Billy Summers - Stephen King

The Boss returns (sorry Springsteen fans, but King really is the Boss)

Stephen King is one of my go-to authors if I don’t have the patience to check out something new, or don’t want to get to a point where I might have to abandon a novel because it’s not doing it for me. He’s like a never-ending awesome cup of tea that you can just sit and consume for hours. Sorry Mr King, you probably wouldn’t appreciate being likened to something as ordinary as a cup of tea but it really is meant to be a compliment!

This is not a horror book. Billy Summers is a hit man, on a last job before he retires. In terms of structure, I’m not sure it has much - it just starts, meanders for a few hundred pages, then finishes. Like the cup of tea though, the journey is lovely. Our main man is an ex-military sniper, and he’s the best of the best. His thing is that he never takes a job unless the target is a nasty piece of work. So we are with this guy all the way. He’s a killer, yes, but he only kills horrible people - perfect - and it is all topped off with King’s side-swipes at Trump at every opportunity. Lovely.

The story dictates that Billy has to blend in with the community in the vicinity of his target, for a few weeks before the hit. So we see Stephen King excel at the everyday interactions between this decent guy, looking for an exit from a life of killing, and a local community that includes families, office colleagues, and a love interest. And Stephen King does it brilliantly, as always.

The story builds nicely, with a shot in the arm at the introduction of a great new character who Billy saves and then connects with to accompany him on the rest of his journey. This is where we see as much of the inside of Billy Summers as we do the external plot of the hit. I love these types of Stephen King books, a bit of a slow burn, a lone main character on the right side of the value spectrum who is ready to stand up and do the right thing (kind of the right thing anyway).