected a troubled groupie-girlfriend -- one in a long line of them -- who committed suicide after Jude threw her out. But there's more to it than that, as the ghost threatens to wreak his revenge by killing first everyone around Jude, and then Jude himself. Ghosts may have lost some of their luster in the digital age, but this ghost isn't just creepy, it's the ghost of a very creepy customer indeed, and his haunting is horrific enough for any novel. (Note to movie director: Please don't let CGI kill this ghost. Thank you.)
Accompanied by current girlfriend Marybeth and a pair of very loyal dogs (whose personalities really shine), Jude embarks on a desperate cross-country road trip to unlock some deep secrets, many of them his own. The destination will surprise you as it surprises him. Judas Coyne (real name Justin Cowzynski) is a well-depicted old death-rocker. Half his band is dead, his joints hurt and, at 54, he's not much for the road any more. He's not one to take a lot of crap from a girlfriend, either, and it's this part of his character that gets him into trouble in the first place. Delicately handled to be both a little superficial and yet introspective, Jude grows perceptibly from chapter to chapter, thus humanizing what might have been a caricature. His tendency to name his dogs after other rockers is an affecting aside and foreshadows the dogs' real role in the plot. Marybeth handles the suit and pricks her finger, putting her in the ghost's crosshairs too, and her character is a well-drawn catalyst to drive Jude toward self-awareness. Ultimately you'll be the judge of whether the psychology of Heart-Shaped Box works or not - but you'll definitely enjoy the ride to possible redemption.
This first novel crackles with supernatural energy and the expectation of what's to come with very little faltering, though the Ouija board strikes one as a bit obvious. It's also the moving character study of a man whose life as a rock star has almost leached away his humanity. While not as complex as it could have been, Hill keeps it fast and lean and proves his chops with well-turned phrases, making this a solid debut from a talent who'll be fun to watch. The music references are welcome, too, for music geeks everywhere. Psst, if you haven't already heard the whispers, you might have heard of Hill's dad... goes by the name of King, Stephen King.
Book Review: ...uh, who am I rooting for?
Summary: 2 Stars
I think the success of this book, and Joe Hill as an author, may have more to do with Stephen King being his father than the merits of the work itself. The writing is professional, it's the content that lacks in my opinion. The first problem I had with HSB was that the main characters are unlikable, sometimes even loathsome. They are angry, morose individuals that the reader is forced to spend time with. The protagonist, Jude, is uncaring, jaded, and a collector of filth. His collection includes a snuff film and a painting by a serial killer. I couldn't relate to this in the least, but read on hoping to find some connection and reason to stay with Jude for 360 plus pages. Sadly, Jude remained boring and unappealing, and the only reason I finished the work was because of its connection to Stephen King.
Reading about an aged rock-star with base desires and interests, came across (to me at least) as forced and formulaic, something a writer might do when trying too hard to concoct a character that's "cool" and "edgy"; it would have been better if the author had instead spent more time making the characters entertaining and three dimensional.
This book suffers from an ailment common in weaker fiction, hollow characters. After fifty or so pages I was rooting for the ghost that haunted Jude and wondered if that was what the author intended. I thought this was an interesting twist but after reading further, I could see that it wasn't the case.
The characters surrounding the main players are often more interesting and more sympathetic, but in most cases, they don't stay with the reader long; it's a liability to the book, and one that made HSB a bit of a chore to finish. A horror novel in which the reader doesn't care for the main characters doesn't work so well.
Also, I'm not sure If Joe Hill was attacked by a conservative when he was young but his left leaning political opinions (that are inserted heavily throughout) may be likened to confetti, at first it's either fun or annoying, but regardless of who you are it's tough to take when doused repeatedly. I personally prefer authors that don't stand on soap-boxes when they approach the typewriter, no matter which side of the isle they stand on. There's enough name-calling and condescension in the real world, I'd rather it not be in my fiction. It's pretty black and white in HSB though, the bad guys are conservative, the good guys are not, and talk radio serves as a kind of silly soundtrack whenever evil is near. (Literally.) It becomes predictable and eventually comical.
All in all, the work is professional, and I'm sure there are many books in Joe Hill's future, though right now I recommend trying-out or sticking-with other authors like Koontz and King.
Book Review: Great horror debut
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a scary book. And it's scary on a lot of levels. It's got a couple of those make-you-jump scares, which are easy to do in a movie, not so much in a novel. There are bits that are creepy-scary, gross-scary, just plain weird-scary. And it's also got that nightmarish, unrelenting fear thing going on, when the monster is coming after you and just will not stop. I would not recommend reading this book alone in the house late at night, unless you enjoy freaking yourself out.
The story begins when Jude Coyne, a 50ish rock star with a lot of excess cash and a penchant for collecting the macabre, is intrigued by an offering on an Internet auction. The seller is offering the ghost of her stepfather, Craddock McDermott, which comes attached to the dead guy's suit, and Jude cannot resist. The suit arrives packaged in a black, heart-shaped box, and it soon becomes apparent that the ghost inside the suit is very real, and has an ulterior motive. Jude didn't just purchase this ghost by chance. No, the ghost is also the stepfather of his former way-too-young-for-him groupie girlfriend, who committed suicide after Jude tossed her out, and the ghost wants revenge on Jude and everyone he cares for (or so it seems). As a former hypnotist, the ghost is particularly well-equipped to make Jude and others among the living do exactly what he wants.
