Heart-Shaped Box

By: Joe Hill

Narrated by: Stephen Lang

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals...a used hangman's noose...a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is widely known. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, a thing so terrible-strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will sell my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder.

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts: of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more? But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door...seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang...standing outside his window...staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting - with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one hand.

A multiple award-winner for his short fiction, author Joe Hill immediately vaults into the top echelon of dark fantasists with a masterwork brimming with relentless thrills and acid terror.

©2007 Joe Hill (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

• Audie Award winner, Thriller/Suspense, 2008
• Thriller Award, Best Novel, 2008

"Powerful....[Hill's] subtle and skillful treatment of horrors that could easily have exploded over the top and out of control helps make this a truly memorable debut." (Publishers Weekly)
"Mr. Hill elicits honest empathy for Jude, who turned his stage persona into a nightmare version of his fears and must now figure out what strength he has left for legitimate battles. This dynamic is both frightening and funny, and the book weaves together those two threads in clever ways." (The New York Times)

Creepy but Sexually Explicit

I purchased this on the recommendations of Audible and Amazon reviews as well as the association with Stephen King but find myself somewhat disappointed.

The story flows well, is fairly fast paced, well written and I do find myself feeling tense when the ghost is around. Like the review above, However, I have had a hard time feeling empathy for or identifying with the two pain characters.

Call me a prude if you must, but I find his particular and rather frequent descriptions of sexual encounters disturbing and totally unnecessary to the plot. There are just some images I don't want in my head. I haven't read a lot of Mr. Kings books, but within those I have I don't recall him having to resort to such to make the point. It'd be a good story if these were omitted.

I actually find myself questioning if I want to listen to the remaining 3 hours.

However, if you can ignore these things, you may find that you "enjoy" the creepiness of their interactions with the ghost.

Not for kids, teens and even many adults.

On Par with some of his father's works

It's hard not to compare Joe to his father, especially with writing styles so similar. This book is better than some Stephen King novels, but not better than Stephen King's earliest books. Will Joe get better or worse I wonder? Unlike most reviews that liked the beginning and felt the book get sillier towards the end, I disliked the beginning (though the scare factor was there, the plot was not well developed), enjoyed the middle (I loved the plot twist that manifests itself mid-book), and agreed that the Norman Rockwell ending was silly. He would have been better off killing everyone than what he ended up with. However, as silly as it was, it was better than most Stephen King endings, which isn't saying much. I guess that just runs in the family.

Good Listening!

After reading the reviews, I hesitated to read this book. Am I glad I read it! It's excellent listening with all the elements of a good book: engaging plot, interesting characters, good narration.

Judas Coyne has a long baggage train, and some of the contents stink, bad. The two main females characters, Florida and Georgia, are more sympathetic right from the beginning. The ghost is single-mindedly dedicated to Jude's death, and it takes most of the book for his motivation to be revealed.

I didn't find this book to be frightening. Interesting, yes, but not frightening.

After reading other reviewers I was apprehensive about the dogs. I actually stopped reading Dumas Key because of the passage with the dog, and didn't finish the book until a friend suggested I just fast forward past it. Unlike Dumas Key, the dogs in this book are developed characters in themselves. They are integral parts of the plot, and their role is both fulfilling and redeeming. Because of this, their treatment isn't as heart-rending and appalling as that meted out to the helpless and pathetic Jack Russell terrier in Dumas Key. Still, what is it with the Kings and dogs?

Finally, the ending was just a bit too pat, neat; it seems that Hill, like his father King, reserves the worst for the dogs. It's this syrupy, sentimental ending that influenced me to give the book four stars instead of five.

Still, overall, this is a terrific read and I recommend it.

Grittily Scary

A terrifying tale, full of the darkness of human souls and the power of love in a gritty, modern setting. Found this book to be absolutely riveting. The narrator does a superb job with the accents and voices for the major characters. Contains mature language and content.

Was good with some scary parts

The narrator is good. The story though tough at some parts is very captivating. The only down side to the audiobook is the weird music that breaks up parts of the story. Like why? Its not creepy music. Just weird and annoying. It doesn't add anything to the story. So just beware you will have to hear like a minute of terrible music throughout the story. Other than that it's good.

I mostly liked it...

So this book started really slow for me. I was into the premise, but there seemed to be a lot of time spent with the ghost early on. It picked up the pace as the book went along and my enjoyment increased as a result. Are the characters kind of unlikable, as some have said? Well, yes. But I just bought in to that part and it didn't bother me. I thought they were written completely in character and I was glad that we didn't have to watch them become saintly by the end. Did they grow? Yes. Did they change their stripes. No.

I really liked Nos4a2 and thought this was not quite as good. That said, it was an enjoyable read and after it got going held my attention completely.

Chilling story

Language a little raw but overall I loved it. I rate a book as to how lonely I feel when it is finished..I mourned for a day or so...

Great Listen

Everything about this audiobook was great from start to finish. I don't listen to this genre, often, but was intrigued that Stephen King's son wrote it and had to listen. You won't be dissapointed. The narration is some of the best I've ever listened to.

Started off strong....

I lost interest quickly. Sorry, but I couldn't wait for it to be over. The random music thrown in was odd.

Welcome to the Night Road

For those going in completely blind, this is the story of punk rock star, Judas Coin (not his real name, but no spoilers) and the violent ghost of his ex-girlfriend attempting to murder him. This is also my first experience with Joe Hill, but it certainly won't be my last.

First of all, the narration is absolutely on point. Second, while Joe Hill is actually Steven King's son his style is extremely different. It's still first class horror, but Hill is way bleaker than his father. If you're a horror fan, you owe it to yourself to fire this up; I haven't been this genuinely scared by a ghost story in ages. What are you waiting for?