How does one write a 700 plus page novel and make it non-stop stay on the edge of you seat the entire way? Damned if I know, but go ask Joe Hill, because he sure the f**k knows how!!!!!! Wow! What a ride! Remember the episode of “Friends” where Joey keeps the book in the freezer? I SERIOUSLY wanted to shove my poor kindle in the deepest parts of my freezer at night whilst I was reading this one!

This was my very first Joe Hill book but believe you me, it won’t be my last! Two confessions…one, I always wondered what it would be like growing up as Stephen King as my dad. I mean, what goes through the man’s mind as he sits down to pancakes on a Sunday morning. Does he see THAT pile of pancakes as others would view it? How does his sense of reality compare with others? What stories does he tell his kids? Well, Joe Hill was one of those children that actually sat at that table on Sunday mornings with SK as his pops…When SK had a random thought, JH was around to hear what it was…My second confession is, (okay, I KNOW this isn’t fair, Mr Hill) that I was hesitant to read this because Joe Hill IS King’s son….well, let me tell you….there are some things in the book that made me think of SK, but seriously, this is not some guy making a living based on having a famous father….if anything, Joe Hill deserves so much more fame then he currently has. I don’t scare easy. I don’t sit there and rapidly turn pages as fast as I can for 700 plus pages! I can’t EVER remember wanting to put a book in the freezer before! Joe Hill , much like his father, has that uncanny ability to take the everyday simple things that everyone has experienced as a kid and turn it into the stuff of nightmares…bikes, childhood games, and even Christmas!!!! What the hell!?!?!?!

Don’t read this book if you get emotionally attached to great characters and want them to live forever. Don’t read this book if you are afraid to “think outside the box”. Don’t read this book if you think every Christmas should be perfect. Don’t read this book if you live alone and don’t have a safe, sturdy freezer to store your current read in. Don’t read this book if you are afraid of jumping at a mysterious bump in the night. Don’t read this book if you think it’s okay to listen to Christmas music all year long….

Do read this book if you want to have the simple things we all did as a child revisited and made real. Oh come on…you need an example? Okay, remember how you used to ride your bike, only it wasn’t *really* a bike? It was some magical travel machine that could take you any imaginary place you wished to go! Sure that was only your imagination…

Or was it….

Hmmmmmmm….

Do read this book if you enjoy an author that cares enough about his readers to make you love all the characters in his novel…even those that aren’t gonna make it to the end….Do read this book if you want your heart pumping at fast speeds….Do read this book if you think Christmas should be kept year round in your heart (insert cheesy awwww)….Do read this book if you are looking for a new favourite author that you will forever adore!

Holy Hell, again, what a great f**king ride!!!!!!!!

Until next time….

Urania xx

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