Action & Adventure
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Billy Summers
Master storyteller Stephen King, whose "restless imagination is a power that cannot be contained" (The New York Times Book Review), presents an unforgettable and relentless #1 New York Times bestseller about a good guy in a bad job.
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He's a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he'll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
How about everything.
This spectacular can't-put-it-down novel is part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there, and it features one of the most compelling and surprising duos in King fiction, who set out to avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. It's about love, luck, fate, and a complex hero with one last shot at redemption.
You won't forget this "noirish, unputdownable thriller" (People), and you won't forget Billy.
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He's a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he'll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
How about everything.
This spectacular can't-put-it-down novel is part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there, and it features one of the most compelling and surprising duos in King fiction, who set out to avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. It's about love, luck, fate, and a complex hero with one last shot at redemption.
You won't forget this "noirish, unputdownable thriller" (People), and you won't forget Billy.
Editorial Reviews
Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 1
Billy Summers sits in the hotel lobby, waiting for his ride. It's Friday noon. Although he's reading a digest-sized comic book called Archie's Pals 'n' Gals, he's thinking about Émile Zola, and Zola's third novel, his breakthrough, Thérèse Raquin. He's thinking it's very much a young man's book. He's thinking that Zola was just beginning to mine what would turn out to be a deep and fabulous vein of ore. He's thinking that Zola was-is-the nightmare version of Charles Dickens. He's thinking that would make a good thesis for an essay. Not that he's ever written one.
At two minutes past twelve the door opens and two men come into the lobby. One is tall with black hair combed in a 50s pompadour. The other is short and bespectacled. Both are wearing suits. All of Nick's men wear suits. Billy knows the tall one from out west. He's been with Nick a long time. His name is Frank Macintosh. Because of the pomp, some of Nick's men call him Frankie Elvis, or-now that he has a tiny bald spot in back-Solar Elvis. But not to his face. Billy doesn't know the other one. He must be local.
Macintosh holds out his hand. Billy rises and shakes it.
"Hey, Billy, been awhile. Good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Frank."
"This is Paulie Logan."
"Hi, Paulie." Billy shakes with the short one.
"Pleased to meet you, Billy."
Macintosh takes the Archie digest from Billy's hand. "Still reading the comics, I see."
"Yeah," Billy says. "Yeah. I like them quite a bit. The funny ones. Sometimes the superheroes but I don't like them as much."
Macintosh breezes through the pages and shows something to Paulie Logan. "Look at these chicks. Man, I could jack off to these."
"Betty and Veronica," Billy says, taking the comic back. "Veronica is Archie's girlfriend and Betty wants to be."
"You read books, too?" Logan asks.
"Some, if I'm going on a long trip. And magazines. But mostly comic books."
"Good, good," Logan says, and drops Macintosh a wink. Not very subtle, and Macintosh frowns, but Billy's okay with it.
"You ready to take a ride?" Macintosh asks.
"Sure." Billy tucks his digest into his back pocket. Archie and his bosomy gal pals. There's an essay waiting to be written there, too. About the comfort of haircuts and attitudes that don't change. About Riverdale, and how time stands still there.
"Then let's go," Macintosh says. "Nick's waiting."
2
Macintosh drives. Logan says he'll sit in back because he's short. Billy expects them to go west, because that's where the fancy part...
Billy Summers sits in the hotel lobby, waiting for his ride. It's Friday noon. Although he's reading a digest-sized comic book called Archie's Pals 'n' Gals, he's thinking about Émile Zola, and Zola's third novel, his breakthrough, Thérèse Raquin. He's thinking it's very much a young man's book. He's thinking that Zola was just beginning to mine what would turn out to be a deep and fabulous vein of ore. He's thinking that Zola was-is-the nightmare version of Charles Dickens. He's thinking that would make a good thesis for an essay. Not that he's ever written one.
At two minutes past twelve the door opens and two men come into the lobby. One is tall with black hair combed in a 50s pompadour. The other is short and bespectacled. Both are wearing suits. All of Nick's men wear suits. Billy knows the tall one from out west. He's been with Nick a long time. His name is Frank Macintosh. Because of the pomp, some of Nick's men call him Frankie Elvis, or-now that he has a tiny bald spot in back-Solar Elvis. But not to his face. Billy doesn't know the other one. He must be local.
