Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Horns

It has been said many times, but this book was weird. And at first, I wasn't really sure if it was weird in a good way, or not. In the end I decided it was. But you have to finish it for it to really make any sense. If that makes any sense?

Horns- Joe Hill
Horns: A Novel
Merrin Williams is dead, slaughtered under inexplicable circumstances, leaving her beloved boyfriend Ignatius Perrish as the only suspect. On the first anniversary of Merrin’s murder, Ig spends the night drunk and doing awful things. When he wakes the next morning he has a thunderous hangover . . . and horns growing from his temples. Ig possesses a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre gift he intends to use to find the monster who killed his lover. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. Now it’s time for revenge . . .


It’s time the devil had his due. . . .

OK. So what this little snippet does not tell you is that it's a really tangled web of awful that you have to get through to get to the end of the book. I seriously felt terrible for Ig through the whole thing. He knows he didn't kill Merrin, but doesn't know who did so his goal, after growing horns, is to find out what happened. What this also doesn't explain is that his gift involves his ability to influence others to do what he wants, but he also compels people to speak only the truth to him. Sometimes the truth helps him unravel the web of Merrin's murder, but sometimes the truth just hurts- like when his Grandma (whom he loves and felt like she loved him) says he should have just killed himself. I mean, that would hurt hearing anytime, but when you're already down that's kind of harsh coming from your Grandma.

The twist that I thought was interesting was the concept that maybe Satan/the Devil/whatever isn't really a bad guy but more of a hero because he's essentially finding the responsible parties of a horrific crime and bringing them to "justice" so to speak. I mean, I can really see that line of thinking when presented with this story. I felt like it was really interesting and I am very glad I stuck with it because the ending was really superb for me. I really liked it. I have been suggesting this book to people who are looking for an interesting read that isn't like anything else out there right now that I can think of. And I am basically describing it as weird. But a good and interesting kind of weird.

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.

Also check out his website for updates! If you have read this or are planning to, let me know what you think of it when you finish it-- I'll be interested to hear what your thoughts were as well!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmm... interesting. I feel like I want to read it, but hate when I have to trudge through a book. I'll think about it :)

trish said...

Okay, my mind is blown. The devil as a HERO? But that part about his grandma saying he should have just killed himself -- that would break my heart. And that's the reason I'd never want Reading People's Minds as a superpower. Some things should never be known.

Now I need to go finish this book!