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In this recurring piece I'll be going book by book through the King's archive where I'll be providing mid new insights and analysis while ranking them in a totally objective manner.
Next up in this series is Billy Summers.
Book Title: Billy Summers
Year of Release: 2021
Chronological Position in King's Work: 86th
Pages: 589
The synopsis from the back of the book:
Chances are, if you're a target of Billy Summers, two immutable truths apply: You'll never even know what hit you, and you're really getting what you deserve. He's a killer for hire and the best in the business - but he'll do the job only if the assignment is a truly bad person. But now, time is catching up with him, and Billy wants out. Before he can do that, though, there's one last hit, which promises a generous payday at the end of the line even as things don't seem quite on the level here. Given that Billy is among the most talented snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq War vet, and a virtual Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done, what could possibly go wrong? How about everything?
Part War story and part love letter to small-town America and the people who live there, this spectacular thriller of luck, fate, and love will grip readers with its electrifying narrative as a complex antihero with one last shot at redemption must avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. You won't ever forget this stunning novel from master storyteller Stephen King...and you will never forget Billy.
I've discussed it before but with a second lengthy book synopsis I'm going to have to start tracking possible patterns as I go through these. Does the word count on the back of a novel correlate directly to how good it is? If much is left a mystery to the reader, is it good? Because clearly when there is a veritable shit ton of words on the back cover the book must be awful.
I figured I owed it to you to rip the band-aid off right away. I am firmly opposed to catfishing and in this instance to not lean immediately into my opinion, of this particular novel, feels insidious. Fingers crossed this is the exception to the rule.
I've really been trying to skim over or even entirely avoid looking at the book synopsis until after I have read the material. The goal was to of course avoid spoilers and because I like to go in blind to a book by an author who I already appreciate. I will now have to change that. And I hate change.
As described above, our protagonist Billy is a hitman for hire. Of course, like many an antihero, we get to root for him because he has a moral code regarding who he chooses to kill.
"A man got to have a code". Shoutout Omar.
When we happen upon Billy it's laid out that for sometime he has exclusively worked for a Las Vegas mobster. The situation is comfortable and ideal to Billy. He gets somewhat steady gigs with the knowledge he's killing people linked to mob operations. He can sleep soundly indeed. The head mob boss, Nick Majarian, is a charismatic man who we are immediately introduced to. He sets in motion a job in which Billy will be paid a fee many times over his usual rate. Red Flag #1 of many to come.
The job is to kill a snitch for a wealthy client of Nick's who will cause a serious shit storm if he is allowed to testify. So Billy parks himself in the community of Midwood which I believe is near St. Louis Missouri. King does like to create his own town names which can inhabit a feel for a small town but can be adapted to his needs. Makes sense to me.
Billy finds himself rooted in Midwood as the snitch will eventually be extradited from California where he is being held for a lesser crime than that of the one he will face when he returns (homicide).
The book then continues to run almost 600 pages with Billy primarily sitting in town staring at the courthouse where he'll take the shot, or making 'real' connections with the nice neighbors who he lives next to for months as part of his cover.
Reading this book of course made me think of the David Fincher movie that came out in October, The Killer. The movie follows Michael Fassbender as a hired assassin. The movie works to show that an actual killers life is mostly boring only punctuated occasionally by short bursts of action. I imagine much like a lengthy stakeout for cops. Fincher was showcasing the mundane aspects of life while juxtaposing them with harsh, graphic violence.
The problem here is that Billy sitting on his ass looking out a window or having some cold ones in town with his neighbors for much of the book is resoundingly boring. Page after page leaves the reader asking, why me? What did I do to deserve this?
Eventually there is what I imagine Stephen King thought was a payoff, but really, it seemed like the rushed conclusion to a story he wished he didn't start. I say that as someone who has great experience in that respect. Holy shit I'm doing it right now!
There is no great mystery revealed. The 'conspiracy' that sees our protagonist eventually in danger is a straightforward tale of betrayal and retribution. I felt numb to all of it by the time the plot progressed. There was no joy for the characters ending arc, just the satisfaction that the book was done.
As a parting note, I realize part of my gripe with this novel was I never felt immersed. Some of that is due to how King writes his mobsters. They feel like they are frozen in time and caricatures of what a mob hitman was back in their heyday. Usually I don't mind the odd vocabulary choices King makes in his books. Many of them center around his home turf of Maine and there is a mysticism of the state through his words that can carry a level of acceptance with the reader. This is not the case here.
I didn't mention it above but there is a woman thrust into the story for Billy to protect as result of him being in the right place at the right time. Her name is Alice Maxwell and ultimately she doesn't make us like his character any more than we did before her introduction. There is no redemption here as he goes about this business to kill bad men anyway (not that they don't deserve it). Her introduction, dumped into the story at Billy's feet, combined with the dialogue of the flawed antagonists makes Alice feel somewhat like a classic 'dame' set in modern times. It confirms what I felt in the beginning of the novel, it just felt off and the feeling never went away. It only got worse.
It was still an interesting read for me personally as I had never failed to enjoy a book of King's before. Even with some I felt so-so on I could still put the book down happy that I had read it and happy again to place it on my bookshelf. This one will be put in a drawer and forgotten. Much like my koozies.
On to the next where I'll see if I can hold to not reading the synopsis in advance. To be fair there is one thing the synopsis got right.
I'll never forget Billy.
Rating: 1.33/5 King's
Kirk's Rankings:
Cell (3.82/5)
Salem's Lot (3.70/5)
The Institute (3.00/5)
Billy Summers (1.33/5)
If you have any comments, questions, or recommendations in regards to this series, feel free to email me at kirk@illandodd.com and I'll be sure to get back to you and may include them as part of a mailbag section.