Overview
Master storyteller Stephen King, whose "restless imagination is a power that cannot be contained" ( The New York Times Book Review ), presents an unforgettable and relentless #1 New York Times bestseller about a good guy in a bad job. Chances are, if you're a target of Billy Summers, two immutable truths apply: You'll never even know what hit you, and you're really getting what you deserve. He's a killer for hire and the best in the business--but he'll do the job only if the assignment is a truly bad person. But now, time is catching up with him, and Billy wants out. Before he can do that though, there's one last hit, which promises a generous payday at the end of the line even as things don't seem quite on the level here. Given that Billy is among the most talented snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, and a virtual Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done, what could possibly go wrong? How about everything . Part war story and part love letter to small-town America and the people who live there, this spectacular thriller of luck, fate, and love will grip readers with its electrifying narrative, as a complex antihero with one last shot at redemption must avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. You won't ever forget this stunning novel from master storyteller Stephen King...and you will never forget Billy.
Stephen King is the author of more than thirty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are "Hearts in Atlantis", "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon", "Bag of Bones", & "The Green Mile". "On Writing" is his first book of nonfiction since "Danse Macabre", published in 1981. He served as a judge for Prize Stories: The Best of 1999, The O. Henry Awards. He lives in Bangor, Maine with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. King's book, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories, made the 2015 New York Times bestseller list.
Professional Reviews
"A testament to its author''s undimmed energy and confidence. His eye for detail, especially at the dreckier end of roadside culture, is sharp...lively and vivid."
-- The New York Times Book Review
"Among the many remarkable things about Stephen King is that he has yet to run out of ideas. Or put another way: He''s very good at finding new ways to explore themes that have interested him his entire career... The passages where Billy writes his life story are some of the best in the book... It''s when [Billy] finds an audience for his story that the book really starts to find its groove."
-- Rob Merrill, The Associated Press
"A first act of stunning formal control... a delicious engine of tension... a delightfully tense crime thriller... somehow both hard-boiled and human, and on par with much of King''s best work... King can still build tidal waves of tension from the smallest deviation from plan, sending Constant Readers plunging deep into the flop-sweat insecurities of his heroes as they watch a situation potentially spiral out of control. In situating Billy''s atonement in communication and creation, not violence, King manages to find a space for redemption... Billy Summers is winningly optimistic about the life of the creative mind. More than almost any other King book in recent memory, it''s a product of its time, but not a victim of it."
-- William Hughes, The AV Club
"Stephen King is an artist, and readers and critics who underestimate him do so at their own peril... Billy Summers is a very good story, told economically with an ear for rhythm. It''s about what it''s like to be a human being, and how that doesn''t really change much, no matter what situation you find yourself in...while there are plenty of action sequences, the heart of this novel lies in its quietest moments."
-- Philip Martin, The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette
"A love letter to the transformative effects of putting words on paper...the impassioned argument Mr. King makes for the role of writing in healing traumas is heartfelt and affecting... fast-paced and cleverly constructed... written with Mr. King''s legendary eye for detail, and his ability to immerse readers in the mindsets of fictional characters serves the story well... witnessing this deeply-scarred man discover a new way of seeing himself and his place in the world is beautifully resonant. Mr. King''s sheer pleasure in the alchemy of turning mere words into entire universes is on full display here, and it is contagious -- not just for Billy, but perhaps for Constant Readers as well."
-- Wendeline Wright, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Stephen King hits the mark with assassination thriller Billy Summers ...It''s downright unfair, really: Not only is Stephen King an undisputed master of horror, he''s a virtuosic crime novelist as well... King actually is as good at the hard-boiled prose--in this case, the tale of an extremely effective assassin trying to get out after one last job--as he is the scary stuff... King''s known for his literary villains, yet in creating his killer title protagonist, he exquisitely gets into the mind of a hitman and roots around in there to figure out what kind of person would do wetwork, the loneliness involved for those who choose that as a career path and the effect it would have on friends and loved ones... The biggest crime here, however, would be missing out on Billy Summers and King''s new reign as a pulp genius."
-- Brian Truitt, USA Today
"King''s latest endeavor begins with a familiar premise: decorated veteran Billy Summers, a principled hit man on the eve of retirement, agrees to do one last job. Things go south in spectacularly bad fashion, making for a characteristically King thriller about luck, fate, and redemption. To see the undisputed master of horror shift into the realm of noir thrillers is proof that King can still surprise and astound us, all these decades later."
-- Esquire
"King has multiple novels in play here--thriller, at least two coming-of-age stories, and a knockout road novel--and he knits them together beautifully, never missing a stitch ... King has never been better than he is here at wrapping readers into a propulsive, many-tentacled narrative--complete with a perfectly orchestrated, moving ending."
-- Booklist, starred
"[A] tripwire-taut thriller... King meticulously lays out the details of Billy''s trade, his Houdini-style escapes, and his act to look simpler than he is, but the novel''s main strength is a story within a story... This is another outstanding outing from a writer who consistently delivers more than his readers expect."
-- Publisher''s Weekly, starred
"The ever prolific King moves from his trademark horror into the realm of the hard-boiled noir thriller ... Murder most foul and mayhem most entertaining. Another worthy page-turner from a protean master."
-- Kirkus, starred
