NOS4R2

How does one write a 700 plus page novel and make it non-stop stay on the edge of you seat the entire way? Damned if I know, but go ask Joe Hill, because he sure the f**k knows how!!!!!! Wow! What a ride! Remember the episode of “Friends” where Joey keeps the book in the freezer? I SERIOUSLY wanted to shove my poor kindle in the deepest parts of my freezer at night whilst I was reading this one!

This was my very first Joe Hill book but believe you me, it won’t be my last! Two confessions…one, I always wondered what it would be like growing up as Stephen King as my dad. I mean, what goes through the man’s mind as he sits down to pancakes on a Sunday morning. Does he see THAT pile of pancakes as others would view it? How does his sense of reality compare with others? What stories does he tell his kids? Well, Joe Hill was one of those children that actually sat at that table on Sunday mornings with SK as his pops…When SK had a random thought, JH was around to hear what it was…My second confession is, (okay, I KNOW this isn’t fair, Mr Hill) that I was hesitant to read this because Joe Hill IS King’s son….well, let me tell you….there are some things in the book that made me think of SK, but seriously, this is not some guy making a living based on having a famous father….if anything, Joe Hill deserves so much more fame then he currently has. I don’t scare easy. I don’t sit there and rapidly turn pages as fast as I can for 700 plus pages! I can’t EVER remember wanting to put a book in the freezer before! Joe Hill , much like his father, has that uncanny ability to take the everyday simple things that everyone has experienced as a kid and turn it into the stuff of nightmares…bikes, childhood games, and even Christmas!!!! What the hell!?!?!?!

Don’t read this book if you get emotionally attached to great characters and want them to live forever. Don’t read this book if you are afraid to “think outside the box”. Don’t read this book if you think every Christmas should be perfect. Don’t read this book if you live alone and don’t have a safe, sturdy freezer to store your current read in. Don’t read this book if you are afraid of jumping at a mysterious bump in the night. Don’t read this book if you think it’s okay to listen to Christmas music all year long….

Do read this book if you want to have the simple things we all did as a child revisited and made real. Oh come on…you need an example? Okay, remember how you used to ride your bike, only it wasn’t *really* a bike? It was some magical travel machine that could take you any imaginary place you wished to go! Sure that was only your imagination…

Or was it….

Hmmmmmmm….

Do read this book if you enjoy an author that cares enough about his readers to make you love all the characters in his novel…even those that aren’t gonna make it to the end….Do read this book if you want your heart pumping at fast speeds….Do read this book if you think Christmas should be kept year round in your heart (insert cheesy awwww)….Do read this book if you are looking for a new favourite author that you will forever adore!

Holy Hell, again, what a great f**king ride!!!!!!!!
6 likes

15 people found this helpful

Fantastic narration and an incredible story

Kate Mulgrew and Joe Hill are a match made in Christmasland. This is probably the best audio book I have listened to this year and I have listened to many. I think Joe Hill may almost be a better author than his father, Steven King....almost. Kate Mulgrew is without a doubt the best narrator I have listened to. I urge you to listen to this now. What better time of year to listen to it than Christmas after all.

11 people found this helpful

spooky treat

well written and read wonderful. The story is wonderfully spooky, perfect for a stormy winter night.

10 people found this helpful

Enjoyable listen.

Didn't live up to my expectations. A good story, maybe I'd built it up to be more from the rave reviews I read. I found Kate Mulgrew's narration a bit annoying. Seemed like a lot of the adult characters had the same whiny high pitched voice as the children.

7 people found this helpful

Not just for vampire fans!

What did you like most about NOS4R2?

I assumed (wrongly) this was a vampire story and I put it off. It's not, this is a supernatural tale that has nods to his father's work and in itself is engaging. I really enjoyed this book, it was disturbing and intense and kept you wanting to find out what happened next. Well done Mr Hill I really, really enjoyed this.

What did you like best about this story?

I was surprised how deranged one of the secondary characters was and enjoyed that for something that was deemed to be a mainstream book (see no spoilers)

What does Kate Mulgrew bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Amazing voices, omg just brilliant. I recognised her voice in one particular scene and had to check and just wow, her voice as Mr Manx is perfect. I really loved her narrating this and hope she collaborates with Hill and King in the future since they are my favourites on audible :)

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A magical bridge to wherever you want, but at what toll will you pay?

19 people found this helpful

Very good story, read superbly!

I thoughly enjoyed this audio.

I was impressed with the characters, concept and world Joe Hill has created in NOS4R2, but what made this story so imersive for me was the excellent narration of Kate Mulgrew.

I will be looking out for more of the respective works from this talented pair!

5 people found this helpful

Good book, Great narration!

If you could sum up NOS4R2 in three words, what would they be?

Creepy Dark Engaging

Who was your favorite character and why?

Manx, how dark and takes most of the book to know what he is.

What does Kate Mulgrew bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Character and engagement. Narration was the best part.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Always when the good guys die.

4 people found this helpful

Go on, buy this!!!

This is a great novel from Joe Hill, it's a little uncomfortable in places (ok, I'm a bit prudish and the unnecessary sexual usage made me squirm a bit) but overall it's a great book. It takes you right into Vic McQueen’s life from 8 to 34, it really in depth without waffle which can sometimes happen even from the best writers.
It's one of the most engaging scary stories I have read in a long long time and I was really wondering what was going to happen, I felt the end was a little too tidy - it was wrapped nicely and left with an opening for a second novel and the thing that lost it one star; one of the characters which was built up (like all the others) layer by layer to give you the whole complete, damaged person suddenly doubled in intelligence and made a great play which really really bugged me, big time, if you write a character, they are that character, you don't get to add in s**t like that just because you can, it's not right. It was even more annoying because it is such an in depth, engaging story that this almost booted me out of story, also it felt lazy, the scene worked really well but that character just could not have pulled it off like that, he could not and it could have been done 'right'.
But I'm emphasising the negative, this is a great story, as I've said completely engaging and enthralling, I'm been deliberately finding reasons to listen to it from making trips out to going to bed early.
Oh and the reader, Kate Mulgrew, she is just - well I won't use my favourite expression just in case - but she is incredible, absolute incredible, blew me away. She’s got an amazing voice, it was so well suited to this story and the characters, considering the range, she has an angry girl, who becomes an angry, trouble woman, a chilled fat guy, children, a deranged child stealer, an incredibly stupid but dangerous guy, cops and she’s gives them all distant personalities and does a great job with each and every one. I would consider listen to something purely based on the fact she is reading it because she is that good.

So go on, buy this!!!

28 people found this helpful

Loved it

Loved the book. Another hit from Joe Hill. I'll be listening to this and my other Joe Hill books again.

3 people found this helpful

Excellent story.

A touch slow to begin with but excellent once it gets going. I found the narrator's voice a touch harsh to begin with but she does a good job with the different characters.

3 people found this helpful