Macintosh holds out his hand. Billy rises and shakes it.
"Hey, Billy, been awhile. Good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Frank."
"This is Paulie Logan."
"Hi, Paulie." Billy shakes with the short one.
"Pleased to meet you, Billy."
Macintosh takes the Archie digest from Billy's hand. "Still reading the comics, I see."
"Yeah," Billy says. "Yeah. I like them quite a bit. The funny ones. Sometimes the superheroes but I don't like them as much."
Macintosh breezes through the pages and shows something to Paulie Logan. "Look at these chicks. Man, I could jack off to these."
"Betty and Veronica," Billy says, taking the comic back. "Veronica is Archie's girlfriend and Betty wants to be."
"You read books, too?" Logan asks.
"Some, if I'm going on a long trip. And magazines. But mostly comic books."
"Good, good," Logan says, and drops Macintosh a wink. Not very subtle, and Macintosh frowns, but Billy's okay with it.
"You ready to take a ride?" Macintosh asks.
"Sure." Billy tucks his digest into his back pocket. Archie and his bosomy gal pals. There's an essay waiting to be written there, too. About the comfort of haircuts and attitudes that don't change. About Riverdale, and how time stands still there.
"Then let's go," Macintosh says. "Nick's waiting."
2
Macintosh drives. Logan says he'll sit in back because he's short. Billy expects them to go west, because that's where the fancy part...
Readers Top Reviews
ShopperSQUEFRARuedi
I always get the First Edition of a New Stephen King Novel. This time Scribener sold the Rest of the World an ‘Export Edition’. Cheap quality print to increase profit. Some pages letters get so light that it’s hard to read them.
anonymous buyerGun
I know he lost his technical advisor, but he should have a new one by now. I'm pretty sure he's never held or fired a gun. His sniper assassin zeroes in his sniper rifle using an iphone app. Laughable. Nor does king understand military operations. This is clear from him trying to write Iraq war scenes, and failing miserably. At least to those who were actually in fallujah, it is a disrespectful farse that king, with all his money and resources, could not be bothered to research. It's clear he never researched any real information on the subject matter about which he presumes to write. It's an insult. He should know better, but apparently he doesn't. Alice is a 2D character who acts more like she's 11 than 21. She is the cliché weak and timid girl who was raped and needs a man to save her and ends up falling in love with him. The man, king's MC, Billy, is also a 2d character who conveniently has all possible knowledge to make every situation and plan go off without a hitch. The "redemption" arc is laughable, at best. SK is beyond this level of 90's action movie plot convenience, but he ignores it for this book. I can overlook sk artificially injecting his politics into the story at every single chance - I'm a full fledged Democrat, and I'm embarrassed to have him in our side after reading this book. For someone who claims to be so left-leaning, he writes the girl as if he were a raging southern Republican. It is a hypocritical insult to women's rights. As for the the actual story, it's nothing to write home about. The rhythm is slow and the plot is nearly non-existent. A vague reference to the overlook hotel and 'the shining' can't save this weak, trashcan book. I call it a book, because to call it a novel is giving it too much credit. Don't waste your time on this one, sk has a lot of other good novels. He's a great writer, but this book should have stayed in his footlocker as an unpublished manuscript. Recycled characters in a story that's boring, vapid, and has nothing to say. I'm just surprised no one had an eyeball laying on their cheek, since king sacrificed his storyline for a heaped together bunch of his own clichés. He even goes as far as to abandon making the story real through good writing and uses the line "only in reality could this happen" when a character flushed the toilet as he dies. This is a novel that should've either stayed in King's storage, or been given to Joe Hill for his writing career as King has done for all of Joe Hill's booms. It's a money grab. Nothing more.
C. BrantleyIndiana
I’m a fan Of King but he brings is leftist views to everything he writes. They’re peppered throughout. I know from interviews he’s given he doesn’t do his research and I find that true of too much that’s written here. I understand it’s fiction but he veers way too far on some subjects to be believable. The book didn’t work for me.
Michael Walker
Even if as a life long SK reader- I wish he would return to horror like Salem’s Lot or IT- I am still a fan and really have enjoyed this book and don’t want it to come to an end. I am 330 pages in and feel it coming to a close! The story feels more like two novels in one as the main character, Billy comes across a discarded 21-yr old woman who he “saves.” It is a suspenseful and fun read. I will continue to cross my fingers, however, that King will produce a keep-you-up-all-night once more…!
