Joe Hill – Horns

Ig Perrish had a good life, son of famous parents, privileged life and a girlfriend, Merrin that he loved. But one night Merrin was raped and murdered, Ig was the only suspect but never went to trial but the town still decided that he was guilty. One morning Ig wakes up with horns growing from his head, they seem to give him special powers so he decides to use them to find out who was responsible for the death of Merrin.

I loved Joe Hill’s first novel Heart Shaped Box and really enjoyed his short story collection, 21st Century Ghosts, so I was really looking forward to reading Horns. I have a signed hardback copy but like to keep my signed books in nice condition so waited for the paperback version and when it arrived it jumped to the top of my to read pile.

I was not too sure about the story at first but I was quickly drawn into it and was soon completely hooked. The plot was interesting and well paced. I liked the way that the book was split into different sections, the first dealing with the present, section two dealing with the past including how Ig and Merrin met and then sections three onwards back to the present but using flashbacks / visions to look at the past.

The greatest strength of the book for me was the characters, they were well written and felt real and they brought out a wide range of emotions. I wanted to know what was going to happen to them and had genuine concern for Ig, hoping that he would be able to sort out his troubled life and reading Merrin’s letter to him brought tears to my eyes.

I’m eagerly awaiting Joe Hill’s next novel. So much so that I may even give Locke & Key a try although graphic novels have never really appealed to me (I don’t think I really “get” them) but I guess it may be worth giving it a go.