This was the Stephen King book which I knew was going to be released this year, and so was looking forward to for a long time. Ever since I had finished the last full Stephen King book last year, frankly. That was a series of short stories called "You Like It Darker."
"Never Flinch" is his latest novel. Right away, the cover actually reminded me of my teenaged years, because it felt reminiscent of Metallica's "And Justice For All" album. That might seem a bit strange, or like a stretch, to some people. But I'm just telling you what my first impressions are, at least of the cover.
Of course I have heard that expression about never judging a book by it's cover. But then again, this is Stephen King. Since I likely qualify as one of those Constant Readers which he continually refers to, I simply enjoy his books, his writing. There literally is not one single "bad" King book that I have ever read. That's not to say that there are some that I liked more - even far more, in some cases - than others. But his writing style is what continually draws me. Probably, I have said this before, but reading King is pleasant enough that I have compared it to taking a vacation from myself, at least for those hours while reading the book. Literally, he writes in such an absorbing way, and with rich and believable characters (even if sometimes they are thrust into frankly unbelievable situations), that it can allow me to escape the world and it's problems (and my own problems and limitations along with it).
You can't ask much more from a book, or from an author, can you?
So of course I was going to pick this one up and give it a read.
It features a now very familiar character, Holly Gibney. She usually plays the role of a detective, and she does in this book, as well. Yet, she also is working as a body guard, which she winds up hating with a passion.
This book is different than some other King works of the past, because it features not one "bad guy" character, but two. And they are not working together, although there are definite parallels between the two, naturally.
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this story already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning.
As mentioned earlier, this story has two completely separate bad guys. the main bad guy we come to know simply as Trig. This man is obsessed with retribution for Alan Duffrey, who we learn was wrongly accused of a crime and sent to jail for it, where he was brutally murdered. Trig is determined to make innocent people pay for the crime of this innocent man, so that those guilty of sending Duffrey to jail - namely the 12 jurors, as well as others who assisted in the process - would be burdened by their sense of guilt. So Trig begins a killing spree, and manages to kill quite a number of people without getting caught of even leaving many clues.
The other villain is a religious nut case, a Christian fundamentalist from one of those extremist and militant (quite literally, as it turns out) churches from deep in the rural Bible Belt (well, Wisconsin, anyway, but it sometimes feels like parts of Wisconsin qualify). The villain in question is a young man who's sister dies at a young age. He is haunted by the death, yet decides to take her place to please his mother. His father is not so pleased, but it becomes a family secret. Eventually, the church itself learns of this, and uses it to their advantage. The young man's name is Chris, but he also becomes Chrissy, his sister. Together, they seem to go on regular missions to do damage to evil baby killers, as they see it, who advocate abortion. To that end, Chris/Chrissy begins to stalk woman's rights activist Kate McKay.
McKay is on a book tour, traveling from West to East, and heading to Buckeye City, the place where Holly lives, and where this novel will ultimately come to a head. With McKay is young Corrie Anderson, who is thrilled to get the opportunity to be McKay's assistant for the book tour. She absolutely idolizes Kate, although as the tour goes along and she gets to know her boss a bit better, she gains a better understanding and begins to feel used by McKay. Nor is this just her imagination, as Holly also gets the same impression. Holly gets involved once she gets hired by McKay and Corrie as a body guard following a series of incidents. Kate is a very controversial figure, and she continually runs into people trying to do her harm. Corrie has actually been victimized more than once, at first because she is mistaken for Kate, and then because she is associated with Kate. Holly is quite solid as a bodyguard, although she hates every minute of it.
In the meantime, things are happening in Buckeye City. Sista Bessie, a famous musician, is coming to town. She befriends Barbara, and later becomes friends with Jerome, both of whom are also familiar to fans of Stephen King. She even uses one of Barbara's poems for a song. Sista Bessie agrees to sing the national anthem at a local charity baseball game between the police and fire departments, which comes to be called Guns and Hoses. However, she is approached by Trig, who manipulates her by showing her a picture of Barbara, whom he has captured by that point. A bit more on that later.
While Holly is on the book tour with Kate, she slowly obtains clues about Chris/Chrissy and the church he is a part of. Little by little, she puts the pieces of the puzzle together and figures out who he is, forcing Chris/Chrissy to go into hiding, which he does in Buckeye City. By this time, Chris has lost all sense of reason, and threatens his own church when it tries to pull the plug on his mission. He is now determined to kill Kate McKay no matter what the price he has to pay, even if it means his own life (and he comes to feel that it surely will).
The place which Chris chooses as his final hiding place, however, turns out to be an abandoned hockey rink which Trig uses. As we come to learn, Trig is haunted by childhood memories of an abusive father, who he suspects has actually killed his mother. Still, Trig wanted to be loved, and so some of his most bittersweet memories are of going to this now abandoned arena, back when it was the home of a local hockey team. Those memories are both good and bad, and they have helped to make Trig what he has become now. He decides that this arena should be the final place for his killing spree to come to a fiery end, literally.
Of course, the two villains run into one another. Chris becomes convinced that Trig is sent by God to deliver Kate McKay to him. And when he actually does, Chris launches a surprise attack. But Trig manages to get the better of the exchange, and ultimately manages to kill Chris. He has also tricked other victims, including Corrie, Barbara, and Kate herself. He is about to get Sista Bessie. But she is unable to run to the arena following her singing of the national anthem at the Guns and Hoses baseball game, which itself ends up in bedlam and violence.
Jerome meets Holly outside of the entrance to the arena. Together, they then managed to take Trig by surprise and, ultimately, kill him. Trig managed to start a fire, but they also manage to save the three captured women - Corrie, Barbara, and Kate - before anyone can be seriously harmed.
Yet at the very end, there is kind of a twist. A fellow coworker of Trig's has managed to steal one of his prized items - a "Trigger" doll from Roy Rogers. Right at the end, there is a hint that he is hearing some of the voices which haunted Trig, that the madness has spread. Guess we'll find out more in some future King book.
One thing which I always appreciated about King's writings is that he manages to juggle a number of things simultaneously. That feels like a mark of good writing. This he does in "Never Flinch" as well. In this story, he manages to discuss the hypocrisy of religious fundamentalism while simultaneously also showing hypocrisy of a different sort when it comes to celebrity culture.
All in all, a good book, as King books tend to be. Recommended.
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