NOS4A2

Summer. Massachusetts. An old Silver Wraith with a frightening history. A story about one serial killer and his lingering, unfinished business.Anyone could be next. We're going to Christmasland ...NOS4R2 is an old-fashioned horror novel in the best sense. Claustrophobic, gripping and terrifying, this is a story that will have you on the edge of the seat while you read, and leaving the lights on while you sleep. With the horrific tale of Charles Manx and his Silver Wraith, Joe Hill has established himself as the premiere horror and supernatural thriller writer of his generation.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In Heart-Shaped Box (2007) and Horns (2010), Hill showed hints of an enlarging literary toolbox. With this 700-page opus, the tool set is complete, and Hill has indeed built something very big. The story follows Vic, from 8-year-old girl to troubled teen to embattled mother, as she struggles to survive as a “strong creative”—one who has access (in her case, via a ramshackle bridge) to an alternate universe constructed from imagination. Problem is, a chief attraction of this other America is Christmasland, a snowy Neverland carnival controlled by cheery, ageless child-abductor Charlie Manx (think Bentley Little’s Mailman or Stephen King’s Pennywise). Manx tries to take Vic to Christmasland as a kid, and years later, in the book’s central conflict, he tries to take her son. Hill doesn’t spend much time in reality before careening deliriously off into a la-la land of horrifying absurdism (a bottomless Scrabble bag, a mouth full of fish-hook teeth). This engenders inelegance; at times, the parts are more than the whole. But Hill is omnivorous in his appetite for story and character, and here he has created his best: Lou, Vic’s obese, warm-hearted lover; Bing, Manx’s demented chief elf; and gutsy, heartbreaking Vic. Occasional drawings by Hill’s Locke & Key conspirator, Gabriel Rodriguez, add one more element to this vast and gangly but undeniably readable work. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: What isn’t being done for horror fiction’s heir apparent? Big advertising, big author tour, big e-book teasers, big videos—even the advance reading copies are gorgeously produced. --Daniel Kraus

New York Times

“Hill’s imagination is...far-ranging.... NOS4A2 is full of chills and cliffhangers.”

Library Journal (starred review)

“Fascinating and utterly engaging, this novel is sure to leave readers wanting more. One thing is for certain, however. After reading this book, readers will never hear Christmas carols in quite the same way again.”

Booklist (starred review)

“Hill is omnivorous in his appetite for story and character, and here he has created his best.”

Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author of The Prophet on NOS4A2

“Quite simply the best horror writer of our generation, Joe Hill’s masterful storytelling is on full display in NOS4A2. It is by turns terrifying and hilarious, horrifying and full of heart, and relentlessly compelling.”

The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia)

“[A] new take on the fantasy-horror genre...Highly recommended.”

Village Voice

“[A] lovely, earnest collection of short fiction.”

New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)

“[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute.”

Library Journal (starred review)

“[A]stounding . . . .Though most of the stories have elements of horror, the overall mood of the collection is one of heartbreaking wonderment . . . Highly recommended .”

Publishers Weekly on NOS4A2

“NOS4A2 is a brilliant exploration of classic and modern monsters and dark fantasties, all cut up, restitched and retooled...With this novel, riveting from beginning to end, Joe Hill has become a master of his craft.”

Library Journal (starred review) on NOS4A2

“Fascinating and utterly engaging, this novel is sure to leave readers wanting more. One thing is certain, however. After reading this book, readers will never hear Christmas carols in quite the same way again.”

Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on NOS4A2

“Hill is so skillful that we don’t know till the very end whether he’ll get away with it. . . Hill’s story is quite original and, for horror fans of a certain ironic bent, it’s an unqualified delight.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer

“NOS4A2 will pull you in from the first pages, and draw you away from your other responsibilities.”

BookRiot.com on NOS4A2

“Read it with the lights on and your children locked in a closet.”

The Globe and Mail on NOS4A2

“[Hill’s] sentences crackle with wit and understated craftsmanship – the kind so skillful it is only visible if you’re paying attention.”

Tampa Bay Times on NOS4A2

“Joe Hills NOS4A2 is one of the creepiest books I’ve read in a long time--and I mean that in a good way.”

Richmond Times-Dispatch on NOS4A2

“Hill’s well-stocked bag of narrative tricks keeps the pages moving at a steady clip, and his characters are sufficiently melodramatic to make the book’s scale feel both intimate and operatic. In fact, if you’re an impressionable reader, stick to reading ‘NOS4A2’ during the day. ”

Fort Worth Star-Telegram on NOS4A2

“Words of warning for those who pick up this hefty, 704-page saga: You’ll never listen to Christmas carols the same way. Or sleep with the lights off.”

USA Today, 4 stars

“Like any good novel, no matter the genre, NOS4A2 zips down the streets of its mesmerizing story line not just in the Wraith but also, and more importantly, on the backs of high-octane characters...Hill imbues the pitter-patter of little feet with a terror you won’t soon forget.”

Lev Grossman, Time magazine

“NOS4A2 is a masterwork of horror.”

St Louis Today on NOS4A2

“NOS4A2 and its story of a heroic biker chic going up against an old vampire should grab you by the lapels and give y ou a few good shakes before setting its hooks in--and deep....Hill...puts together a riveting tale.”

Writer's Digest on NOS4A2

“Joe Hill can terrify. he can humor. He can sadden. He can shock. His characters are deep and vibrant, his plots mesmerizing, his prose genuine. Simply put, he’s a damn good writer.”

Seattle Times

“NOS4A2 is [Hill’s] longest and most ambitious work yet. . . utterly absorbing.”

From the Back Cover

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.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. The journey across the highway of Charlie’s twisted imagination transforms his precious passengers, leaving them as terrifying and unstoppable as their benefactor.Then comes the day when Vic goes looking for trouble . . . and finds her way to Charlie. That was a lifetime ago. Now, the only kid ever to escape Charlie’s evil is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx hasn’t stopped thinking about 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, Vic McQueen prepares to destroy Charlie once and for all—or die trying.

About the Author

Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Fireman, NOS4A2, Horns, and Heart-Shaped Box; Strange Weather, a collection of novellas; and the acclaimed story collections Full Throttle and 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the Eisner Award–winning writer of a seven-volume comic book series, Locke & Key. Much of his work has been adapted for film and TV, including NOS4A2 (AMC), Locke & Key (Netflix), In the Tall Grass (Netflix), and The Black Phone (Blumhouse).

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