Carla W.8675309
Everything works miraculously well for Billy, no one ever notices anything, tries to stop him, even the big mob boss is the biggest p around, laughable and sad. SK hate for trump shows through the whole book and is just damaging to the plot, it had been the same result had SK kept whining about Biden, please no politics, to read that I would purchase that type of book from a better writer. I’ll keep the book to use for the WC during the next pandemic.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 1
Billy Summers sits in the hotel lobby, waiting for his ride. It's Friday noon. Although he's reading a digest-sized comic book called Archie's Pals 'n' Gals, he's thinking about Émile Zola, and Zola's third novel, his breakthrough, Thérèse Raquin. He's thinking it's very much a young man's book. He's thinking that Zola was just beginning to mine what would turn out to be a deep and fabulous vein of ore. He's thinking that Zola was-is-the nightmare version of Charles Dickens. He's thinking that would make a good thesis for an essay. Not that he's ever written one.
At two minutes past twelve the door opens and two men come into the lobby. One is tall with black hair combed in a 50s pompadour. The other is short and bespectacled. Both are wearing suits. All of Nick's men wear suits. Billy knows the tall one from out west. He's been with Nick a long time. His name is Frank Macintosh. Because of the pomp, some of Nick's men call him Frankie Elvis, or-now that he has a tiny bald spot in back-Solar Elvis. But not to his face. Billy doesn't know the other one. He must be local.
Macintosh holds out his hand. Billy rises and shakes it.
"Hey, Billy, been awhile. Good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Frank."
"This is Paulie Logan."
"Hi, Paulie." Billy shakes with the short one.
"Pleased to meet you, Billy."
Macintosh takes the Archie digest from Billy's hand. "Still reading the comics, I see."
"Yeah," Billy says. "Yeah. I like them quite a bit. The funny ones. Sometimes the superheroes but I don't like them as much."
Macintosh breezes through the pages and shows something to Paulie Logan. "Look at these chicks. Man, I could jack off to these."
"Betty and Veronica," Billy says, taking the comic back. "Veronica is Archie's girlfriend and Betty wants to be."
"You read books, too?" Logan asks.
"Some, if I'm going on a long trip. And magazines. But mostly comic books."
"Good, good," Logan says, and drops Macintosh a wink. Not very subtle, and Macintosh frowns, but Billy's okay with it.
"You ready to take a ride?" Macintosh asks.
"Sure." Billy tucks his digest into his back pocket. Archie and his bosomy gal pals. There's an essay waiting to be written there, too. About the comfort of haircuts and attitudes that don't change. About Riverdale, and how time stands still there.
"Then let's go," Macintosh says. "Nick's waiting."
2
Macintosh drives. Logan says he'll sit in back because he's short. Billy expects them to go west, because that's where the fancy part of this town is, and Nick Majarian likes to live large whether home or away. And he doesn't do hotels. But they go northeast instead.
Two miles from downtown they enter a neighborhood that looks lower middle-class to Billy. Three or four steps better than the trailer park he grew up in, but far from fancy. No big gated houses, not here. This is a neighborhood of ranch houses with lawn sprinklers twirling on small patches of grass. Most are one-story. Most are well maintained, but a few need paint and there's crabgrass taking over some of the lawns. He sees one house with a piece of cardboard blocking a broken window. In front of another, a fat man in Bermuda shorts and a wifebeater sits in a lawn chair from Costco or Sam's Club, drinking a beer and watching them go by. Times have been good in America for awhile now, but maybe that is going to change. Billy knows neighborhoods like this. They are a barometer, and this one has started to go down. The people who live here are working the kind of jobs where you punch a clock.
Macintosh pulls into the driveway of a two-story with a patchy lawn. It's painted a subdued yellow. It's okay, but doesn't look like a place where Nick Majarian would choose to live, even for a few days. It looks like the kind of place a machinist or lower-echelon airport employee would live with his coupon-clipping wife and two kids, making mortgage payments every month and bowling in a beer league on Thursday nights.
Logan opens Billy's door. Billy puts his Archie digest on the dashboard and gets out.
