Stephen King - Billy Summers

Genre: crime/thriller

    Ah man, I gotta say, I did not read a tons of Stephen King novels. Heard of him but not really read his books except 11/22/63, which I marvels on the length of creativity that Stephen King’s can stretches (I read the book in Chinese translation back in the days, perhaps I should find time to re-read it in English).

Anyway, picked up this book as the summary interested me.

Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?

What I like about the book is how Stephen King depicts the emotional rollercoaster of the main character of accepting the job, his interaction with his accompliance (and sensing red flags and dealing with it), how he blends in with the community but knowing that it will be all in vain, how he deal with a new sidekick that he will come into along the way, with all the trauma that he faced in the past war.

Also, the cover story that the main character adopts is that of a writer. He uses this as a chance to write out his life story, releasing it from his mind and perhaps letting someone else read it someday. I think it’s a very interesting way to tell a story.

You won’t get a epic finale of gang vs gang showoff, but I think it is a nice turn that focuses on the emotional aspect of the main character and his sidekick, with the relationship they developed along the way.

Overall it is a good read. Would recommend.