NOS-4R2 by Joe Hill (NOS4A2 in the USA.)
Published by Gollancz, April 2013 (Review copy received, courtesy of Waterstones)
618 pages (ARC is 790 pages.)
ISBN: 978 0 575 130 685
Review by Mark Yon
What is there to say about this one?
To say that it is ‘much anticipated’ may be something of an understatement. Since it was announced that Joe was the son of Tabitha and Stephen King, Joe’s reputation has soared, with a collection of short stories, two novels, Horns (currently being made into a film with Daniel Radcliffe), and Heart-Shaped Box, and his graphic novel work.
So with all this in mind, it is fairly true to say that NOS4R2 arrives with a certain degree of expectation, and perhaps trepidation on my part. I say ‘trepidation’ as I must admit at this point that Joe’s novels have not been as enjoyable for me as his short stories. (When I reviewed 20th Century Ghosts in 2006 I said that it was ‘one of the best story collections I’ve read in years’.) I needn’t have worried, though. NOS4R2 is an unashamedly big fat Horror novel that shows a writer developing his craft. Unlike Heart-Shaped Box or Horns, this one kept my attention. NOS4R2 is, dare I say it, a more straightforward Horror than either of those. And it is all the better for it.
When I try and think about why this one is so much better, the answer may be partly due to the proverbial elephant in the cupboard. Reluctantly, I don’t think I can review the book without mentioning Joe’s heritage and how much of it runs through this book. By taking on many of the themes and ideas of SK, it works. If I said that NOS4R2 echoes the feel and tone of many of the earlier SK books but gives them a contemporary twist, then many of those interested will be beating their way to the bookstore (real or online) before finishing the rest of this review.
The story is mainly told through and around the experiences of Vic McQueen, who begins the story as a young tomboy and rider of bicycles. In a Twilight Zone style twist, Vic finds early on in the novel that she can cycle from her place of residence (the small town world of Englewood, Colorado) to anywhere she chooses, from ‘Found’ to ‘Lost’ and back again, via her accessing what she calls ‘the Shorter Way Bridge’, a rickety bridge that in reality no longer exists. With practice, she finds that she can travel to places to fetch and find things, but not without cost, as there seems to be a physical effect on her every time she transports herself.
Time passes and Vic grows up. We get that oft-used King-ian process of a loss of innocence, a situation exacerbated by a meeting of Vic and Charlie Manx on ‘the other side’ of the bridge, at the Sleigh House in 1996, which leads to Vic forever afterwards being affected by her meeting with the creepy old man. By 2012 Vic, published author and ‘bad mother’ (to me reminiscent of Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies), is trying to build a relationship with Wayne, her son. But the seemingly ever-present Charlie Manx, alleged child molester and murderer, has returned in his Rolls Royce Wraith car, in the process of enticing new blood to Christmasland, his nightmarish place of horrors on the other side. When Wayne is taken by Manx to take to Christmasland, in order to get a response from Vic, it’s clear that things will not end until the two adults meet.
Even from the brief synopsis above, it is pretty obvious that in some ways here the work of the younger has tapped into the same wellspring of the elder.
There are (deliberately, I’m sure) echoes of SK throughout this book, with spooky possessed cars, creepy houses, broken people, a large dog, a combination of Twilight Zone elements juxtaposed with homely elements of Americana, albeit often from the hidden underbelly. There’s bikes, cars and girls (or in Vic’s case, boys.) A character named Tabitha (Joe’s mother’s name). And, like IT’s Mike Hanlon, a librarian (with a stutter like Richie Tozier) is there to save the day. Here we channel the vampires of ‘Salem’s Lot and combine them with the creepy car experiences of Christine, as well as adding a smidgen of IT and a touch of The Body (although some may prefer the film title Stand by Me.)
It’s easy to spot the influences, as little literary Easter Eggs if you like. But to call this ‘a copy’ would do Joe and NOS4R2 a major disservice. Joe is his own voice and this is his take. Although the ideas may be similar, the viewpoints herein are his own.
So what works here? Disassembling the tale, the places visited are quite memorable. Charlie Manx’s trip through the last century, living off the lives of others, allows the reader to experience nostalgically a past, whilst Christmasland itself is everything apposite to what the name would suggest: more a place of nightmares than pleasant memories, which are brought imaginatively to life in the book’s last section. It is definitely creepy.
The dialogue too is a winner. With contemporary touches – a discussion of Joss Whedon’s Firefly, even a mention of A Game of Thrones, for example – the book’s unreality is counterpointed by the mundane ordinary-ness of such matters, which makes it work all the better. Each character has their own voice.
It must be said that NOS4R2 is, in places, quite unpleasant, deliberately so, and this will be a lure for many Horror readers. There are icky deaths, things that do not go well, language that is quite strong. And perhaps therefore the book is not for everyone. However, even when things are nasty, perhaps the greatest strength of the book, even with all of its other assets, its imaginative setting, its sparky dialogue and its pervading creepiness, is the vividness of the characters.
Whilst some may bemoan the writing of ‘another’ damaged lead character in the genre (something discussed recently if the SFFWorld Forums), the strength of the writing here is that the main characters become people that the reader can empathize with. Even though Vic McQueen is a damaged character from a broken home, whose life repeats mistakes from the past with her own family, as a reader we will her to win, as a champion against all the odds. Vic is not an adult without her faults, although her love for her child, her estranged father and her rather geek-like ex-husband Lou shines throughout. They have faults, personal issues and problems, and yet in the end their various relationships bring things to a satisfying ending.
You cannot have a heroine without something to rail against. And here Joe also does brilliantly well. Charles Talent Manx III is one of the sickest, creepiest and weirdest characters I’ve read about in a long time. Think Freddie Kruger genetically spliced with the manic insanity of The Joker and with a touch of Mr Barlow (from ‘Salem’s Lot), and you’re part of the way there. Combined with his ancient Rolls Royce Wraith, used to pick up children and adult assistants to take them to Christmasland, and you have a character that is just memorably and malevolently evil.*
As I said at the beginning, Joe’s last few novels have, for me, been OK, but not really shown the promise and potential of his short stories. I was starting to feel that Joe is a better short story writer than a novelist (it happens, sometimes.) NOS4R2 shreds that impression.
This is a book that starts with a bang and then relentlessly builds. Joe managed to make my skin crawl in the first chapter, turning what should be a time for celebration into something decidedly creepy. At the mid-point of a lengthy book it became near un-putdownable, in that horrifying ‘can’t look away from a car crash’ kind of way. Although the details are dark and even horrible, the narrative pull is relentless and unstoppable.
I’m so pleased that a Joe Hill novel has finally reached the high standard of his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts. This novel really is the business, and deserves to do very, very well.
It is a sign of the brilliance of this book that I’ll never think of Christmas in the same way again. What is there to say about this one? How about ‘Thank you, Joe.’
Recommended.
Mark Yon, February/March 2013.
*(Readers in the UK may find uncomfortable comparisons with recent real world revelations concerning a previously-beloved TV personality here. He also coincidentally drove a Rolls Royce. It is unlikely that Joe knows much about this individual.)
