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Horns: A Novel |  | Author: Joe Hill
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy Used: $4.69
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Seller: goodwillbooks
Rating:  154 reviews
Sales Rank: 10800
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First edition.
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061147958
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061147951
ASIN: 0061147958
Publication Date: March 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2010: Best known for his terrifying (really) debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box, and his famous dad, Joe Hill continues to make a name for himself with Horns, a dark, funny exploration of love, grief, and the nature of good and evil. Ignatius William Perrish wakes up bleary and confused after a night of drinking and "doing terrible things" to find he has grown horns. In addition to being horribly unsightly, these inflamed protuberances give Ig an equally ugly power--if he thinks hard enough, he can make people admit things (intimate, embarrassing, I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that details). This bizarre affliction is of particular use to Ig, who is still grieving over the murder of his childhood sweetheart (a grisly act the entire town, including his family, believes he committed). Horns is a wickedly fun read, and reveals Hill's uncanny knack for creating alluring characters and a riveting plot. Ig's attempts to track down the killer result in hilariously inappropriate admissions from the community, heartbreaking confessions from his own family, and of course, one hell of a showdown. --Daphne Durham
Product Description
Joe Hill has been hailed as "a major player in 21st-century fantastic fiction" (Washington Post); "a new master in the field of suspense" (James Rollins); "one of the most confident and assured new voices in horror and dark fantasy to emerge in recent years (Publishers Weekly); a writer who "builds character invitingly and plants an otherworldly surprise around every corner" (New York Times). This gifted and brilliantly imaginative author catapulted to bestsellerdom with the chilling Heart-Shaped Box and cemented his reputation with the prizewinning volume of short fiction 20th Century Ghosts. At last, the New York Times bestselling author returns with a relentless supernatural thriller that runs like Hell on wheels. . . . Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples. At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real. Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . . Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge. . . . It's time the devil had his due. . . .
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 154
 Loved this book... July 30, 2010
M. LaChance (Upstate, NY)
I just finished this book and I can't say enough about how damn good it is. Joe Hill always creates sublime and unforgettable characters...Iggy, Terry and Merrin will stick with me for a long time. I'm going to say something that I never thought I'd say but he is not only as good as Papa King but maybe just a tad better! I was waiting for lightning to strike me but I'm still here:) Honestly read this book...you'll be glad you did.
Simply a wonderful novel July 30, 2010
James Long (Speculative Horizons blog) (UK)
From time to time a book comes along that takes you completely by surprise; you pick it up often on a whim you can't really fathom, you expect to reasonably enjoy it but for some reason your expectations are pretty low...and then the book completely blows apart your expectations and turns the tables on you.
For me, Horns was one such book. I freely admit that the only reason I read the book was because I'm intending to go along to Joe Hill's book signing in Manchester next week, and also because Gollancz were kind enough to provide me with a review copy. I thought the blurb on the back sounded reasonably interesting, but it didn't particularly excite me. Nor did the first few chapters; they maintained my interest, but I was hardly engrossed in the novel.
And then somehow - I'm still not sure at which point this occurred - I suddenly found myself unable to point the novel down. The sign of a good book, as far as I'm concerned, is when I think about it when I'm not reading it, and when I am reading it I don't want to stop. Horns certainly had this affect on me. More than that, it utterly bowled me over because I wasn't at all expecting such an absorbing reading experience.
Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned American musician, and the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more - he had the love of Merrin Williams, a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.
Then beautiful, vivacious Merrin was gone - raped and murdered, under inexplicable circumstances - with Ig the only suspect. He was never tried for the crime, but in the court of public opinion, Ig was and always would be guilty. Now Ig is possessed with a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look, and he means to use it to find the man who killed Merrin and destroyed his life.
Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge; it's time the devil had his due.
The characterisation is what makes Horns such a success. Ignatius Perrish is a wonderfully tragic figure, a young man whose life has reached a point of utter meltdown. His various struggles - coping with the loss of his girlfriend and soulmate, dealing with the terrifying demonic abilities that he finds himself in possession of - really invoke the reader's sympathy, and inspire a genuine emotional connection. Ig's ability to discern the deepest, darkest secrets of the people around him provides moments that are humourous, startling and ocasionally heartbreaking. Yet for all of his powers, he's still a scared, confused and vulnerable young man - and seeing him deal with the horrors that come his way is both enjoyable and inspiring. The other major players - Ig's best friend Lee, brother Terry and soulmate Merrin - are equally well-rendered, and Hill creates believable relationships between them that really drive the plot forwards.
