HORNS – by Joe Hill – a Review

HORNS

by Joe Hill

Those who know and follow me will remember that I have not been on the “Oh my God he’s wonderful” Joe hill bandwagon that many others seem to ride.  I read 20th Century Ghosts, his first collection, and thought it was competent with a couple of pretty good stories.  I read Heart Shaped Box and, again, I thought it showed promise, but that it was not in any way remarkable.  I had problems with the protagonist’s voice, and thought that there were a lot of jarring shifts and inconsistent bits that threw me off.  I was, of course, chastised for this by the entire horror community.  How dare I!?!  – well, wake up boys and girls, it’s me.  I always dare.  That’s what I thought and I don’t give a rats ass if people say “sour grapes”.  Reviews need to honestly reflect what one thinks of a work, and that’s how I’ve always rolled.  It hasn’t always made me popular.

So let’s get on to Horns.  Where Heart Shaped Box showed the growing pains of a journeyman author, HORNS delivers on such a higher level that it’s difficult for me to attribute both works to the same author.  This book is a multilevel masterpiece with deep, intense characterization, a tight plot, and a very satisfying conclusion that draws together the various threads carefully and completely, leaving nothing hanging.

Ignatius Parish (Ig) wakes up from a serious bender to find that he’s growing horns.  Devil’s horns.  The only part of the book I found slightly iffy was the beginning, and let’s face it, it’s a tricky proposition building a suspension of disbelief around a character who grows horns.  People tell him things.  They tell him what they really want to do, and can’t help themselves.  It’s driving him crazy.

And Ig has enough to drive him crazy.  The love of his life, Merrin, was killed a few years back and he’s been blamed. There’s no evidence, but everyone from his family to the local priest believes he did it. It has overrun his life and ruined his dreams of working for Amnesty International. Before he got drunk and grew horns, Ir Parrish was already just a husk of himself.

What follows is a trip through Ig’s past.  You meet Lee, his best friend, Terry, his brother, and a host of others, bouncing from that past into a present where the truth is being uncovered like the ground beneath a down-hill rushing snowball.

There is a definite similarity in the handling of characters to the way they are handled by Joe’s famous dad, but the voice in Horns is unique.  It’s simply the best book I’ve read so far this year, and I suspect it will be difficult to top.  I empathized with the protagonist, and even managed tender feelings for a couple of snakes before all was said and done.  The villain is unique and complex and skin-crawlingly evil.

This book is a mystery, and a thriller, and a love story – and horror – and all of it’s wrapped up in such a unique package that it transcends each and every genre stamp you might apply to it.

If there are more novels like Horns in the future, mark me as a new fan.

Five of five stars, and only because six of five sounds stupid.

-DNW