It's not long before Jude and his current girlfriend, nicknamed Georgia, flee with Jude's two dogs and the ghost following on their heels in his rattletrap pickup. Jude heads for Florida to confront the living daughter and try to find a way to make the ghost stop. And the story does not let up from there until the end.
The two main characters -- an aging heavy metal star with a rocky past and his much younger, very angsty, Goth girlfriend -- do not seem particularly sympathetic at first. But once it becomes obvious, to them and to the reader, exactly what a horrific situation they are in, they become a lot more human. Hill has the gift: to scare you despite yourself, and to make you care despite how unworthy his characters seem at first.
Most people know by now that Joe Hill is the pseudonym of Joseph King, Stephen King's son, but he is an excellent horror writer in his own right. Although his father's works have clearly influenced him -- as they have any horror writing working today -- Hill's style is much more spare and contemporary than King's, less folksy or likely to wander off on tangents. Where King's books tended to ramble, Heart-Shaped Box just rocks (making Jude's profession particularly apt). If you like a good scare and a good read, you're going to like this book.
Book Review: Original, frightening: A near perfect debut
Summary: 4 Stars
Neil Gaiman sold me this book.
Okay, not literally, but Neil's cover blurb was endorsement enough for me to take a chance on an author unknown to me or anyone whose book judgment I trust.
I was not disappointed.
Judas Coyne is a faded metal god in his mid-50s -- think Ozzie, but articulate and still in possession of his faculties -- who leads a quiet life in rural upstate New York with his beloved Rottweilers* and a series of live-in Goth girlfriends less than half his age, who he calls by their state of origin because he can't be bothered to remember their real names. Jude's an ass, frankly, when it comes to women.
(*I don't recall the breed of these dogs actually being identified, but I pictured them as Rotts while reading. It fits perfectly.)
Jude has accumulated a collection of the weird and the macabre over the years, and when he receives an email notice about a ghost -- or more accurately, a haunted funeral suit -- being auctioned on the internet, he can't resist, even though he's sure it's a hoax.
It's not a hoax. It's a set-up.
The suit arrives and Jude's prior history of ass-hood to women returns to haunt him, for the ghost is Craddock, Florida's stepfather, and Florida is the girlfriend who committed suicide shortly after Jude sent her packing.
Soon Jude, his dogs, and his current girlfriend, Georgia, are on a desperate roadtrip south to rid themselves of Craddock and save their lives. Not coincidentally, they must also face their own demons and somehow make peace with their own pasts.
Joe Hill has written a heart-pounding thriller of a ghost story, absolutely gripping and nearly impossible to put down. Character development is virtually flawless and the story itself is fresh and original. Jude and Georgia are far more than rocker/Goth cliches: they have unplumbed depths to their souls, and unexpected strengths crucial to their survival. Craddock oozes a creeping malevolence, and his ever-growing influence over the minds and actions of Jude and Georgia is truly frightening and unpredictable. And the dogs...oh how I loved those dogs.
I don't read horror much these days. Joe Hill will go on the shortlist of horror authors to watch, though, right next to Neil Gaiman and Robert McCammon. He's in excellent company, and he deserves it.
Book Review: "I was in the chess club in junior high ... but I used severed fingers for pieces."
Summary: 4 Stars
I couldn't wait to get my hands on Joe Hill's first novel Heart-Shaped Box after reading his short-story collection 20th Century Ghosts. As I've said in my review of that work, his short fiction draws you into a world of slow terror like no one else I've read for some time, and I couldn't wait to see what he could do within the length of a novel. The book's first pages had me salivating with the promise of macabre happenings: an aging death metal rocker who collects morbid artifacts has the chance to purchase a dead man's coat and the ghost that haunts it. What better set-up can you ask for from a modern-day horror storywriter?
The novel's promise is enticing, but it's the delivery that follows which shows Joe Hill to be a promising new novelist who puts a lot of meaty ingredients in his first full-course literary meal. In relating the plight of Judas Coyne, his girlfriend Georgia and his two dogs Bon and Angus in staving off the coat's vengeful spirit, he combines several weighty themes, such as religion, trust and suicide, as well as dark family secrets, into the narrative without dragging down the pacing or wandering into cliché. As the story unfolds, you find out a lot about the characters' histories, evoking sympathy and concern for their welfare. Even the dogs come across as honest depictions and loveable characters in their own right. Heart-Shaped Box contains elements of mystery combined with the ghost story promised from the beginning, as well as being part road trip story too. Very well done, but not everything I had hoped for.
What I hoped to unearth was more of the frisson that came out of the weird, wild stories in 20th Century Ghosts. Heart-Shaped Box worked well but it didn't have enough of the roller-coaster-ride sudden stops and drops of the in his short stories. You might say I was looking for more rough trade. Perhaps it's harder to keep up such a risqué tone throughout an entire book, or maybe Hill wanted to play it safe in his first novel, but I felt that Heart-Shaped Box could have been a bit darker, wilder, weirder. It's a great novel, and I'm looking forward to reading more of his work, but in my heart, I crave for Joe Hill to pull out all the stops in his next book.