Joe Hill

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doowopgirl

very avid fan
Aug 7, 2009
6,946
25,119
65
dublin ireland
I've read all the Joe Hill books and my favorite was HSB. I have to ask if anyone has read Murder Past Midnight? I've just read it and I have to say I wasn't impressed. Maybe he has to get into the stride of changing tracks. It was ok, but I felt the dialogue was stilted, there were too many reused phrases and he was self conscious of trying a Raymond Chandler vibe. Anyone else?
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
So.... I'm roughly halfway through NOS4R2 and...
WTF Joe?! Hooper?! :O_O: Nooooooooo! @#$%#@$#@ I'm not scared of you Joe... I'm not! :going_down:

Stephen? Give that boy of yours a time out for me, please.... #$%$ing kids...

:nope:

That's better.... :biggrin2:

I just got to that part :( I want to yell at Joe too lol. I started reading NOS4R2 a couple days ago and its so good, I've had a really hard time putting it down... now I'm trying to gather up the courage to pick it back up :(
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
I've read all the Joe Hill books and my favorite was HSB. I have to ask if anyone has read Murder Past Midnight? I've just read it and I have to say I wasn't impressed. Maybe he has to get into the stride of changing tracks. It was ok, but I felt the dialogue was stilted, there were too many reused phrases and he was self conscious of trying a Raymond Chandler vibe. Anyone else?

Murder Past Midnight was written by an author whose name is Joe Hill but its not the same Joe Hill as the one who is SK's son. It's ok to dislike Murder Past Midnight lol
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
well... with some trepidation, I picked up NOS4A2 again. This story is seriously captivating! I haven't read anything this intense since I read The Bodies Left Behind. I just wish I'd known I wouldn't be able to put it down before I started reading it... I would have finished the laundry first :(
I am glad you gave it another chance no bounce no play - it's the only book of his I have read so far and I enjoyed it very much
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
I DON'T like NOS4A2. I don't understand the little "cross-promotion" thing in Dr. Sleep about Charlie Manx either. It's not for lack of trying to understand it either. I simply can find no good reason or any reason period - good, bad or otherwise - that he needed to do a tiny little cross-promotion of his son's book and character at the beginning of Dr. Sleep. I mean they want you to believe the two are NOT inextricably linked to each others work so one does a cross-promotion of the other? I'm sorry. It makes no sense.

I also dislike his characters and can find no way to relate to them. I think it's for the same reason I had difficulty relating to Stephen King's characters in the beginning; our lives are too fundamentally different for there to be much crossover.
I like Dean Koontz because even though he handles his issues differently, he at least has experienced similar things to me. I had violence in my family too. I lived in an orphanage for a few years too. I don't know if Dean Koontz did, but what he wrote convinced me that if not him, he knew someone who did.

I don't think it was cross promotion as much as I think it was a result of a conversation between Joe and his dad. I can almost imagine it lol

JH: Hey dad, do you mind if I mention Pennywise in NOS4A2?
SK: I don't mind. Would you care if I mention Charlie Manx in Doctor Sleep?
JH: I don't care... as long as I can also mention the True Knot :)
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
I finished NOS4A2 last night. I really really really like this novel. It had a great beginning, a great middle, AND a great ending. Even the acknowledgments and the note about the type were interesting lol. Be sure to read the note about the type :)

There aren't too many horror writers who can portray female characters as well as JH did. Most horror novels have males as leading characters. I loved it that NOS4A2's leading character was a heroine rather than a hero :)

This next compliment is going to sound silly but... Joe curses naturally. Many authors can't curse naturally and their character's lines are awkward.
 

SutterKane

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2014
297
1,891
41
So far, since my last post in this thread, I've read "Heart Shaped Box", which I loved, and "20th Century Ghosts", which I thought was really good minus a few stories (And a couple of great ones, like "Pop Art" & "Voluntary Committal"). As of right now, I'm 80 pages into "Horns" and so far loving it. He has a really great, sarcastic sense of humor that I really love. Thanks to everybody who made recommendations.
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
5,428
25,651
NJ
So far, since my last post in this thread, I've read "Heart Shaped Box", which I loved, and "20th Century Ghosts", which I thought was really good minus a few stories (And a couple of great ones, like "Pop Art" & "Voluntary Committal"). As of right now, I'm 80 pages into "Horns" and so far loving it. He has a really great, sarcastic sense of humor that I really love. Thanks to everybody who made recommendations.
Pop Art is a classic. Have you seen this?
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