Holly

Published: 2023

Holly (2023) elevates Holly Gibney—first introduced in the Bill Hodges trilogy and featured in The Outsider and If It Bleeds—to protagonist status in her first solo novel. Set during the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Holly as she investigates the disappearance of Penny Dahl's college-aged daughter Bonnie. The trail leads to Professors Rodney and Emily Harris, retired academics with a sinister secret: they kidnap vulnerable young people, harvest their spinal fluid to combat their own dementia symptoms, then dispose of the bodies on their property. Unlike King's previous Holly Gibney stories, the novel features no supernatural elements, focusing instead on human monstrosity as Holly methodically uncovers the professors' decades of crimes. As Holly closes in on the truth while battling her own pandemic anxieties and grief over her mother's recent death, the Harrises take new victims, including Holly's close friends. The novel unfolds through multiple perspectives, including the Harrises' chilling rationalization of their crimes as necessary sacrifices for their intellectual preservation. King explores how intellectual arrogance can become a form of evil when divorced from moral considerations, particularly through the professors' contempt for those they deem inferior. Through Holly's neurodivergent perspective and methodical investigation style, King continues developing one of his most distinctive late-career characters, examining how trauma and resilience shape her unique approach to both life and detective work. The pandemic backdrop provides additional isolation and tension while reflecting the novel's themes of vulnerability and societal breakdown. Through its exploration of ageism, ableism, and exploitation, Holly examines how intellectual justifications can mask predatory impulses.

Themes

• Human monsters
• Intellectual arrogance
• Pandemic isolation
• Detective work
• Trauma and resilience

Adaptations

Collector Notes

The first novel centered entirely on Holly Gibney, a character who first appeared in the Bill Hodges trilogy. Unlike previous Holly stories, this contains no supernatural elements, focusing instead on human evil.