When we find Billy at the beginning of this story though, he has come to grow weary of the assassin’s lifestyle and is contemplating retirement. His only rule? The target must be a truly bad person, because he will not go after innocents. Ever since leaving the military, he’s been making a living as a killer for hire, making a name for himself as being the best in the business because he always delivers. The eponymous protagonist of Billy Summers is a former sniper in the Marines and a veteran of the second Iraq War. Admittedly it wasn’t a complete miss, but personally speaking, it was also far from anything I would call a hit. In any case, I became too overconfident, and in hindsight I probably should have passed on this one. Maybe it’s because I had a rather good run with the last few King novels I read, or the fact that the synopsis to this one sounded a bit different from what I was expecting. With Billy Summers though, I broke with that trend. Stephen King books can be hit or miss with me, which is why I don’t often pick them up right at release, preferring to hang back to see what other reviews are saying before I take the plunge myself. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (August 3, 2021)

This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own. I received a review copy from the publisher. The story is almost in three separate parts, but woven together to create an intricate tale of love, war, justice and vengeance.It makes you think about what’s important in life with another profound King-ism ”God doesn’t have a plan - he throws pick-up sticks” As always with a much anticipated King book, once I opened Billy Summers, it never got closed till the last page.Book Review: Billy Summers by Stephen King The characters in this book are superbly crafted and you have strong feelings about every single one of them, even the bad guys, of which there are plenty. That may be true to a point, but isn’t there a lot of horror in the world right now? This book does not go down the supernatural path, as do many of his earliest works, but in true King fashion, there is a nod to one of his most lauded books, involving a haunted hotel. I know that those who aren’t as staunchly in awe of this work, think of his name as a horror writer.

'As a lifelong Stephen King devotee, it’s difficult not to have the preconceived notion that everything he writes is going to be astounding.

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