Macintosh leads the way up the porch steps. It's hot outside but inside it's air conditioned. Nick Majarian stands in the short hallway leading down to the kitchen. He's wearing a suit that probably cost almost as much as a monthly mortgage payment on this house. His thinning hair is combed flat, no pompadour for him. His face is round and Vegas tanned. He's heavyset, b...
Billy Summers sits in the hotel lobby, waiting for his ride. It's Friday noon. Although he's reading a digest-sized comic book called Archie's Pals 'n' Gals, he's thinking about Émile Zola, and Zola's third novel, his breakthrough, Thérèse Raquin. He's thinking it's very much a young man's book. He's thinking that Zola was just beginning to mine what would turn out to be a deep and fabulous vein of ore. He's thinking that Zola was-is-the nightmare version of Charles Dickens. He's thinking that would make a good thesis for an essay. Not that he's ever written one.
At two minutes past twelve the door opens and two men come into the lobby. One is tall with black hair combed in a 50s pompadour. The other is short and bespectacled. Both are wearing suits. All of Nick's men wear suits. Billy knows the tall one from out west. He's been with Nick a long time. His name is Frank Macintosh. Because of the pomp, some of Nick's men call him Frankie Elvis, or-now that he has a tiny bald spot in back-Solar Elvis. But not to his face. Billy doesn't know the other one. He must be local.
Macintosh holds out his hand. Billy rises and shakes it.
"Hey, Billy, been awhile. Good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Frank."
"This is Paulie Logan."
"Hi, Paulie." Billy shakes with the short one.
"Pleased to meet you, Billy."
Macintosh takes the Archie digest from Billy's hand. "Still reading the comics, I see."
"Yeah," Billy says. "Yeah. I like them quite a bit. The funny ones. Sometimes the superheroes but I don't like them as much."
Macintosh breezes through the pages and shows something to Paulie Logan. "Look at these chicks. Man, I could jack off to these."
"Betty and Veronica," Billy says, taking the comic back. "Veronica is Archie's girlfriend and Betty wants to be."
"You read books, too?" Logan asks.
"Some, if I'm going on a long trip. And magazines. But mostly comic books."
"Good, good," Logan says, and drops Macintosh a wink. Not very subtle, and Macintosh frowns, but Billy's okay with it.
"You ready to take a ride?" Macintosh asks.
"Sure." Billy tucks his digest into his back pocket. Archie and his bosomy gal pals. There's an essay waiting to be written there, too. About the comfort of haircuts and attitudes that don't change. About Riverdale, and how time stands still there.
"Then let's go," Macintosh says. "Nick's waiting."
2
Macintosh drives. Logan says he'll sit in back because he's short. Billy expects them to go west, because that's where the fancy part of this town is, and Nick Majarian likes to live large whether home or away. And he doesn't do hotels. But they go northeast instead.
Two miles from downtown they enter a neighborhood that looks lower middle-class to Billy. Three or four steps better than the trailer park he grew up in, but far from fancy. No big gated houses, not here. This is a neighborhood of ranch houses with lawn sprinklers twirling on small patches of grass. Most are one-story. Most are well maintained, but a few need paint and there's crabgrass taking over some of the lawns. He sees one house with a piece of cardboard blocking a broken window. In front of another, a fat man in Bermuda shorts and a wifebeater sits in a lawn chair from Costco or Sam's Club, drinking a beer and watching them go by. Times have been good in America for awhile now, but maybe that is going to change. Billy knows neighborhoods like this. They are a barometer, and this one has started to go down. The people who live here are working the kind of jobs where you punch a clock.
Macintosh pulls into the driveway of a two-story with a patchy lawn. It's painted a subdued yellow. It's okay, but doesn't look like a place where Nick Majarian would choose to live, even for a few days. It looks like the kind of place a machinist or lower-echelon airport employee would live with his coupon-clipping wife and two kids, making mortgage payments every month and bowling in a beer league on Thursday nights.
Logan opens Billy's door. Billy puts his Archie digest on the dashboard and gets out.
Macintosh leads the way up the porch steps. It's hot outside but inside it's air conditioned. Nick Majarian stands in the short hallway leading down to the kitchen. He's wearing a suit that probably cost almost as much as a monthly mortgage payment on this house. His thinning hair is combed flat, no pompadour for him. His face is round and Vegas tanned. He's heavyset, b...
