In this departure from horror, King has penned a truly entertaining crime thriller.
His protagonist is much like that in my latest book. He’s a hitman who has ethics and only shoots bad people. The characters are strong, unique, and, most importantly, human. Unlike many protagonists, Billy Summers has flaws, doubts, and worries.
The book engrossed me and kept me up all night. King captures the essence of life in small-town America and has a great mix of both psychological and physical action. I look forward to more of this type work from one of our most prolific writers.
Master storyteller Stephen King, whose “restless imagination is a power that cannot be contained” (The New York Times Book Review), presents an unforgettable and relentless #1 New York Times bestseller about a good guy in a bad job.
Chances are, if you’re a target of Billy Summers, two immutable truths apply: You’ll never even know what hit you, and you’re really getting what you deserve. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business—but he’ll do the job only if the assignment is a truly bad person. But now, time is catching up with him, and Billy wants…
I found the writing to be unique, part prequel, part sequel to the movie.
I was thoroughly engrossed by the details on all of the main characters. I found myself rooting for the bad guys as well as the good guys. The locals were intriguing as well. I have spent a lot of time in the LA area, lived in Chicagoland for twelve years, and visited Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico.
I also found it enlightening to see how Mann and Gardiner handled avoiding many of the Hollywood stereotypes. They did it wonderfully, taking the reader inside the heads of the myriad characters.
The concept of a bad man dealt helping a young woman deal with an equally (if not more) bad man. All-in-all … a terrific ride!
Michael Mann, Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer-director of Heat and Miami Vice, teams up with Meg Gardiner to deliver Mann's first crime novel, an explosive return to the world and characters of his classic film Heat - an all-new story that illuminates what happened before and after the film.
A Times Book of the Year 2022
'Michael Mann's HEAT is one of my all-time favourite movies. HEAT 2 is now one of my favourite suspense novels' JAMES PATTERSON
Described by Michael Mann as both a prequel and sequel to the renowned, critically acclaimed film…
I’ve always been fascinated by Connolly. An Irish writer who knows Maine intimately (almost as well as we life-long Maine-iacs).
I must be an anti-hero guy because many of the books I enjoy feature them. Charlie Parker is one of the better ones. It is a true balancing act to incorporate the supernatural and crime thriller genres but Connolly consistently pulls it off. (As you have probably figured out, this not my first walk on the darkside with Parker.)
His villains are always extremely villainous pushing Parker and his two hitman associates, Angel and Louis, to the maximum. Connally has tastefully dealt with LGBTQ issues in all of his books and while doing so goes against all of the myths and stereotypes about that life.
It is spring, and the semi-preserved body of a young Jewish woman is discovered buried in the Maine woods. It is clear that she gave birth shortly before her death.
But there is no sign of a baby.
Private detective Charlie Parker is engaged by the lawyer Moxie Castin to shadow the police investigation and find the infant, but Parker is not the only searcher. Someone else is following the trail left by the woman, someone with an interest in more than a missing child, someone prepared to leave bodies in his wake.
Upon leaving court after his fourth divorce, retired hitman Ian Connah learns that his financial manager has disappeared with his retirement funds. He is determined to get his money back. His dilemma is in order to finance his quest, he must return to the trade.
Connah becomes a bodyguard for two former girlfriends (each a rival for his affection) who detest each other. When a million-dollar bounty is put on them, Connah takes them to a remote lodge in Maine’s north woods where he must protect them from a killer who is afflicted with OCD, a ruthless former Irish Republican Army assassin, and a sadistic Mexican cartel hitman.
The trail leads to the Amazon. He will confront crooked lawyers, drug lords, and Brazil’s criminal syndicates.
