Bibliography: Hill, Joe. (2007).  Heart-Shaped Box.  New York: HarperCollins.  ISBN: 978-0061147937

Plot Summary:  Aging rocker Judas Coyne is a collector of the odd, the strange, and the macabre–a cannibal cookbook, a snuff film.  He also collects girlfriends, calling each after the state where they are from.  When his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an internet auction site, Coyne is mildly interested and tells him to buy it.  When an old man’s black suit is delivered shortly thereafter in a black heart shaped box,  the ghost that accompanies it is not a friendly Casper type.  He and current girlfriend Georgia travel cross country to try and find a way to escape the ghost.  Judas cannot escape his past, and will need to come to terms with himself, with Georgia, with past girlfriend Florida if he has any hope of staying alive.

Critical Analysis:  I should preface this by saying that I don’t usually choose horror when I pick out what to read.  I also don’t like most horror movies.  I think, for me, it has to do with suspension of disbelief.  If the situations, characters are too unrealistic, I find it jarring (and in the case of some horror movies, silly.)

But Hill, he hooks you and reels you in before you have time to think about the details.  The pace of the story is unrelenting, and awful and horrible things follow one after the other.  But somehow, in between, we see Judas’ past, vignettes of his time with Florida.  We see Georgia’s compassion and strength of will, and most of all, a kind of horror that stems from a diabolical plot for revenge and that you feel deep in your chest.

I don’t want to say too much, I don’t want to spoil the details.  I will say that the audio book was especially creepy (to actually hear the ghost speak…) and not to belabor the Stephen King connection, but teens who love King’s early work will love this too.  (Thanks Dia Reeves for suggesting titles outside my normal reading range…you haven’t steered me wrong yet.)

Review Excerpts:  ”Much will be made of the kinship of Hill and his superstar father, Stephen King, but Hill can stand on his own two feet. He’s got horror down pat, and his debut is hair-raising fun.” –Kirkus Reviews

“…a fast-paced plot that crackles with expertly planted surprises and revelations….believably complex emotional lives that help to anchor the supernatural in psychological reality….His subtle and skillful treatment of horrors that could easily have exploded over the top and out of control helps make this a truly memorable debut.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Predictable at times, the book has genuinely touching emotional moments as well as action-packed confrontations with the dead.”  -Library Journal

Reviewed from public library audio book.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.