Speaking of the plot, it's structured and paced very well indeed, building up to a gripping climax. Hill jumps backwards and forwards through the story's chronology, using multiple POVs in order to ensure that the story is told from both sides. The result is that the reader is able to understand exactly why certain events happened, and to appreciate the emotions and decisions of the characters. This approach makes for a more well-rounded story; Hill clearly understands that the antagonist's perspective and backstory is equally important, and it's enjoyable to see how the motivations of individual characters come together to form a tapestry of love, envy, despair and hope.
Hill's prose is smooth and fluid; he handles exposition superbly and understands the importance of atmosphere (and how best to use it). More importantly, he understands people - for all of the fantastical elements in Horns, it's a book that is essentially about what it is to be human. I was greatly surprised at how emotionally invested I became in the book; it's been a very long time since I've read a novel that has moved me to such a degree. Unelievably, I even feel a little emotional just writing this and thinking about the book. There were certain scenes that I could personally identify with (not the growing of horns, I'd like to point out), and Hill really does absolutely nail these scenes on an emotional level. When you read a scene and think "Yes, that's exactly what it feels like" then the author is clearly doing something right. This happened more than once during my reading of the book.
Verdict: Horns is many things: a tragic love story, a tale of revenge, an examination of human emotion and a startling picture of what love and hate can drive people to do. It's lucid, funny and intelligent. It's also sad, touching and - at times - utterly heartbreaking. But most of all it's utterly brilliant in conception and execution, a startling mix of childhood joy, adult despair, and a touch of midsummer magic. Horns is one of the most emotionally-engaging books I've ever read, and if that's not a good recommendation then I don't know what is.
Horns one bit piercing and one bit dull July 28, 2010
Thomas Hixson (mar vista)
Horns has one hell of an opening that puts you right in the story, Ig comes home from a night of black drinking,and finds that he horns. The book then gets very funny as Ig can draw out some very personal stories and truth from his parents and townies. We find out everybody in town thinks that Ig killed his true love, one year ago.
The killer is revealed to him, to fast in my opinion by his brotherwho's been covering for him, 80 pages in. I would have liked to at least have met this character till it's revealed that he has killed. Then we flashback and meet a lot of the characters we already met or have heard about. we get to see the first time Ig meets the girl, and the villan.
From there the novel flips back and forth showing the murder from different perspectives, each reavealing more, then we get present day as Ig plots his revenge.
This novel is not one of horror, but one of love and death, all told by a man getting to be the devil, it's a good ready, it loses steam leading up to the end battle, and the battle wasn't all that fantastic, but the true climax is about the love for two people and what they have to sacrifice to keep that love, the ending really fits and will shock you. a problem I had is the villan seems really complex, but you as the reader don't get in his head enough so you can understand why he is the way he is and more importantly why he breaks the bro code.
 Building...Building...Plop July 23, 2010
KJ Young (USA)
When Ig Parrish wakes after another night of drinking to excess over the loss of his true love, it isn't only the hangover wreaking havoc with his head. Horns have sprouted, causing random citizens, friends and loved ones to share tidbits of information that would likely NEVER be shared.
The majority of Joe Hill's second novel, Horns, is filled with imagery and metaphor in his distinct style. The chapters move well and the reader glimpses different angles of the same tragedy throughout, which is an approach not often taken by authors. In fact, I found this to be a large part of my interest in the story as I read on.
Unfortunately, the last few chapters of the novel came across as though Hill had either lost track of his direction, or made a choice to upend the piece just for kicks. What was already darkly odd, turned out to be strange, if not plain silly.
Wow July 22, 2010
Catrina Thomas (Menifee, CA United States)
This was my first read of a book by Joe Hill, and boy am I ever glad that I found it! What an awesome book! Very funny, and yet a bit poignant throughout, too. You can't help but fall in love with the main character, Ig, even though he's now a devil of sorts. This book is a bit of a murder mystery while being a love story at the same time. A bit heavy and descriptive on sex, but it doesn't take away from the story at all - I just didn't feel it was all necessary. Very reminiscent of the authors father, Stephen King - I am a new fan of Joe Hill and am simply delighted that he decided to follow along in his fathers footsteps!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 154
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