Miss Mary from the Library: Book Review!

I am always curious about new writers. This week's writer, Joe Hill, is new to us but not his famous father, Stephen King. Joe Hill is witty and some similarities to his father can be seen in the writing style, but this book speaks for itself. It is a great beginning for this new writer. Check it out. I give it an 8.

"The Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill: Aging, self-absorbed rock star Judas Coyne has a thing for the macabre -- his collection includes sketches from infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a trepanned skull from the 16th century, a used hangman's noose, Aleister Crowley's childhood chessboard, etc. -- so when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an online auction site, he immediately puts in a bid and purchases it. The black, heart-shaped box that Coyne receives in the mail not only contains the suit of a dead man but also his vengeance-obsessed spirit. The ghost, it turns out, is the stepfather of a young groupie who committed suicide after the 54-year-old Coyne callously used her up and threw her away. Now, determined to kill Coyne and anyone who aids him, the merciless ghost of Craddock McDermott begins his assault on the rocker's sanity… (Library Journal)