Publications
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (William Morrow, 2008)
I am not going to bitch and moan about Joe Hill not being as good as his father, Stephen King. Joe is not Stephen, and nor do I expect him to live up to those expectations.
Did I enjoy this novel? Yes. Was I scared? Not really, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Was the tale mind-blowingly original? Not really, but Joe certainly knows how to construct a story I felt compelled to finish.
Heart-Shaped Box contains all the elements I enjoy: references to rock ’n roll, somewhat jaded musicians, beautiful goth girls with pasts… and ghosts. In this case, a vengeful, malicious father hell-bent on avenging his daughter’s death.
Judas Coyne has picked himself up by his bootstraps. Though he started life as a pig farmer’s son, suffering at the hands of an abusive father, he has carved out a career for himself and has become a legend, probably comparable to the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Mick Jagger.
But he lives the life of a recluse on his farm, perfectly happy with his much-younger ex-stripper girlfriend and his two dogs. Or at least he fools himself into thinking he’s content, but from what I can gather, he’s purely going through the motions, goaded by mild regrets and a general jaded approach to his rather eventful life.
And perhaps this inability to connect emotionally with his present is Judas’s greatest sin – which he pays for once things go pear-shaped.
And you might as well bring on pears by the barrow-load once Judas makes the mistake of adding a dead man’s suit to his collection of the macabre and arcane.
He doesn’t expect much to happen when he buys the dead man’s suit, but ghostly happenings soon take on a murderous bent. Judas is forced from his comfort zone and embarks on a road trip, not only to try stop the ghost and clear up matters pertaining to his ex-girlfriend’s death, but also to face his own past.
While Heart-Shaped Box didn’t quite have me sleeping with the lights on, the story definitely has its moments where I was highly uncomfortable (which is great, by the way).
Although it’s a bit slow-moving at times, Joe nevertheless knows how to notch up the creepiness factor while blending in the mystery pertaining to ghosts and the afterlife.
Read more of Nerine’s reviews here.
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I am not going to bitch and moan about Joe Hill not being as good as his father, Stephen King. Joe is not Stephen, and nor do I expect him to live up to those expectations.
Did I enjoy this novel? Yes. Was I scared? Not really, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Was the tale mind-blowingly original? Not really, but Joe certainly knows how to construct a story I felt compelled to finish.
Heart-Shaped Box contains all the elements I enjoy: references to rock ’n roll, somewhat jaded musicians, beautiful goth girls with pasts… and ghosts. In this case, a vengeful, malicious father hell-bent on avenging his daughter’s death.
Judas Coyne has picked himself up by his bootstraps. Though he started life as a pig farmer’s son, suffering at the hands of an abusive father, he has carved out a career for himself and has become a legend, probably comparable to the likes of Ozzy Osbourne and Mick Jagger.
But he lives the life of a recluse on his farm, perfectly happy with his much-younger ex-stripper girlfriend and his two dogs. Or at least he fools himself into thinking he’s content, but from what I can gather, he’s purely going through the motions, goaded by mild regrets and a general jaded approach to his rather eventful life.
And perhaps this inability to connect emotionally with his present is Judas’s greatest sin – which he pays for once things go pear-shaped.
And you might as well bring on pears by the barrow-load once Judas makes the mistake of adding a dead man’s suit to his collection of the macabre and arcane.
He doesn’t expect much to happen when he buys the dead man’s suit, but ghostly happenings soon take on a murderous bent. Judas is forced from his comfort zone and embarks on a road trip, not only to try stop the ghost and clear up matters pertaining to his ex-girlfriend’s death, but also to face his own past.
While Heart-Shaped Box didn’t quite have me sleeping with the lights on, the story definitely has its moments where I was highly uncomfortable (which is great, by the way).
Although it’s a bit slow-moving at times, Joe nevertheless knows how to notch up the creepiness factor while blending in the mystery pertaining to ghosts and the afterlife.
Read more of Nerine’s reviews here.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook
Keen on reading this book? Buy your copy now
Read this book yet? Tell us what you thought of the book in the comment box below.
Sign up for Women24 book club newsletter and stand a chance to win our top ten books from kalahari.com
