"Heart Shaped Box"

Being the fan of Stephen King's that I am, I was very interested to learn that his son, Joe, is not only an author, but chose to follow his father's footsteps in terms of the genre of the fiction he writes.

"Heart Shaped Box" is Joe Hill's debut novel, although he has one of his own out and has the 4th coming out in a series that he co-writes, so I was optimistic that there could be something good here.

Strictly speaking, "Heart Shaped Box" is a ghost story, but I think the thing that I loved most about it was the way that Hill chose to describe the ghosts. In the book, the ghosts' eyes are blacked over with moving lines. Writing that here doesn't seem too impressive, and honestly, pulling a passage from the novel really doesn't do it justice to the effect that the novel makes when you read the whole thing and have the character and plot built around the first description. I think that part of what is so unnerving about it is that the first time the description is given it is from the perspective of a 12 year old girl. The two main characters each have separate occasions where they describe it too and it becomes increasingly unnerving. The ghost, who was a renowned psychic and hypnotists when he was alive, is able to takeover the T.V. and radio and also controls the characters, making them come close to killing themselves and each other multiple times.

Honestly, in many ways this redefined what I think of when ghost comes to mind, at least for the time being, and it kept me unnerved, especially working the night shift at the hotel, until I finished the book.

The book is also just really well written. I can relate enough to the main character that I forget he is a mid fifties rock legend who I really have very little in common with. Hill made me care about the characters more than most authors are able to and he handled the ending a lot better than I expected him to, giving the best of both worlds and having a nice sort of wrap up.

If you're looking for a good, fast-paced read, from a promising your writer that handles the ghost theme in a unique way, then check out "Heart Shaped Box".