Holly is a 2023 novel by American author Stephen King, published on September 5, 2023, by Scribner. The novel follows Holly Gibney, who made her first appearance in Mr. Mercedes (2014). She also appeared in Finders Keepers (2015) and End of Watch (2016), and later was a major supporting character in The Outsider. She was also the central character in If It Bleeds, a novella in the 2020 collection of the same name. An excerpt from Holly was published in Entertainment Weekly on January 23, 2023.
Plot
Private investigator Holly Gibney works to solve the disappearance of Bonnie, a girl from a small town in the American Midwest, at the request of Bonnie's mother. While Holly is reluctant to take on the case, she eventually caves in and decides to explore it. Set in 2020–2021, the book follows Holly as she uncovers an emerging pattern of disappearances linked with a bizarre local elderly couple involved in dark practices in order to attempt to retain their youth. Holly also features a subplot involving Holly's own personal reaction to living through the COVID-19 pandemic, including her views on subjects such as vaccinations, climate change and Donald Trump. Holly's colleague Pete is ill in the book, leaving Holly working solo on her case.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 8 reviews: 6 "Rave" reviews, 1 "Positive" review, and 1 "Pan" review.
In a review in The New York Times, Flynn Berry commented that "when Holly appears on the page, you never have the sense of an author pulling her strings. Her decisions feel genuine, like Holly herself is running the show. ... Her presence balances the new novel's darkness. And there is quite a lot of darkness." Writing in USA Today, Brian Truitt gave the novel three out of four stars and stated, "While it might fall short of top-tier King, Holly satisfies as a fitfully freaky thriller, a solid exploration of the title character as a soulful beacon of hope, and a reminder of how important it is to answer that call when it comes." David Pitt for Booklist wrote, "In her new leading role, Holly shines. She's tough, relentless, and compassionate while at the same time being vulnerable and prone to lapses of confidence. The story is the kind of thing King excels at, too—dark, mysterious, and deeply unsettling. This is the novel Holly deserves."
Kirkus Reviews assessed the novel as catering mostly to loyal fans of King, but also criticized the novel's pacing, King's language and his "creaky" cultural references. Kirkus also felt the novel failed to deliver the pleasures of a mystery novel, writing, "Waiting for the private investigator heroine to get to where the reader is at the beginning of the story feels interminable."
A number of reviewers criticized Holly for its overt political content, including conservative columnist Christian Toto, who said of the book, "the snippets [of Holly] read as if Rob Reiner, who may have the worst case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, took over King's laptop. [Holly] ties into King's rage against so-called "anti-vaxxers," MAGA nation and more." Feminist writer and columnist Kat Rosenfield was also heavily critical of Holly, calling King a "boomer" and expressing irritation at King's self-insertion of his own political views into the Holly Gibney character. King responded to the criticism in an interview for Rolling Stone, claiming that he had anticipated that some readers would be annoyed by the political views expressed in Holly, stating, "I think that a lot of people — particularly people on the other side of the Covid issue and the Trump issue — are going to give it one-star reviews on Amazon. But all I can say to those people is, 'Knock yourself out'."