NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Kate’s Library

Title: NOS4A2
Author: Joe Hill
Length/Pages: 19 hours, 41 minutes / 720 pages
Publisher: HarperAudio
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible

Summary
Victoria McQueen has an uncanny knack for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. When she rides her bicycle over the rickety old covered bridge in the woods near her house, she always emerges in the places she needs to be. Vic doesn’t tell anyone about her unusual ability, because she knows no one will believe her. She has trouble understanding it herself.

Charles Talent Manx has a gift of his own. He likes to take children for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the vanity plate NOS4A2. In the Wraith, he and his innocent guests can slip out of the everyday world and onto hidden roads that lead to an astonishing playground of amusements he calls Christmasland. Mile by mile, the journey across the highway of Charlie’s twisted imagination transforms his precious passengers, leaving them as terrifying and unstopable as their benefactor.

And then comes the day when Vic goes looking for trouble… and finds her way, inevitably, to Charlie.

That was a lifetime ago. Now, the only kid ever to escape Charlie’s unmitigated evil is all grown up and desperate to forget.

But Charlie Manx hasn’t stopped thinking about the exceptional Victoria McQueen. On the road again, he won’t slow down until he’s taken his revenge. He’s after something very special – something Vic can never replace.

As a life-and-death battle of wills builds her magic pitted against his - Vic McQueen prepares to destroy Charlie once and for all… or die trying…

Review
This is one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to in quite awhile. It was chilling. Joe Hill is such a wonderful writer – this is the third thing I’ve read by him and I’ve loved them all. He’s becoming one of my authors that I auto-buy when they come out with something new.

NOS4A2 was really great on audio. The narrator is Kate Mulgrew (aka Capt. Janeway from Star Trek Voyager) and I thought she did a terrific job. There was one major mispronunciation, but you’d only know it if you’re from the area where the book takes place (as I am). Narrator can make or break an audiobook and she really did well.

The premise of this book is so imaginative and terrifying. Vic, despite her issues, is a really badass lady and Charlie Manx is a horrifying villain. There are scenes from this book that will stick with me for quite awhile. For me, it was the perfect bridge between Halloween and Christmas.

It’s hard to really say much else without spoiling the elements that create suspense. I could gush about it for awhile – it really was a fantastic book and it worked really well on audio. A quick google tells me that this is going to be a TV series – so you should read or listen to it beforehand! Consider clicking here to get a copy for yourself and support Kate’s Library!

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