Title: NOS4A2
Author: Joe Hill
Publisher: William Morrow 2013
Genre: Horror
Pages: 720
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Popsguar - Meant to get to in 2017; Seasonal Series - Read while listening to the rain
Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.
Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”
Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.
Holy hell was that a creepy book... Definitely a winner. I finally picked this one up and started to read it after the book sitting on my Kindle app for at least a year. Don't know why I waited so long. Hill has taken a ton of pointers from his father (Stephen King), but has made the horror genre his own. I was sucked into this very creepy story right from the beginning. I eagerly ripped through the pages (actually clicked through as I read it on my iPad) desperate to find out what happened to Vic and Wayne, horribly anticipating the appearance of Christmasland, and hoping for some kind of explanation for all the weird events. I loved the cast of characters (especially Maggie) and the various settings of the book. The descriptions were just enough for my mind to create a vivid landscape.
Next up on the TBR pile: