Never Flinch

Little did I know when I first read the Bill Hodges trilogy during my Camino de Santiago that Holly Gibney, then a secondary character, would become one of my favorite King protagonists of recent years. Then came The Outsider, followed by Holly, and that anxious and hypochondriac woman has truly come into her own. Indeed, I was thrilled when I learned that Never Flinch would feature her as lead once again.

The blurb immediately piqued my curiosity and I knew I'd be reading the novel as soon as it came out. It looked as though this one would be made up of several disparate storylines, yet now that I've read the book I can say that the plot suffers from too many moving parts. And even if King brings it all together near the end, a lot of it feels contrived to a certain extent.

Here's the blurb:

From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.

When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.

Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.

Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.

Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.

As was the case with Holly, and unlike The Outsider which worked well as a standalone, the same cannot be said of Never Flinch. Events featured in the novella If It Bleeds are once again referred to, but it's not necessary to have read it. However, you must read the Bill Hodges trilogy and the other two novels featuring Holly to fully understand what's going on. Once more, not just for knowing more about Holly's background, which in turn gives you more insight into her character. No, it's important to have witnessed Holly's evolution to fully appreciate how far along she's come since we were first introduced to her in the original series. It's also important to understand the relationships between Holly and the supporting cast for the plot to make sense.

Like its predecessor, Never Flinch reads like a murder mystery/police procedural. There are no paranormal elements underpinning this tale, just messed-up individuals. Because as Holly has come to realize in the previous book: Just when you think you’ve seen the worst human beings have to offer, there’s no end to evil. This one features a deranged man who wants to avenge the death of an innocent person convicted of being a pedophile who got shanked in jail by killing a number of people, as well as religious nutjobs who wish to silence women’s rights activist. This would have been enough for a compelling story. Trouble is, the author needed to find a way to get young poet Barbara involved and thus came up with the gospel singer's thread, which sort of derailed the plot from time to time.

With her strengths, and especially with her weaknesses, Holly remains an extremely endearing main protagonist. I particularly enjoyed how her relationship with Izzy has evolved and how the detective has learned to trust Holly instincts. Trig is an interesting villain, and so is Chris. The more we discovered about each of them and their past, the better everything became. It was interesting to follow the interactions between bossy Kate McKay and the more timid yet capable Holly. Corrie was also nice addition to the supporting cast. Again in this novel, even if Holly is in the spotlight, I feel that too much limelight was given to both Jerome and Barbara. Neither were really necessary for the story to make sense, and more often than not they both got in the way of the plot. I'm aware that they've been part of everything that has occurred thus far, but at some point they need to somewhat fade in the background and Holly must stand on her own. Did we really need to have such a big chunk of the book dedicated to Barbara joining Sista Bessie's gig and have one of her poems turned into a song? I mean, there is someone murdering people to make the jury who convicted an innocent man feel guilty for his death and religious fucktards trying to kill a woman who stands for everything they oppose. That's more than enough for a captivating novel.

Although the Sista Bessie/Barbara storylines is woven into the plot, more often than not the sequences featuring them seem to get in the way of the more interesting stuff. Still, Never Flinch makes for another entertaining read. The Guns and Hoses charity baseball game added a bit of humor and levity to what are decidedly darker themes. All in all, you'll get through this book in no time. Having said that, Barbara and Jerome are becoming bigger and bigger distractions with each new work, so here's to hoping that Holly can get her own moment in the limelight without having to rely on her young friends in the next book that features her.

Never Flinch was good, but not as good as The Outsider and Holly.

The final verdict: 7.5/10

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