Heart-Shaped Box: A Novel Summary and Reviews

Heart-Shaped Box: A Novel
by Joe Hill

Heart-Shaped Box: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Joe Hill
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-02-01
ISBN: 0061147931
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: William Morrow

Book Reviews of Heart-Shaped Box: A Novel

Book Review: Creepy enough.
Summary: 4 Stars

Attracted by the razor blades and butterflies on the cover, I decided to give this horror debut a shot. Judas Coyne (pun intended) is a aging rock star who has a taste for the occult. When his PA tells him that there is a ghost for sale on an auction site, he has to bid. What he buys is the dead man's suit and with it possession of the old man's ghost. But as soon as it arrives in a heart-shaped box, Jude knows that there is something badly wrong with his purchase.

Initially the image of the old man (Craddock) sitting in Jude's hall with a Fedora on his head is incredibly creepy. Jude and his girlfriend Georgia, walk back and forward passing the ghost. Only Jude seems to see him and becomes thoroughly terrified by this presence. That seated ghost stayed in my head for a while I can tell you.

Then Jude is called by the sister of an ex-girlfriend. She tells him that she ran the dodgy auction site with the sole purpose of making sure he bought the suit and that Craddock was the father of his ex-girlfriend (who committed suicide after Jude dumped her). Craddock is there to take Jude and all who help him to hell. And so begins a race against Craddock and death itself.

While not brilliantly written - in fact rather write by numbers, and riddled with cliches (over done rock cliches especially) - this is still an entertaining read. It's kind of what Stephen King should have stuck to writing rather than become lazy. I raced through the end just to find out the denouement. A total beach read, that actually is a little creepy.

It won't stay on my bookshelves but I am glad that I read it.

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