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Loading... Heart-Shaped Boxby Joe Hill
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Decent read. Thought there could have been more to the crescendo but a good, moderately fast read. (  ) alwaysshana | Oct 31, 2009 |  My word . . . once I was in I was hooked and could not put the book down. This was a fantastic read. I did think that I knew where the plot was going and that I'd guessed all of the twists - but no! Clever Joe had plenty of surprises in store. A real breathtaking read and one that is going to live on my keepers shelves. I've already pre-ordered Joe's next book -which is titled Horns (  ) kehs | Oct 13, 2009 | A fast paced, spine-tingling, suspenseful, paranormal thriller. I found myself on edge throughout reading this unsettling ghost tale. The premise of the story, buying a ghost off of the internet, could easily have degenerated into something silly and unconvincing. But Joe Hill manages to weave action and supsense well. I thoroughly enjoyed being scared by this novel. (  ) bruceandceals | Sep 26, 2009 | Neil Gaiman sold me this book. Okay, not literally, but Neil's cover blurb was endorsement enough for me to take a chance on an author unknown to me or anyone whose book judgment I trust. I was not disappointed. Judas Coyne is a faded metal god in his mid-50s -- think Ozzie, but articulate and still in possession of his faculties -- who leads a quiet life in rural upstate New York with his beloved Rottweilers* and a series of live-in Goth girlfriends less than half his age, who he calls by their state of origin because he can't be bothered to remember their real names. Jude's an ass, frankly, when it comes to women. (*I don't recall the breed of these dogs actually being identified, but I pictured them as Rotts while reading. It fits perfectly.) Jude has accumulated a collection of the weird and the macabre over the years, and when he receives an email notice about a ghost -- or more accurately, a haunted funeral suit -- being auctioned on the internet, he can't resist, even though he's sure it's a hoax. It's not a hoax. The suit arrives and Jude's prior history of ass-hood to women returns to haunt him, for the ghost is Craddock, Florida's stepfather, and Florida is the girlfriend who committed suicide shortly after Jude sent her packing. Soon Jude, his dogs, and his current girlfriend, Georgia, are on a desperate roadtrip south to rid themselves of Craddock and save their lives. Not coincidentally, they must also face their own demons and somehow make peace with their own pasts. Joe Hill has written a heart-pounding thriller of a ghost story, absolutely gripping and nearly impossible to put down. Character development is virtually flawless and the story itself is fresh and original. Jude and Georgia are far more than rocker/Goth cliches: they have unplumbed depths to their souls, and unexpected strengths crucial to their survival. Craddock oozes a creeping malevolence, and his ever-growing influence over the minds and actions of Jude and Georgia is truly frightening and unpredictable. And the dogs...oh how I loved those dogs. I don't read horror much these days. Joe Hill will go on the shortlist of horror authors to watch, though, right next to Neil Gaiman and Robert McCammon. He's in excellent company, and he deserves it. ( ) avanta7 | Sep 21, 2009 | I mentioned when I started the RIP Challenge that I don't do horror. I can't watch it on TV and in movies. And I definitely can't read about it (I don't count anything with vampires because those just aren't scary to me). Still, I figured that to get into the spirit of the RIP Challenge itself, I needed to broaden my horizons and pick up something scary. Other bloggers mentioned Heart-Shaped Box, and it somehow found its way into my home. It took me a while to read. Almost from the first page, I found that I literally had to put down the book after so many pages because I just couldn't take the tense or the dread anymore. I was never truly scared to the point where I double-checked all locks and windows and couldn't sleep well at night, but I approached the book each and every time with apprehension as I wondered what else was going to be thrown at the reader. Mr. Hill tells one scary ghost story. Rather than making Jude and the other characters the caricatures that you so often find in horror films, the reader sympathizes with them and roots for them. They grow and develop beyond the aging rock star and his much younger fangirl girlfriend. There was a bit of a mystery to solve that, to me, was unexpected. In addition, there was just a touch of romance and love that was again unexpected and touching in its simplicity. Combined together, it makes for a compelling story. Craddock is the perfect evil ghost. The fantasy is not overdone, but only adds to the overall story. While it isn't a genre that I would normally pick up without some prompting, I would not hesitate to pick up another book by Mr. Hill. For someone who doesn't like horror, this is the highest complement I can bestow. And with that, I have officially completed the RIP Challenge IV. However, because I'm having so much fun reading spooky stories, I'm going to keep going and see how many of those on my TBR pile I can cross off while adding to my challenge tally! (  ) jmchshannon | Sep 16, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0061147931, Hardcover)Do