Raven Review: Horns by Joe Hill

Posted October 15, 2014 by shooting in Uncategorized / 13 Comments

During the month of October, I am calling all “Halloween” type books Raven Reviews.



Raven Review: Horns by Joe Hill


Review by Lauren


Source: copy from library; all opinions are my own 


Official Summary: At first Ig thought the
horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and
grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory,
following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and
murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have
been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural
about the horns, which were all too real.

Once the righteous Ig
had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son
of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV
star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.

But
Merrin’s death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was
never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public
opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty
because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the
investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters.
Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is,
but the devil inside. . . .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible
new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends
to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life.
Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It’s time for a
little revenge. . . . It’s time the devil had his due. . .

Review: The official summary for this book is quite long, so I will try not to waste a lot of time describing actual moments from the book. Instead, I just want you all to know that I absolutely loved this book. I’ve been wanting to read something by Joe Hill for awhile now (I even own Heart-Shaped Box) but it took realizing that the movie adaptation is fast approaching for me to grab a copy of Horns from the library. I’m a huge fan of Dan Radcliffe and I try and see anything he is in, so I was excited to learn he would be playing the title character, Ig, in the movie. After reading the book, I know it will be quite a departure for him but he looks great in the trailers!

Ig (Dan Radcliffe) and Merrin (Juno Temple) 
source

Anyway, back to the novel. Horns follows the third-person point of view of Ig Perrish whose girlfriend was raped and killed. Ig was was never charged, but most of the people where he lives seems to believe he did it. When Ig develops the horns, he finds that touching people will show him terrible things they have done, and he can often persuade people to do bad or dark things. In all, though, Ig is not a bad guy. It’s interesting to see him manifest physically into the devil because there are still so many aspects of his personality that do not match up. Yes, he is capable of bad things. Yes, he does carry out some of these wishes. At the same time, he cares about people. He gets his feelings hurt, especially learning people’s dark secrets concerning him.

Ig (Dan Radcliffe) and Terry Perrish (Joe Anderson) 
source

Horns allows you to see back in time, to learn how Ig grew up, how he and Merrin met and fell in love. It also gives you background information about other characters that is very much necessary for the story. Horns is difficult to talk about because everyone has a secret. I will tell you that the mystery of Merrin’s death does not remain a secret for too long; at least concerning who killed her that night. From there, it is a dark path that Ig takes in terms of learning the truth and figuring out just what he wants to do with that power.

Finally, for those that are not aware, Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King. I tell you this in case you are a fan of King’s and it helps you become more interested in Joe Hill’s work. As of now, I have read one book by each of these men, and to be honest, I’m far more interested in reading more by Hill at the moment than King.

And now, for those who are interested, here is one of the Horns trailers. Horns is released in theaters on Halloween (Oct. 31).

13 responses to “Raven Review: Horns by Joe Hill

  1. I wasn't that impressed when I saw the trailer of the movie I confess but knowing that you had a wonderful time with the book makes me curious. Maybe I'll try the book to see how it is. Great review!

  2. Okay this sounds super interesting and I love that Radcliffe will be staring in the movie. I think I would like this. I haven't read a King book in forever but it would be interesting to see how his son writes.

  3. I am currently listening to a King book and I must try Horns. I started Hill's NOS$A2 on audio last winter but I had to set it aside, it got to dark for audio. I think I would like this one, and I have to read it before the movie.

  4. Wow yeah that IS a long blurb! I have seen this author's books all over the place and even own a couple, but I haven't given him a try yet. It sounds like a great read. I haven't read any Stephen King books – weirdly enough since I'm a huge horror fan haha. I'm still intrigued by this, though! Great review!

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