Holly is back, and this time she’s working as a bodyguard (yes, bodyguard) for Kate McKay, who travels across the US giving speeches about women’s rights. We (and Holly) know there’s a threat against Kate, since her assistant Corrie has already been attacked by someone who thought she was Kate. The question is: how do you find that person when there are so many potential suspects?

Meanwhile, Holly’s friend Izzy Jaynes is trying to catch a serial killer known as the Surrogate Juror Killer. He got this nickname because after each murder, he leaves a note with the name of someone from the jury in the high-profile Alan Duffrey trial. And as if that wasn’t enough, the legendary singer Sista Bessie is in town for a concert. She befriends Barbara, and somehow they also get mixed up in everything that’s going on.

There are a lot of threads in this new King book that the reader has to keep track of. Early on, you realize that King will make sure these threads meet and tangle together—and yes, they do. It all turns into a mix of several villains, several victims, and in the middle of it all is Holly. As readers, we already know who the perpetrators are, so it’s not about figuring that out, but rather about understanding how everything is connected.

Holly and Izzy have lunch regularly, and when Izzy tells her about the Surrogate Juror Killer, Holly can’t resist investigating. That’s not surprising—it’s the Holly we know. But when Holly starts drawing conclusions no one else is, and ends up solving the case while the entire police force stands clueless, it becomes a bit too much. At times, she feels too smart to be believable. Add to that the fact that she’s solving all the other things going on as well, and it starts to feel over the top.

I know Holly divides King’s fans. Many like her, but many have had enough of her and want King to move on. Personally, I’m somewhere in between. I feel comfortable with Holly. We know her, and we know what we get. It’s like seeing an old friend again. However, seeing an old friend isn’t always that exciting, and I feel a bit of that here too.

That said, I like the book. It’s well-written, and King, as usual, is a master at creating characters. You get drawn into the story, and you don’t want to stop reading—but at the same time, you don’t want to read too much too fast, because you don’t want it to end.

To circle back to the question of whether Holly should stay or go, I’ll say this: I like the character. The last book about her—Holly—was a great read. Stronger than Never Flinch, if you ask me. But now it’s time to let Holly take a (Holly)day and get some time off. We know King is writing The Talisman 3, and after that, I’d love to see him return to horror. Dark, scary horror. Detective novels are all good and well, but in too large doses, they become too much. Horror is what I love—and horror is what I want next.