you sleep with the light on? Are you in the habit of checking your doors and windows before you go to bed? Maybe even checking under your bed? If you are about to crack open Joe Hill's chilling thriller Heart-Shaped Box, you might want to rethink your nighttime habits--Hill's story about an aging rock star (with a penchant for macabre artifacts) who buys a haunted suit online will scare you silly. But don't take our word for it. We asked bestselling authors (and masters of dark terror tales themselves) Scott Smith, and Harlan Coben to read Heart-Shaped Box and give us their take. Check out their reviews below, and you might want to pick up a nightlight while you're at it. --Daphne DurhamGuest Reviewer: Scott Smith  In 1993, Scott Smith wowed readers with his stunning debut thriller, A Simple Plan. Thirteen years later, he spooked us again with The Ruins, a horror-thriller about four Americans traveling in Mexico who stumble across a nightmare in the jungle. The set-up for Joe Hill's novel, Heart-Shaped Box, is appealingly simple. Jude Coyne, an aging rock star, buys himself a dead man's suit. He acquires it online, lured by the promise that the dead man's ghost will be included in his purchase. Jude thinks this is a joke, of course. He also assumes the seller is a stranger. We soon discover that he's wrong on both counts, however, and from this point on the story moves with an exhilarating urgency. Jude wants the ghost gone; the ghost wants Jude dead. We watch, chapter-by-chapter, as they battle for survival. "Watch" is the appropriate word, too, because this is an extremely visual book. Hill's prose is lean and precise, and he renders Jude's world with impressive confidence. It feels solid, every detail both correct and fresh. And this physicality provides a firm platform for the book's otherworldly happenings, which seem all the more frightening for being so securely grounded. Hill has a flawless sense of pacing. His narrative never flags, nor does it ever move so quickly as to outrun itself. And one can sense his literary ambition pushing at the margins of the genre. There are times when his writing, for all its spare efficiency, seems to jump away from him, stopping one small step short of poetry. An e-mail to Jude from the ghost (trust me, it's not as absurd as it sounds) could even pass for something ee cummings might've written, in an especially morbid mood. And toward the end of the book, when Hill describes a trip down death's "night road" in a '65 Mustang, the passage has a startlingly lyrical beauty. The story's horror ultimately has as much to do with Jude Coyne's past--his mistakes, abandonments and betrayals--as with anything supernatural. Jude has caused a lot of pain over the years, moving through life with a carelessness that verges on the callous. His battle with the ghost brings this behavior into sharp relief, forcing him to reflect upon his own capacity for cruelty. This dawning self-awareness leavens the book's bleakness and gore (and it is delightfully gory in places) with an unexpected sweetness. Despite our initial impression, Jude is gradually revealed--both to himself and the reader--as an essentially decent, even kind man. It's this kindness, this fledgling ability to love and be loved, that will ultimately be of crucial consequence in his death struggle with the ghost. And it's what makes Hill's debut not only well-written and terrifying, but also--as it draws to its close--surprisingly moving. So go ahead, take a chance, and open his Heart-Shaped Box. I think you’ll be happy you did. --Scott Smith Like, say, a vengeful ghost. That is what rock-star Judas Coyne does, thinking it will be a laugh, fun for his "sick-o" collection of such things. It seems a random buy, but Judas soon learns that it is anything but. This particular ghost is one Craddock McDermott, step-father to recent suicide victim and boy, is he cranky. He demands revenge for his step-daughter’s death, which he blames on Judas’s shabby treatment of her. Or is he after something else? There are Amazon readers who will give you a better plot summary. Don't read them too closely because Joe Hill provides plenty of fun surprises. Heart-Shaped Box is a true spine-tingler. I don’t use that hyphenated word much anymore. We have seen and read it all, haven't we? But right away, in the first chapter, there was a subtle line that made the hairs on the back of my neck go up in a way I haven't experienced since I first discovered great horror as a teenager. Hill writes with a sure hand. The prose is compelling. Like most memorable tales of horror, this book is more about redemption than scary moments--though Heart-Shaped Box has plenty of scares. They are visceral, shocking and very well done. The characters are flawed and real. The father-son relationship adds texture and surprising poignancy. So here's the thing. My guess is, you won’t find a ghost to buy online, but if you read the Heart-Shaped Box, you will be getting something that will haunt you and startle you and stay with you and yes, visit you in your dreams. Sleep well, dear reader. --Harlan Coben (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:01 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
LibraryThing AuthorJoe Hill is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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