Saturday, October 12, 2013

Horns


Horns
Joe Hill
3/5


First Sentence
"Ignatius Martin Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things."
Publisher's Description:

At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.

But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge. . . . It's time the devil had his due. . . .

Dear Reader,

I've been devouring Joe Hill's work ever since I discovered him. He fills a void that I've been missing within the horror genre. Maybe I need to take a break from him for a year because he is so distinctly like his father (Stephen King) in many regards, the main one being that it's very easy to overdose on his work. I used to do the same thing with King when I was younger and over the years as I aged, I knew that King is much better in small doses. The problem is... both him and his father pump out books like a crazed teen screams for their idol. I can't keep up, and nor should I. So which to read? I guess that might be the reason people review books right? To help others determine where to go next with their reading endeavors. If someone were to ask me about Horns, I might suggest this book... but only if they've stayed clear of Hill AND King for awhile.

Getting to business, the plot follows Ig (short for Ignatius) after he wakes up from a black out drunken stupor and finds horns growing from his temple. We shortly learn that he has experienced a very recent tragedy involving his girlfriends murder and to take things to the next level, Ig is secretly blamed by almost everyone in town... including his loved ones. The great thing about Hill is his imagination and he doesn't fall short with this book. Ig starts to gain powers that seem to originate from his horns, and he utilizes these to come to terms and learn the truth over his girlfriends death. The story is quite plot driven but also very lengthy (another one of the characteristics of a King/Hill book). A few parts of the book started straying away from the interesting and went a little too far into the bizarre, and I usually LOVE bizarre. I guess sometimes if the strange isn't done well, it doesn't give the story much strength.

Overall, I would say this is a solid book with a very compelling and exciting plot. Hill produces many interesting aspects to the theme of doom and death that had me thinking. He missed the mark on a few parts that had me wandering, which in the end hurt the rating. I might have liked this more if I didn't overkill the genre recently, this needs to be said for those who enjoy horror and might enjoy this more than a three star book. The last thing I want to do is dissuade someone from Horns because of my three star rating, I would actually recommend this as a good place to start with Hill.

Happy Reading,
AmberBug

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